Hitam the heroic dog

It greatly saddened me today to read that Hitam, the heroic dog that had saved so many other dogs from Pulau Selat Kering (the abandoned island) had died. He was found to have pneumonia and many undigested chicken bones in his stomach.

Hitam made headlines when rescuers discovered that he had swam from the fisherman village to the abandoned island to regurgitate food for the starving dogs. And he did this countless times. Although he didn't have much to eat (the fishermen were said to have fed him rotten fish and chicken bones) he still did this. What a great big heart he had. So he frequently went on rescue expeditions to the abandoned island with Sabrina and her team.

When Sabrina (of Furry Friends Farm) informed the fishermen that Hitam and Kuning (his heroic partner) needed medical check-ups, the fishermen weren't even thankful but shockingly, threatened her and insisted that she return the dogs in 24 hours.

When she returned him to the fisherman village after the medical check-up, Hitam was in perfect health. However, not long after, she received an sms saying that Hitam had died. Such was the outrage of the animal rescuers that they requested for an autopsy. Even though Hitam had been faithfully working as a guard dog at the fisherman village, they returned Hitam's faithfulness with rotten food that eventually killed him.

It deeply saddens me to hear of how dogs are treated in Malaysia. They are hardly ever considered man's best friend but treated like scum instead. Last year, the press even exposed how stray dogs were lined up and brutally killed by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall. And the fine for animal cruelty in Malaysia is a mere RM200 (Approx. USD 57).

I hope more Malaysians will have a heart for animals. People are not the only ones with feelings.

Update: Hitam's Obituary in the Malay Mail on the 25th November 2009. Click here.