Hi, it’s JoTong here.
I was thinking of what to share with the readers of AnimalCare and how frequent I should share as a new member of AnimalCare Tag Team.
Well, I do think I need to share the story of Uncle Wong who did most of the labour intensive work and “dirty work” behind the scenes. Don’t get me wrong, but it’s the burying of the dead bodies of dogs that have died from being hit by lorries, from sickness and rescuing dogs that had fallen into drains…..
Uncle Wong works as a car mechanic and he has a van full of cages, trapping cages, fencing, hoe (cangkul), metal chain, nets, hand gloves, raffia strings, used but clean engine oil containers (nicely cut open on top) and many many more. At one glance people will think he is up to some mischief as the gadgets in his van looked like he is going to abduct some dogs anytime…Haha… There was even one time an aunty-friend who passed by saw uncle in action (catching a dog) took a video of Uncle Wong and sent to me asking me whether I know this person who appeared to be torturing the stray dogs…….I laughed and quickly told her that this uncle is 自己人 (from our group) so please do not circulate the video as it will bring problems to uncle.
I think most people will be spending their good weekends to rest, to shop and to spend quality time with their beloved ones, not to say I am not, but my beloved ones will include almost hundreds of strays other than my family (they know it). So, my weekends are so, so packed with non-stop cooking and food preparation from the moment I wake up till the time I go to bed. But for Uncle Wong, weekdays and weekends are both no different as he cooks and feeds the strays dogs twice a day (some dogs get their meals in the morning session and the rest get theirs in the evening session).
I really do salute Uncle Wong as he does the feeding and cooking twice daily at 7am and 5pm without fail (even though we have agreed upon to alternatively share the work so that we can have a good rest in between the feedings but I think it has already become a daily routine for Uncle Wong in feeding the dogs as they have become part of his life).
When I first knew Uncle Wong 3 years ago, I saw him rummaging for food waste to cook with rice for the dogs inside the big black drum located outside the mamak restaurant. There were even a few incidents where lorry drivers who ate in the mamak restaurant saw uncle searching inside the drum and offered him RM10 to buy food (thinking Uncle Wong is a beggar looking for food). But of course Uncle Wong turned down the offer and just smiled and said he is looking for food to cook for the dogs.
As I am working on a full time basis, weekdays (on an alternate basis with Uncle Wong) I am only able to feed kibble after work. So, weekly Saturdays will be the day where I will cook and cook pots of rice and collect the food waste (actually I don’t think I should call it food waste, but it is the leftover of the soup ingredients, parts from roasted chicken, char siew, etc. which smells so good actually (!!) from a chicken rice stall in Taman Connaught to mix with the white rice that I have cooked earlier to feed the the stray dogs in the Balakong factory area. The dogs seem to know that they will be having a feast as they will start barking from far away when they hear my car even on the opposite road.
But for Uncle Wong, he will collect leftover foods from various stalls/restaurants whether it’s mamak, Chinese or Malay food stalls to cook with rice for his dogs and he does this daily. I could not imagine myself doing the same routine daily as even collecting the leftovers and mixing with rice only once a week on Saturdays already drains me of my energy.
The photos I share above is one of my favorites where Uncle Wong is ferrying one of the dogs using his bike to my car to put into the cage for sending to the vet and I still laugh now when I see the photo. This shows the how close the relationship between Uncle Wong and the stray dogs is.
