In my 7 years volunteering as a writer with Hope Dog Rescue, this is the hardest post I ever had to write. Because this post is on my favourite rescue from HDR and its gets archived to “In Loving Memory” folder.
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| SiDa loves people and belly rubs |
If there was one word to describe Sida, it was “free-spirited”. Sida wasn’t born handicapped, she was a pack leader roaming the construction sites when a terrible accident severely injured her, causing her permanent paralysis. Read more about her accident and how she was found here.
Sida had a best friend at the construction site where she lived before the accident, he is a Thai worker (Yongyurt) who took care of Sida before the accident. Sida’s name was given by him, which meant 4 eyes in Thai, which describes her facial marking. Their bond was unbreakable and special. Even after Sida was taken in by HDR, we still arranged for Yongyurt to visit Sida whenever he can. The evident joy radiating from Sida’s eyes everytime she sees Yongyurt is a true testimony that dogs are unfailingly loyal and they never forget the special bond they have.
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| Sida and Yongyurt |
Because Sida was paralysed and incontinent, she wasn’t suitable for regular boarding and potential fosters weren’t able to commit to the amount of care and attention Sida requires for her daily basic needs. Answering our desperate call for a semi-permanent solution was a kind lady Anna, who offered home boarding facilities for Sida and ensured her well-being, catering to her condition. It wasn’t easy because of Sida’s size (30kg) and she had to be carried, cleaned and walked on her wheelchair everyday. Thank goodness Anna had an efficient helper Ranju, who was Sida’s main caregiver and later on became Sida’s buddy.
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| SiDa had great focus |
Never once deterred by her handicap, Sida was an unforgettable character. Dubbed Queen because of the way she demands respect from fellow dogs and attention from her human slaves, she quickly became a hot favourite amongst the volunteers who were completely enamored by her antics. When she was brought out for doggie outings, she made sure a volunteer was always seated next to her and giving her pats and massages. If that volunteer dared stop the patting and massage, Sida would use her head to nudge the volunteer’s hands to indicate her disapproval. If that doesn’t work, she barks out her instructions until it was heeded. Because Sida was so cute, everyone of us just abided her bratty behaviour!
Sida was also one of the most intelligent rescues we ever had and knows exactly which volunteer can be bullied and which could be manipulated to give her more food. Ok mostly that was me. She was super food motivated and could be 100% counted on to use her eye power to convince you to give her the food on your plate. To be honest, out of the 10 times I tried to tell her no, 9 times I failed and just gave her what she wanted, plus more. The only one time I didn’t gave her was because someone saw and I got scolded because Sida needed to go on a diet, perpetually.
There was one funny incident where I had to bring Sida to the vet to get her eye checked. Poor Sida had to endure some discomfort while the vet did some tests on her eye. When it was all done, the vet praised Sida and gave her one treat for being a good girl. After Sida devoured the treat, she looked expectantly at the vet. I knew exactly what she was thinking. “After all the prodding and discomfort YOU made me go though for the last 10 minutes, you only gave me ONE treat?! Just ONE???” Naturally, being trained as her human slave, I tapped the vet on the shoulder, thickened my skin and asked for more treats. Lesson Numero Uno – what the Queen wants, the Queen gets.
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| Ranju holding Sida's paws before sleeping |
Sida wasn’t just special needs – she was also especially needy, when it suited her. Ranju, Sida’s main caregiver at home boarding sleeps with Sida every night and when its bedtime, Sida would slithered to the bedroom first and wait for Ranju. She would give Ranju approximately 10 minutes to go into the bedroom to accompany Sida to sleep, and if Ranju takes more than 10 minutes, Sida would whine and bark the house down until she comes in and pats her to sleep. That’s Sida for you, unapologetically her.
In March 2018, we were contacted by The DoDo, a digital media company sharing compelling animal-related stories with 47 million followers on Facebook inviting us to share about Sida on their platform in the hope of finding an adopter for Sida. The video was viewed 7.2 million times to date and that was our very own Sida’s international claim to fame.
In 2019, we’ve gotten miraculous news that Anna wanted to adopt Sida! Finally Sida had a family and and a home to call her own. She had doggie brothers and sisters to play with, Anna and Ranju doted on her and we couldn’t be happier for Sida, who had came a long long way from that fateful day the accident robbed her of her freedom.
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| Anna celebrating Sida's birthday |
Last week, I had gotten a call from Anna, informing us that Sida wasn’t too well and that if I wanted to see her, to do it quickly because there wasn’t much time left for Sida. She was discovered to have lung cancer and the cancer cells have spread aggressively, causing her to have difficulty breathing. I never got to say goodbye because she passed on before I could get to her. This would remain my greatest regret. However, we took comfort that she took her last breath peacefully in Ranju’s arms, surrounded by her family.
With every rescue that passed on unexpectedly, inevitably, the thoughts that came to mind would be, have we done enough, have we done all we could for them? Did we do the right thing by them? These questions and guilt would haunt us until we get caught up with the next rescue. Losing a dog is the most heart-breaking part of every volunteer’s experience. Over time, you get unsuspectingly attached to the dog and then when its time for them to leave, you’ll swear never to let another dog into your heart again so you could avoid the pain of losing them. But of course, this never happens. We’re sitting ducks waiting for the next dog to love, cherish and break our hearts all over again.
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| Times when gatherings were not limited to 5 |
Sida had been an integral part of Hope Dog Rescue since we took her in 2013. On behalf of everyone from HDR, we would like to sincerely thank all the volunteers and donors who had a hand in making Sida’s life a little better – the volunteer handlers who brought Sida for outings, the volunteer drivers who brought Sida to her vet visits, donors who responded to our appeals and contributed funds to Sida’s wheelchairs and massages. Lastly and most importantly, we’ll like to thank Anna and her family who had not only given Sida a quality of life most handicapped dogs would not have had the opportunity to experience, they gave Sida what she wanted most, a home to call her own.
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| Farewell SiDa, may you be fully restored |
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| Ranju & Anna |
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| That's me, Jamie |
Run free now Sida, you have never let your disability deter you from your zest for life and that was a valuable life lesson we have learnt from you. On Rainbow Bridge, you will finally be able to run on your 4 legs and feel the grass beneath your paws and have your freedom and mobility back. We hope we had given you a happy life and want you to know that you were loved very much and will be dearly missed and never forgotten.
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| Forever remembered <3 |
Love,
Your human slave, Jamie Faith
