NASTY OWNER

Saturday April 19, 2008

Marmaduke missing again

By WANI MUTHIAH

THE things that have happened to lost canine Marmaduke since his story appeared in StarMetro about a couple of weeks ago is reflective of some people’s lack of empathy for dogs.

Due to several untoward incidents, Marmaduke is once again missing after running away from a Buddhist temple in Puchong.

The temple administration had agreed to take in the dog after its owner, who had initially come to claim the pet after reading the article, abandoned the canine once again although he settled the bill for Marmaduke’s treatment at a veterinary clinic in Brickfields.

According to Malaysian Nature Society employee Suzane M. Samy, who had found and rescued Marmaduke with some of her colleagues, the dog’s owner had called her as soon as he read the article.

“He said that he had adopted Marmaduke from the Paws animal shelter together with two other puppies a few years ago.

“Al three puppies had canine distemper and only Marmaduke survived,” Suzane said, adding that, coincidentally, the owner had named the dog “Duke.”

However, Marmaduke suffered an ear injury and began bleeding profusely and the owner decided that he could not deal with it.

He then gave Marmaduke to a friend who, in turn, gave the dog to another person who is believed to have thrown it out on the streets.

All this, Suzane said, occurred within three days before Marmaduke ended up, hungry and bleeding from the ears at the MNS doorstep.

Suzane is also miffed that many people who had initially called and offered to take Marmaduke in, retracted their offer after a couple of days.

“Most of them had made the offer at the spur of the moment and it was not based on their genuine desire to help Marmaduke,” she said.

She added that a woman from Taman Tun Dr Ismail had also taken Marmaduke home, only to return it the following day.

“When she called to say that she wanted to take Marmaduke in temporarily until it found a home, I told her to have a look at the dog first at the veterinary clinic in Brickfields where the pet was being kept.

“She told me she didn’t need to look at the dog as she was serious in giving it a temporary home but later said Marmaduke was too frisky for her to handle,” said Suzane.

She added that the main problem people had with the young dog was its big build and frisky, happy-go-lucky demeanour.

Meanwhile, Independent Pet Rescuers (IPR) founding member Sherrina Krishnan lambasted Marmaduke’s owner for abandoning the canine.

“All the nasty things that had happened and probably are still happening to Marmaduke are caused by its first owner’s irresponsibility.

“He should not have taken Marmaduke in the first place if he cannot commit to providing good care and a loving home for the dog,” said Sherrine.

She also chided all those who had offered to take Marmaduke in but chickened out.

“Generally, such people want to look like heroes when they call up to ask about the dog and offer it a home, but they are not sincere in wanting to help,” said Sherrine.

She added that people must realise that dogs were highly sensitive animals that loved their owners unconditionally and suffered from broken hearts when they were abandoned.