Attacked!

As I was driving round the area searching for the dog with a neck wound, I saw a dog running to the coffee shop area and a kind lady working there feeding him. I rushed down wondering if that's the wounded dog I was looking for. But it wasn't. They informed me this dog (Xiao Huang) has a back wound, a 2 cm-long narrow wound. As it was past 8 pm and the vet clinic would be closed, I decided to come back the next day to try trap him and bring him to a vet.

The subsequent days passed without anyone spotting Xiao Huang. The feeder aunty then shared with me that Champ (the dog with the head injury) is Xiao Huang's buddy. Both of them have been standing by each other ever since their factory (their home) got demolished, rendering both of them 'homeless'.

On Friday, the feeder aunty called me and said she spotted Xiao Huang, and was trying to stay by him so he won't run away. I rushed down with a leash, while the feeder activated her hubby to bring a cage over to facilitate us catching him. It was urgent. It was an emergency. It had been 3 days since I last saw Xiao Huang and I prayed silently that his 2 cm-long narrow wound didn't deteriorate.

We were saddened by what we saw

To my horror, the 2 cm-small wound had deteriorated to a gaping huge hole with lots of maggots eating into the flesh. Panic set in and we knew we must catch Xiao Huang and get him to the vet.

Maggots feasting on poor Xiao Huang's flesh

While feeder Esther lured the famished and thirsty Xiao Huang with food, I slowly looped the leash around his neck. But the challenge came when we had to get Xiao Huang into the carrier. By this time, the second feeder aunty and the coffee shop helper had come over to help. They have been feeding Xiao Huang for the past year. She helped us hold, comfort, and reassure Xiao Huang as he had become very stressed and agitated. He struggled and attempted to break free and escape. We had to coordinate our efforts. One person held the carrier, one covered the dog's face, one held the leash, and one carried Xiao Huang. With everyone's help, we managed to get Xiao Huang into the carrier.

We called Fiona from HOPE Dog Rescue who immediately assembled and activated her team of key volunteers to attend to this emergency. Everyone rushed to the vet immediately. The smell of rotting flesh permeated the car as we sped to the vet.

Xiao Huang is extremely sweet, seen here taking his weight

I watched with despair and horror, holding back my tears as I watched the vet and technician sedating him and cleaning his wound. There was another smaller wound on his left but thankfully that's still a pretty fresh wound and only had 2 maggots. There were soooo many maggots in the huge hole and they were huge, fat and having a feast on poor Xiao Huang.

Xiao Huang is now safe at the vet. It's thanks to HOPE and their kind and immediate attention that we managed to save the life of another street dog. 

Written by Hedy Ling 



Note from HOPE : 

Xiao Huang is a sweet dog. He isn't terribly young, perhaps between 6 to 8 years old, although they do sometimes look much older than they really hard because of the tough life they have had, living on the streets.

Xiao Huang was attacked by some dogs from a different territory and according to the aunty that feeds him, this isn't the first time. Some years back he was injured as well and someone else had sent him to the vet. Xiao Huang is very sweet, calm and affectionate. He is appreciative of the attention you give him, loves pats and walks so well on leash - better than many pet dogs we have seen!

Lines of hardship written on his face

Sweet and affectionate. All he wants is for somebody to love him

Today Xiao Huang will undergo a surgery to close the two wounds on his back, as well as be sterilized and ear tipped. We will then wait a week for him to fully recover before releasing him back to where we found him. We know that he would risk being attacked again, but unfortunately we have too many dogs in our charge, our dogs are not getting adopted and we have no means of taking more in.

If you can foster Xiao Huang long term or adopt him, please send us an email. We are not sure how he is with other dogs and children, but he is an absolute darling with us.

To help with Xiao Huang's vet bills, foster or adopt him, please email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg