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| Shy towards humans, a lonely figure in the dark |
William lives on the premises of a golf course and is very wary of humans. Apparently, he had just walked onto the premises about 3 years ago and has lived there since. There are some other dogs on the premises but William prefers the solitary life. He follows the other dogs, but does not interact with them. The other dogs are quite friendly and approachable, but not William. Even the security guards there, who have been feeding him for the past 3 years, can never get close to him. William would wait for the guards to walk far away after leaving the food, before he would start feasting.
There is also a three-legged cat that lives with the guards in the guard room. When it rains, the kindhearted guard will open the door to his guard room and allow all the dogs to enter. They would even huddle together with the cat, but only when it rains! What an interesting sight! It’s as if they know that they have nowhere else to go in the rain and that they must live in harmony if they were to have shelter from the storm. However, this ‘rule’ has never concerned William, who doesn't even dare enter the guard room. He would rather sleep on the pavement outside, trembling and wet in the heavy storm. No matter how many times the guards try to call him in, he wouldn't even budge. They feel very sorry for him and have tried many ways and means to lure him into the shelter, but he is just too afraid of humans. Poor William.
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| The night guard feeding the dogs |
When William was injured, the workers gave him antibiotics in his food for the first 2 weeks but to no avail. His wound worsened and they had no choice but to ask us for help. Unsurprisingly, we were also unable to get close to William. Every time he walked past us, we would be able to smell the rotting flesh lingering in the air. It's such a devastating sight, and so frustrating to not be able to treat his wound immediately. Time was running out because if the wound gets bigger and deeper, he might get septic shock, which may eventually take his life.
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| Checking on him during the day |
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| Not easy to go near him |
Imagine having maggots feasting on his open, untreated wound for more than a month! He must have been enduring a huge amount of pain from such a huge wound. We decided to engage the services of a professional dog catcher to help us. Even so, it took almost 4 weeks before we finally got him. We were present with the dog catcher, and whenever our schedule was free, we would sit in the dark for hours, waiting for William to walk into the trap. We wanted to ensure that William was caught in a humane method, and not hurt further in the process.
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| Finally caught after 6 weeks |
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| His wound is so deep it's like a crater |
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| Imagine his pain |
Fortunately, we got him in time to save him. At the vet’s, over hundreds of maggots were removed from his rotting wound over the next few days. The vet informed us that his wound must have festering for at least 6 weeks. He will be warded there for at least 2-3 weeks for the wound to heal completely, before being returned to his home. We are unable to release him any sooner as the workers would not be able to get close to him to clean his wound. Although we have not much choice but to spend the extra money for William to stay at the vet, at least we're assured that he will get plenty of medical attention there and is in a conducive environment for his wound to recover. He has also been tested positive for Heartworm and Tick Fever.
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| William is sweet but has fear aggression |
Poor William hopes to return to his comfort zone soon. To contribute to his vet bills, please email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg.
Written by June Oh
