Medical subsidy for beaten dog, Jackie (Lester Hiew Thiam Hock & Jenny Khong Chin Chin’s)

Lester Hiew called me yesterday regarding Jackie, one of the orphanage dogs whose family we have visited before when Lester took us for a tour of the many colonies that he and his mum look after.

According to Lester and based on the wound, someone had probably beaten Jackie with a blunt object and left her leg broken. Lester was sourcing for a vet who is good in handling bone injuries.

On a side note, when we visited this particular orphanage colony, Lester and his mum had already said these dogs should be rehomed. They have tried, but being adult dogs, there were no takers. These dogs were former pets, abandoned by their owner on a vacant piece of land. The owners still live nearby but do not look after the dogs anymore. They do, however, tie up the dogs, sometimes. Lester and his mum had erected a tarpaulin cover over the area to shield the family from rain, and they feed these dogs every day at midnight.

Here is the story below. We will subsidise this case as per policy and we will utilise Ms Cindy Lim-Tan and Mr Kok Khee Wee’s contributions to top up the amount as much as possible, as per their requests.

From: Lester Hiew
Date: Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 1:55 AM
Subject: Jackie’s Broken Leg
To: Chan Kah Yein <chankahyein@gmail.com>

Good evening miss,

I would like to apply for a medical subsidy for Jackie. He is one of the strays we feed and really, he is a really nice boy. He has, more than once, been through enough already. Early this year, he got into a fight with other dogs and got himself a big maggot wound on his cheek. He got his treatment from Klang but at that time, the clinic was renovating their cages so we had to find a place for Jackie to receive his treatments. We brought him to USJ and hospitalized there for 1 week and then brought him back to Klang for the rest of his treatment. This happened before we knew AnimalCare. Attached are the previous photos.

Last 2 nights ago, something bad happened to him again.

1st September 2013: It was another usual night where my mum and I made our rounds to feed the strays. Our first stop for that night was where Jackie and his friends are at. (ref: http://animalcare.my/2013/06/08/visiting-lester-hiews-community-dogs-and-providing-dogfood-for-them/ from these four dogs have an owner, but..). The rest of the dogs are there except for Jackie, who was still tied to his place but he was not his usual self which he usually welcomes us by wagging his tail.

Instead, he was simply lying down and could just see us and bark at us. I went to him to release him and he still did not get up. I tried moving him but he cried and put his mouth over my hand but did not bite me. Something was wrong and he was in pain. We then examined his legs and realized that his right back leg is too loose and he cries when we touch lightly. It is confirmed – his right back leg is broken. There were no tyre marks on his leg or blood anywhere so we suspected that it is an injury done by a human.

It was around 2am at that time and we know that there is nothing much we can do at that time. I asked mum to go back home to get the necessary things such as cloth, cardboard, container, and water. While I stayed there to carry him around hopefully for him to pee and poop. He did not as he cannot stand on his own. I laid him down slowly and simply kept him at ease and pat him. He did not even want to eat. I had to force-feed him. He managed to fall asleep for a while and that made me really happy. After my mum came back, we arranged everything properly for him to rest until the morning.

2nd September 2013: I had class in the morning so I could not accompany my mum to bring Jackie to the vet. Mum went to the doctor (for humans) first because she is slightly sick.

Mum went for her breakfast in the usual kopitiam. She was talking about this to her friends and realized that one of the neighbours who live nearby there was in the kopitiam. She asked the neighbour (a woman) if she heard any dogs fighting or barking or anything like that. The neighbour replied: ‘Oh yeah got dogs barking. My husband went out and hit one of them.’ At that point, we knew who it was and what happened already.

After having her breakfast, she took Jackie to another vet in Klang all by herself.

The vet confirmed that his leg is broken but could not do anything at that moment because he does not have the necessary equipment so my mum went back after consulting him and getting advice. When my mum got back home, she consulted several vets and rescuers for the next step. We were contemplating between 2 vets and we have decided to go for the more experienced vet. We called the vet and try to get Jackie to the vet on that day itself but unfortunately, the vet is not in.

Mum called me to tell me this so I did not have to rush back home because I had class in the morning. My mum, alone, went to the man’s house and confronted them in a peaceful manner because she just wants to know why did the husband do that. Upon arrival, the wife, husband, and husband’s mother were there. Their conversation was all in Hokkien while the wife kept quiet throughout the entire conversation.

Apparently, the husband said he hit Jackie was because the dogs were fighting in front of his house.

He then showed my mum his dog’s injury on the ear and asked whether it is pitiful or not.

My mum replied him ‘You just broke the dog’s (Jackie) leg. Is that pitiful?’ The husband kept quiet.

The husband’s mother asked my mum if the purpose of meeting them is to ask for money for Jackie’s treatment and my mum answered ‘No. I am not here for your money. I just want to know why did you break this dog’s leg. He was walking fine with 4 legs and now, one of his legs is broken.’

My mum then left them, peacefully.

Again, we made sure that Jackie is resting as comfortable as he can until the next morning.

3rd September 2013: We were finally able to bring Jackie to the PJ vet in the morning. My mum and I were not too familiar with the area. We got lost for quite long so we decided to ask for Tracy’s (my girlfriend) help with directions. We picked her up and she directed us to the clinic.

After thorough examination, a few things were concluded.

1) An X-Ray was done and thankfully, it was a ‘clean’ break. Attached is the X-Ray which I’ve taken a photo from the computer.

2) Jackie has tick fever because his blood is 25% (dogs average 35%-55% according to the vet) and his platelets are low.

3) The vet suggested to insert a metal pin inside his leg. The other options were inserting a metal plate or put a metal plate on the side and screw it but the 2 options are really expensive.

4) He will need 2 months of hospitalization for his bone to fully recover. Any shorter is pointless as his bone may break again.

5) The vet gave us an estimated price (rescuer’s price) for the treatment: RM1,800 – RM2,000 which does not include the 2 months hospitalization.

We left Jackie to the vet’s care and surgery is to be performed tomorrow (Wednesday). We are required to pay a deposit first and the amount was RM1,000 for deposit. My mum was honest and told the lady at the counter that she does not have that much money with her and her credit card cannot sign that much.

This is because, before we know of AnimalCare and Dr Chan, we had to foot the vet bills on our own and those are not small figures.

My mum then asked the assistant whether the deposit can be lowered and the vet agreed to lower the deposit to RM700. Mum paid the deposit with her credit card.

After that, mum dropped myself and Tracy back to college for our class. We were late for class and explained it to our lecturer and thankfully, our lecturer understood. Mum went back home and went to the man’s house again, peacefully. The wife came out as the man was not in. Mum told the wife the latest updates regarding Jackie and the amount needed for his treatment. The lady just smiled, giggled some, and agreed all the way. (Update: please see below.)

We are going to try our very best to get him rehomed after he is recovered.

Attached are the photos we have so far.

Thank you very much,
Lester Hiew