SEA Games outing turns into dog rescue mission
KUALA LUMPUR: A trip to watch the SEA Games athletics recently turned out to be a dog rescue mission for model and former beauty queen Genevieve Sambhi and her two children.
Sambhi and her children Isabella and Alexander Harding were returning home, taking the LRT from Bukit Jalil to Ampang, when they spotted a dog in distress.
“She was trying to pick up one of her puppies which had fallen from the road bank, where the rest of the puppies were but had difficulty doing it,” said Sambhi.
Sambhi picked up the puppy and placed it back with the rest of the litter and went to buy food and water for the dog while Isabella, 12, and Alexander, nine, looked after the dog and her puppies.
“I felt very sad for the dog especially when she jumped down and licked my hands when I put the puppy back with the rest of the litter,” she said.
While she was away, another puppy fell into a hole and Alexander crawled in and rescued it, reuniting the puppy with its mother and its five siblings.
Once the dog and her litter had eaten, Sambhi was ready to go home but Isabella refused to leave unless the dog and her puppies went with them.
Sambhi then telephoned her husband Paul Harding to fetch them.
“When we opened the car door, the dog jumped in and sat on my son’s lap, rested her chin on his shoulder and fell asleep,” said Sambhi, who has now placed the seven dogs in a temporary place.
She said she could not take the canine family into her home as it might distress her 14-year-old dog which is blind and senile.
“He is my priority and I cannot do anything which could take a toll on him,” she said, adding that she contacted canine welfare project Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better (MDDB) which will take the puppies once they have been weaned.
MDDB adoption coordinator Christine Lai said the rescue group was also strapped for space as its sanctuary near Rawang has yet to be completed.
“Progress is very slow due to lack of funds and we hope donors, including corporations and businesses, will help us complete the construction within the next two months so that we will have more space,” said Lai.
Those who can foster the dog and her puppies or would like to help MDDB complete the construction of its dog sanctuary can call Lai at 012-241 4749 or write to malaysiandogsdeservebetter1@gmail.com.