Canines Rock My World!

CANINES, once again, rocked my world in ways I never quite imagined possible.

It happened at two glorious events in the local community recently.

And from the looks of it, it certainly wasn’t me alone who was left spellbound afterwards by the amazing waggy-tailed wonders.

The Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) celebrated World Animal Day last Saturday. It was held in a local football field not far from the local government body’s headquarters.

Nearly two dozen dogs of various shapes, sizes, kinds and colours were specially invited to lope about in the area and entertain the more than 250 people who turned up for the show.

The theme of the programme was responsible pet ownership.

The council’s aim was to educate dog owners to be more caring for their pets – as well as being more conscientious towards their neighbours without pets and the surroundings.  

Instead of the traditional method, MBPJ this time decided to employ a more ingenious, subtle and wonderfully effective way of getting the VIP canines to drive home the points of their event’s objective.

Working dog breeds considered “dangerous” wrongly by some people in our society - such as Rottweilers, Dobermans, German Shepherds and even a Bull Terrier - were carefully picked and provided by the Malaysian Kennel Association to be the council’s furry ambassadors of peace to spread their message.

This was the very first time that MBPJ had involved dogs in their official programme. And it was absolutely delightful to watch how their four-footed “staff for the day” almost immediately went into action the moment they arrived.

Four of them were appointed to lead and escort their human counterpart VIPs to their seats. They did it without even so much as a whimper of protest and soaking in the attention.

There was no snarling or growling – only lots and lots of tail wags (even with the Rottie whose tail was not docked).

In fact, many of the participants found the dogs irresistible and cuddly – even those who were initially rather uncomfortable with their presence.  Quite a few of them even reached out to pat them as they walked by, whilst others stopped for a photo-shoot.  

A group of disabled people who actively receive therapy from their own pets were pleasantly welcomed with warm lavish licks of love when the special ambassadors came by.

Although the dogs were initially curious about the wheelchairs and white canes, they quickly settled down with the “strange contraptions”; accepting them as part and parcel of the special people that they were meeting that morning.

The huge dogs didn’t mind at all when some of the blind participants pulled their tails or ears just to feel them.

And nothing was anywhere quite near the joy of watching the faces of people in wheelchairs and with walking difficulties light up with a smile when they were being smothered by MBPJ’s special team.   

Needless to say, no one was hurt that day or came away with even a scratch.

The only “bites” that were effectively delivered at the event were solemn ones to irresponsible pet owners who let their pets roam the streets, poo in their neighbour’s houses and be a nuisance to others.

Meanwhile, a week earlier, I was in the company of more than 1000 dogs and 5000 people University Putra Malaysia’s Dogathon – its 16^th annual event to date.

With the theme based on Halloween or in this case “Howl-O-Ween”, participants had to take part with their canines in a number of spine-chilling activities.

They include walking their dogs through the “Valley of the Undead”, confront “Dracula’s Coffin” and even encounter “Werewolves on Wheels.”        

However what was most significant for me is that the organisers of the event – the veterinary students of UPM’s veterinary faculty – had not forgotten about including disabled persons in their programme.

Their plans to include people with disabilities got them to plan in advance for special facilities for the handicapped.

They include:

1.     Reserved parking bay for disabled drivers. This was placed nearest to the awareness booth run by the disabled for their convenience. The students made sure that the reserved area was not taken up by the able-bodied.

2.     Portable wheelchair-friendly toilet. The location of this was also clearly well thought out and placed nearest to where most of us were. Few events that are planned outdoors actually bother to go the extra mile for us in this area. So UPM guys, thumbs up to you for this! 

3.     Special refreshment for the handicapped.

4.     A special group of volunteers were assigned to help the disabled. Even though the ground was soggy, the volunteers went the extra mile to offer to push us to the various booths to make sure we had a good day. They took great care to avoid the muddy areas and chose an alternative route for us.

As a result of all these preparations for us, we had a great time. There were more people in wheelchairs and the blind in particular, at this year’s Dogathon.

It’s often kind and simple measures like these that make a big difference and moves the heart!  

 

      

The End

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