In the darkness provided for by the container quarters of the construction workers, Gerry and her brother find refuge--away from other stray packs in the neighbourhood and strange men who poke their noses into the quarters in the day.
They are friends to the workers but the one they are closest to is a Thai worker who returns in the evening after his work. Sometimes when he's around, our caregiver will pass him food for the dogs and willingly he feeds Gerry and her brother. Other times, we have found that the food passed to a random worker would be left to hang somewhere in the quarters and rot for a few days, unfit for consumption.
Perhaps that's why when we brought Gerry to the vet's with the help of her familiar Thai worker, she was found so underweight and undernourished by the vet. Dehydrated and running a temperature. The Thai worker told us Gerry's right hind leg had been injured and limp since two months ago. A lorry had run her over.
Prior to that, the caregiver and us visited the site in the morning in the absence of the Thai worker and were met with futile attempts to capture her. The moment she saw us, Gerry scampered swiftly away and hid herself from a pile of construction materials. In her limps, she jumped on nails, scratched herself against the rusty edges of old poles and grazed her back more, ducking, climbing and negotiating rough corners.
Until we had to call it a day and give up. A nagging worry on our heads that we needed to bring her leg to medical attention. We feared if her bones had been crushed.
A few days of hospitalisation at the vet's saw marked improvement in her behaviour: Gerry warmed up to all the vet staff and when walked, was able to put weight on her injured leg. Ginger and gentle. She responded happily when we put our hands on her head and patted her with a prayer of encouragement and healing.
The vet gave Gerry medication and various vitamins. Knowing that she's but a puppy actually, she suspects Gerry's case and being unaccustomed to using her right hind is a matter of bone development, aside from the lorry accident.
With our limited animal rescue budget, the best we can do is pump her health back, bypassing any need for any surgery, so that she can still continue her life at the construction site. We have no place at all to board Gerry and allow her to recover ideally.
This is Gerry, checking us out from afar, after our failed attempts to pursue and capture her.
Gerry's brother, the friendlier one -- responded to us lovingly for food and caresses. We target to sterilise him, and Gerry when she's well. At this stage, it's not recommended that Gerry goes through any surgery.
Gerry's brother.
This is a brief story of the initial stage of rescue of Gerry and her brother. As part of the objective to manage stray numbers, both siblings will be sterilised, vaccinated and microchipped--the best that we can do in alignment with what the authorities treat of stray populations.
At the moment, we are concerned with the recovery of Gerry's right hind leg which was run over by a lorry. Being female with an untreated limb, she faces the advances of other male dogs in the wild and could be impregnated in a matter of months. Where immediately possible, we will bring her for spaying.
There will come a day when the construction site is vacated and the workers move elsewhere. After all, this is a temporary dorm. Honestly, I do not know how many years we can continue to tend to Gerry and her brother (they could be displaced when the Thai worker moves), but as far as they are part of our caregiver's feeding route and within our reach, we will continue to provide for them. For as long it takes to keep them alive and well.
If you would like to donate to Gerry and her brother's rescue efforts, please email us at projectjkteam@yahoo.com.sg. No amount is too small and each bit builds into something to help make their existence possible. To keep them alive.
I thank you for your generosity and act of encouragement this Christmas season.
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