Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Rottie Attacks Puppy Prince !!

Off to a joy ride!! Hurray!!

Little puppy Prince's royal carriage arrived on Sunday afternoon to fetch him to visit his mommy, Lady - he was all excited to be going on a long car ride to the pet hotel. He had not seen his mommy for a while. Throughout the journey, Prince was well behaved. He sat upright on the back seat and looked out the windows excitedly, as if remembering the route.

When we arrived there, Prince was as usual a little fearful of all the loud barks coming from the kennels, greeting him, and had to be carried straight to his mommy's kennel. He was happy as a lark when he saw his mommy - licking and sniffing her constantly.

Little puppy Prince's royal carriage arrived on Sunday afternoon to fetch him to visit his mommy, Lady - he was all excited to be going on a long car ride to the pet hotel. He had not seen his mommy for a while. Throughout the journey, Prince was well behaved. He sat upright on the back seat and looked out the windows excitedly, as if remembering the route.

When we arrived there, Prince was as usual a little fearful of all the loud barks coming from the kennels, greeting him, and had to be carried straight to his mommy's kennel. He was happy as a lark when he saw his mommy - licking and sniffing her constantly.


Poor Prince was snubbed by his mommy.

Again, his mommy's reaction to him was rather cool, preferring to look at the volunteer and wait for her liver meal. Sigh . . our hearts went out to Prince. His mommy really seemed as if she had forgotten him. She was only interested in her warm meal.

And according to the care-takers who care for Lady, they say she has started being choosy with food, refusing to even eat her canned food and vegetables. She waits her for warm cooked meals daily and will only have that and nothing else. Seems like we've spoilt her!

We must thank the care-takers (JoJo and Chris) at the pet hotel for taking such good care of Lady - her wounds seem to have dried up and recovered really well. She will go to the Vet on Wednesday afternoon (June 25) for a review - we're keeping our paws crossed that she would not require that major surgery to have her ear removed. Prince sat with his mommy in the kennel for a while and just enjoyed being close to her.

Lady sniffed at him a few times but we sensed she was no longer interested nor attached to him. We left shortly after, feeling rather sorry for this little puppy who so wants his mommy dearly. As we had to bring another puppy Jerry (son of Truffles) to his new adoptive family in Woodlands, we decided to take Prince for a car ride as well.

So off Prince went, on another joy ride to fetch Jerry and his fosterer to Jerry's new family. After the excitement of seeing his mommy, Prince was tired and slept well in his royal carriage all the way to his next destination.

Immediately after the attack, Prince couldn't put weight on his right front leg.

On arrival at a private residential area in Woodlands, we parked the royal carriage a few houses away and were met by Jerry's new family. Together with Prince, Jerry and the new family, we headed towards their home. The family's young children were really excited at meeting Jerry; their previous dog had just passed on not too long ago.

Hardly 3 mins into our walk a huge Rottweiler dashed out of one of the houses and pinned Prince down!! The irresponsible owner had left his main gate open, allowing the Rottweiler to dash out and attack.

Everyone screamed in fear and froze as the Rottweiler bit and put puncture wounds into little Prince. One of our volunteers tried pulling at Prince's leash but the Rottweiler grabbed Prince a second time! Another volunteer ran over and grabbed the leash again and tugged the leash up like a fishing line with Prince at the end of it. She did not dare use her hands to grab poor Prince for fear of losing her arm as well.

Despite all this commotion, the owners were still nowhere in sight. Fortunately this time Prince went up in the air with a hard tug on the leash and the volunteer grabbed Prince in her arms and ran, using her legs to fend off the ferocious Rottweiler.

Inspite of having the puppy in her arms, the Rottie continued to chase the volunteer, trying to get Prince. Everything happened so quickly and it was terrifying! The volunteer ran with Prince in her arms, Prince was crying in fear and pain and he pee-ed and pooh-ed all over himself and on the volunteer!

After running a short distance, the owners of the Rottie finally dashed out of the gate and ordered the Rottie back. They took a while to stop their dog from chasing Prince before their dog obeyed. The Rottie had neither a collar nor a licence tag on.

Close up of the 2 puntured wounds.

Everyone ran into Jerry's new home and some of the people were in tears and shock. Prince was still squealing in pain. When we were safely in the house, we put him down on the grass, he was trembling so badly, he was drenched in his own pee and pooh, he had two puncture wounds on his neck and he could not put his front right leg down.

Someone went over to the Rottie's family to ask for their name which they refused to reveal. However after some time, they gave us their name and mobile number. We were fortunate that Jerry was not attacked by the Rottie as well.

It seemed like a random attack as Prince was closer to the gate where the Rottie had dashed out from. The royal carriage, now turned into a royal ambulance, rushed Prince to Mt Pleasant (Whitley).

The Vet on call was Dr Simon Quek. He immediately shaved off some fur and cleaned Prince's wounds. Prince was still in shock and a lot of pain. Dr Quek also did an x-ray of his front leg. Fortunately the xray did not reveal any fractures on Prince.

Dr Quek said that it was fortunate that the puncture wounds missed Prince's lungs and heart. The Rottie's head was almost as big as little Prince!

Dr Quek shaved off some fur to reveal the wounds which were small but deep.

Soon after, the family of the Rottweiler arrived at the Vet. When all was done, wounds cleaned, medicine dispensed, the bill was prepared. The Rottweiler's family then offered to pay for only HALF of the bill. We were quite insistent that they foot the entire medical bill as their dog and them were clearly at fault. After some discussion, they paid in full and left.

Prince went home with his fosterer and according to her, he cried throughout the night - either from pain or trauma. He is still not using his front leg - it could be extremely sore and bruised from the attack.

Fell asleep straightaway on the examination table after been given 2 jabs for pain and shock.

Our objective of relating this story to the public is in line with AVA's Responsible Pet Ownership. A Rottweiler, is a Category B dog, should be licensed and muzzled in public.

It was totally irresponsible of the owners to walk out of their house leaving the main gate wide open, knowing full well that you have a Cat B dog in your home and children that may be playing right in front of the house, on the streets.

What if the Rottie had mauled a child instead? What if the Rott had mauled BOTH Prince and Jerry? There has been one too many incidences on irresponsible owners - its high time that pet owners be more responsible and not take their dogs for granted.

Dogs, like humans, have moods too. They can sometimes be unpredictable and you'll never know what triggers them off! Must it always take an accident for people to wake up and be more responsible??

In this instance, all they did was take a slow stroll in a quiet private housing area and what started off as a happy and pleasant day for Prince, going for a car ride, being with his mommy but because of the irresponsibility of some pet owners, poor Prince ended up being rushed to the A&E.

He is still in a lot of pain and shock. He has found himself a quiet corner and he hides there all day, no longer wanting to play with his best buddies. He cries when he tries to walk. It could be that his tiny body is still extremely sore and bruised.

Our heart goes out to little Prince - he has had a terribly hard life. Born on the streets in oil and grime, lost his mommy for a while and when finally reunited, his mommy snubbed him.

Hardly gotten over that rejection, he was attacked by a Rottweiler. All this in 4 short months of his life. A hard life indeed. We hope that when he recovers, someone will adopt him and give Prince a life fit for a king.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness. The poor baby. What else can happen to him?

Anonymous said...

I think u all should report this to AVA. As the rottie is consider a "Highly Dangerous" animal in the estate. Should another incident happen it might not be injured only... it might be death (other animals or even children)

Lorac said...

Poor Prince. Hope that he'll recover from the shock soon.
The family of the rottie is so irresponsible. feels like strangling them man!
Anyway, salute to the volunteer too. For the desire to protect Prince. Thank you!!! to you, on behalf of Prince.

Anonymous said...

But I wouldn't blame the rottie because it's never the dogs fault. it's always these type of irresonpsible owners that we see dogs being put down when they attack.

BigBrownBearBear said...

I am upset that this has happened.

I am in agreement that it is the owner's fault. The dog sounds barely trained at best.

Felicia> a muzzle would not have helped. Firstly, the dog ran out of the gate. Secondly, muzzling a dog 24/7 is as good as killing it.

A muzzle is not a fashion article. It is a TOOL. A TOOL for training. Not only is a muzzle anti-social, it would infact worsen the dog's confidence and temprement.

Honestly, the muzzle law is counter-productive.

I have also heard of rottie owners that tie their dog to a tree and use a baseball bat to wack the dog.

They call it training.

CeciLia said...

My heart goes all out for little Prince! The Rott's family should be reported to the police for being so irresponsible! They not only should pay for Prince's medical fees, they should continue to pay for his check ups. I do not think we should let that family off. The Rott, if not trained, will attack other dogs and even little children.
~Cecilia

Anonymous said...

i feel sorry for him. hope he gets well too.. i'm also worried that he might be traumatized by the incident & turned aggressive/ scared/ or refuse to socialise next time when he see others dogs because of this incident.

i heard of alot of dogs that turned aggressive after being attacked.

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