KUALA LUMPUR: Traffic was brought to a standstill as animal lovers, traffic police and Fire and Rescue Department officers rescued a dog trapped on a road divider along a busy stretch of Jalan Ampang.
The rescue operation at 9pm on Thursday was initiated by Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better (MDDB) after a student posted about the dog on the group’s Facebook page.
The black female dog, estimated to be about a year old, had apparently been living amongst the shrubs on the divider leading to the DUKE Highway for the past month and is believed to have survived on rainwater, grass and leaves.
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| MDDB volunteers and firemen looking at the dog that was rescued along Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. |
Ampang traffic police chief Asst Supt Ismail Ibrahim said the police helped because it was everyone’s responsibility to help animals in trouble.
“Animal appreciation here is still lacking as opposed to some other countries and because of this, each and everyone of us needs to play a role in helping a needy animal regardless of whether it’s a cat or a dog,” said ASP Ismail.
MDDB rescue coordinator Irene Low thanked the police, firemen and individuals who went to the location after an appeal was posted on Facebook.
She said this was the kind of community collaboration that MDDB was striving to build in its quest to propagate animal welfare and rescue among the public and government agencies.
“Initially, we used to go and rescue animals on our own whenever there’s an alert but we found that we needed to involve the public and authorities as well,” said Low.
Meanwhile, long-time MDDB volunteer M.Q. Lian said rescuing the dog had been a fulfilling experience.
“We have saved yet another dog’s life,” said Lian who volunteers for the rescue group almost every week.
Another rescuer, Vigneshwari Cheliah, said she loved the teamwork.
“It was also a great feeling to meet so many like-minded people,” said Vigneshwari.
The undernourished, otherwise healthy dog, is currently under foster care and will be neutered next week before being put up for adoption by MDDB.
Further details about the dog’s development and MDDB’s community rescue exercises can be obtained at http://www.facebook.com/MalaysianDogsDeserveBetter.