About Nude Not Naked

Dedicated to the best dog that any little girl would ever want.

His name was Peter.

Lived.

Loved.

Shot.




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I know I am worthless. I know that there is no one on earth who cares for me. I am but a flea in your eyes and you would not look at me twice. My eyes are glazed and when you are around, I run in great haste. There is no one to love me. Nobody cares. Sometimes I wait at tables, just to be fed. But I have lived a thousand days and perhaps I will live another more.

Someone kicked me the other day. He was kindest man I have seen in days. He gave me only two kicks and I leaped with a yelp. I have had it worse. I have been beaten so badly that my head bled. My eyesight has never been the same since then. Everything seems a littler murky in my right eye but my left eye is still strong. So please do not pity me. I can still chase a cat down an alley.

I ran with my tail between my legs when children threw stones at me last Monday. And yet, they were still kind. I am still alive, aren’t I? Once three children ran after me, throwing their slippers at me. I was exhausted from having no water but I ran for my dear furry life. Alas they cornered me underneath the stairs and there was nowhere to run. It was here that they did the despicable. They twisted thick wires on my body. They hit me and then they beat me till I was bloodied. But at least I made them laugh. At least they let me go after they grew bored of hearing my whimpers.

There was this old man who caught me. I think I lived three years tied to the meter long chain underneath the mango tree. Back in the good old days of 1998, I was a proud little puppy. I was his guard. I took care of the metal junkyard when the old man went home to sleep. There I had plenty. There was a bowl of dirty water to wet my thirsty tongue. I remember wagging my tail whenever he threw me the leftovers from his lunch. I had food almost every day. Oh what joy it was then. I fast only on Sundays. That was the day he did not open the huge zinc doors to come to work.


One night some strange men sneaked into the yard. I barked with all my might. I ran towards them but the chain held me back. I barked and I barked until I barked no more. One of them took a metal bar and hit me so hard that I passed out. I remember everything fading away and when I woke up, I looked at the old man with pleading eyes.

He looked at me and then he spat. I rubbed myself against the metal collar so hard that I bled. My left hind leg was broken and I was still bleeding. He shook his head as he untied my chain. He threw me out of the junkyard and he told me to go. I sat at the door for three days. I hoped he would let me in. I know I could still guard his junkyard if he let me in. But he did not. On the third day, he took a stick and he beat me. He said, “Shoo! You are a useless dog! Your leg is broken and you cannot take care of my junkyard.”

It was there that I realised that he did not love me anymore.

I was left with nothing but one broken leg and an empty feeling in my heart. Where can I go? What can a dog do? I fed off the tables in the food court in SS2. I ate food that people threw. My leg healed but I guess nothing can heal my broken heart.

You know, you will get used to being beaten. After the fifth or the sixth hit, you will no longer feel a thing. Everything is numbed and you just go through the motions. That I can promise you. So do not fear, if you are a dog and if you are abandoned. You will survive and live to an old age, if you know how to run. And if you cannot run, you will pass out. So it is okay.

I have tried looking for a new master. Or a new mistress. I am not fussy. I am just a simple dog with very simple needs. Give me a bowl of water and some food to eat. A little shelter would be good. In return I promise I will wag my tail for you when you come home. I promise that I will love you until the day I die. You will be my whole world and I will obey everything you say. On carefree days, I would even play like a little lovable puppy.

But you think I am dirty. You think I have fleas. You think I have rabies and that I am smelly mutt. But I have a heart of gold and I would have done everything to make you smile. I would willingly die a million times to protect you.

I am an old tired dog now, so please give me a break. I have not slept well at night for the last hundred nights. My bones are beginning to ache. I am limping but at least I have all my four legs. Tricky, my roaming buddy has only three. He was knocked down by a lorry a long time ago and his left hind leg looks more like a mangled piece of metal than a mutt’s leg.

I heard a gun shot. I heard dear Tricky yelp. I have to get on all fours and make a dash for it. I am running for dear life and I hope that I will see the sunset today. I know a good place to hide from the dog shooters. It is a good spot because I have saved my skin three times hiding between the boxes and used plastic bags. But if the skies cry, then please remember me. Remember that I was a beautiful dog but when shot, I will finally find peace.





***
This morning I witnessed a team of Malay men chasing after two stray dogs with two guns. There were ladies crying at the breakfast place, when they fired two shots. I was chocking my tears when I saw them dragging the lifeless dogs with a rope around their necks.

No animal deserves such endings. Not even the strays. So please spare a moment for all the abandoned dogs and cats in the streets. Write to your town council and to the politicians against this barbaric act. I was so traumatised by what I saw that I was considering making a police report against the municipal. It has been more than 7 hours since but the sounds of the dying dogs are still ringing in my head.




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Related Links
Find out what you can do to improve the lives of many animals around you.

• SPCA


• PAWS

Are you sickened by people who abuse and mistreat their pets? Animal lovers all over Malaysia petition for a pro-active government stance on the prevention of cruelty to animals by passing effective and deterrant legislation such as increasing the cruelty fine from RM200 (since 1953) significantly higher to around RM 10,000.00 and increase jail time. Sign the petition today.