Pondering Life

The dog I wrote about before whom we’ve adopted, he lived as a stray dog in Jurong industrial estate for most of his life. He was well liked by some factory workers and frequently fed. A while back, they moved him from Jurong to Tuas because the factory enjoyed having him; but soon at the age of 12 he got one of his ear bitten off and it got infected.

It was so bad that his wounds rotted and started to smell. No one cleaned his wounds or tended to him. Even when one of the non-profit stray feeding organisation offered to pay for his vet fees, no one took him to the vet. Instead, they left him to die near a canteen.

The canteen staff called in SPCA to take him in. By then, his wound was full of maggots. He was probably close to death but he fought on and survived. We fostered him after he was nursed back to health by the non-profit stray-feeding organisation. Then about 5 months ago, we officially adopted him. He was with us for slightly over a year.

But being 14, having led a thug life had its toil on him and after multiple bout of illness since December, his condition has deteriorated. We did a lot and spent a lot to keep him alive but it seems like he has reached a stage where he hardly has any quality of life left.

In the year he was with us, he impacted so many lives. People came with their dogs to visit him from all over Singapore. Friends who followed his instagram account told me he was such an inspiration to them. The instagram was the most detailed documentation of his life, his final year. While he lived 13 years in relative obscurity, he’d probably never realise how famous he became in his final year of life.

I plan to write a short children book with my wife (this amazing digital illustration artist) on his life and publish it to raise some funds for animal shelters. Let’s hope I’ll find the capacity for such a project so that in death, he shall continue to inspire. You’ve been a friend, a fellow old man, teacher and often-annoying pet. Thanks for bringing so much colour into our lives. Goodbye Dada.