The caller was concerned that the dog was seemingly neglected by its owners as there was no sign of human life in the house.
I was told that the lab was very old, extremely sick and unable to walk.
The caller decided to feed the dog which wolfed down the food. The person kept doing this a couple of days with no sight of the owner.
This morning I sent the Petaling Jaya City Council's dogcatchers over to investigate the matter. They confirmed the pet was in a bad shape but the house appeared cleaned and well-managed.
Our boys managed to get the homeowner's number. I called him up and pleasantly got quite a different story.
The lab which is very ill is scheduled to be put down by a veterinarian this Friday. The owner decided to keep it for a few days since the dog, he says, is eating well and able to attend to the calls of nature by itself.
The owner was understandably upset by the "animal rescuers." He said his dog was on a special diet advised by the vet and that the "rescuers" had messed things up by feeding it all sorts of "rubbish."
He was also agree that his true intentions of being kind to his dog was judged unfairly by others.
I tried my best to calm him down, saying that the animal lovers only meant well and this was all a terrible case of miscommunication.
He finally calmed down. I could see that he was grieving because he was about to lose his companion dog for about 20 years.
I told him to be "strong" for Friday and to be with his dog when the vet came around to put the loyal companion down. There was no point in prolonging the suffering of the poor dog.
As for the animal lovers, I think they did a very noble thing. However, on hindsight it is always prudent to also try and check the facts first in the interest of the animal that you are trying to help.
A good lesson for all of us. Thank you also to MBPJ's dogcatchers for a wonderful job done.
Happy Holidays!
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