Helping Animals Rescue Team (heart)
IT’S DIFFICULT being a stray / homeless dog in Sabah. Every day is a struggle for survival. You are full of dangers. Ignored by society and thrown away like yesterday’s trash, stray dogs are forced to rely on their ingenuity and tenacity if they are to survive. And even then it is often not enough.
They are forced to live on the tough streets as voiceless members of society. Unlike humans, animals cannot ask for help that easily. And chances are, even if they get some attention, it won’t be enough. We humans should protect animals. They too deserve to live on this planet; The earth wasn’t made just for people.
A homeless dog died of illness and injury in an apartment in Angkasa before it was found by a good Samaritan, Tuan Haji Ahmad. We couldn’t believe passers-by didn’t stop to help her. The Good Samaritan gave the dog some water – she breathed but did not move.
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Expecting help from various animal NGOs in Kota Kinabalu, Tuan Haji Ahmad, a resident of the Angkasa apartment, called a few animal rescue teams. However, to his disappointment, they turned him down.
According to Tuan Haji Ahmad, nearly five hours were wasted trying to call all animal NGOs. During those five hours he could see that the dog’s health was rapidly deteriorating. At first she sat on the grass, but later she lost all strength and lay down on the grass near the drain. He later found that all of her movement had stopped. If a good Samaritan hadn’t found the injured dog or ignored it and called Heart, she would have died of dehydration, heat stroke, or her illnesses, wounds, and injuries.
At around 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Heart received a call from a dog who was found – motionless and almost dying – in Angkasa’s apartment in Menggatal. Heartbroken and worried. This is likely the range of emotions our rescue team felt when responding to a call about a stray / homeless dog on the verge of death. When we arrived we got our first terrifying glimpse of the motionless dog. The dog continued to whine, however. We could immediately see that something was terribly wrong with the dog. She was hardly breathing, her back was heavy and tragically injured.
It was like she hadn’t eaten in days. We hated seeing them suffer. She also had a cut and bruises on her hind legs. She was so frail that she couldn’t even lift her head. She had wounds all over her body. She was in dire condition. The dog we called Angkasa cried in excruciating pain with such terrible injuries. We could see that she was doing very badly and needed urgent medical attention.
With a terrible illness and injuries, she was left on her own for many hours. We are animal lovers and we cannot see them suffer. It broke our hearts to know that the poor creature was even able to get to this point. She was so sick and frail and her eyes had completely lost their shine. She had given up staying alive, but we weren’t giving up on her yet and we wanted to give her a second chance in life. We knew we had to act quickly to save her. We immediately picked her up and took her to the vet, where she was stabilized. She had a deep gash on her foreleg and open wounds on her body. She is still very weak and in shock. Only time will tell if she’ll make it out alive.
The doctor told us that if the bitch could hold out for 24 hours, she might have a chance. Since we didn’t even think she would make it through the night, this was the best news we could hope for.
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The vet examined Angkasa and found that she had anemia, heartworm, blood parasites, and kidney disease. X-rays also showed the dog Angkasa had pulmonary edema in the lungs. It is often associated with pneumonia. The doctor says that the dog’s disease is serious and he is trying to save it.
Sweet Angkasa, you deserve the world and more, and we promise nothing less for the rest of your days. There are people like us who treat you like family and keep your needs in their hearts. Once you are fully healed, we will take care of you. Thank you for trusting us on this long journey.
We do not receive government funding and rely on the support and kindness of our community, private donations, and a charity bazaar to accomplish our mission. Heart does not euthanize animals to make room for others. We are a no-kill animal welfare group and we work to save life whenever possible.
We rely on donations from people like you who are willing to spend their hard earned money helping animals in dire need.
If you would like to help pay Angkasa medical expenses, please send your money to:
CIMB BANK BERHAD
Account no.
70 3762569 4
ROSLI @ ROSLEE BIN ABBAS
DONATIONS – Angkasa
Angkasa’s story is one in a million. Unfortunately, so many of the homeless animals in Sabah suffer and die every day without treatment for illness or injury.
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So help us continue to maintain and expand our heart services – have a heart. Donate!
And every ringgit helps! Thank you in advance for your generosity, young and old (and no donation is too small).
