Noah's Ark rescue: Angel

One night along the quiet industrial area, a volunteer caught sight of this extremely thin stray dog with reddish skin whilst she was out on her stray feeding rounds. She fed it some dog canned food but the dog refused to eat nor move. It was obviously in pain and discomfort, constantly shaking its head, possibly from the itch. The gravel she was lying on was definitely not helping her skin condition either. Her entire body was covered with red open sores from scratching them. The volunteer continued to feed the other dogs before leaving, with a heavy heart.

Food was provided, but she was not hungry at all

Wishing for a swift death to escape the unbearable pain

The volunteer was unable to get the dog out of her mind for the next few days, continuously seeing the dog's sad eyes in her mind. Eventually, the volunteer specially took half day off from work and decided to look for the dog. Planning and hoping to catch it, she hung around the area where she last spotted the dog. After what seemed like a long wait, the dog emerged from its hiding place. With the help of an elderly couple working nearby, she managed to lure it into a pet carrier by putting food on the inside. This time the dog was lured by the smell of the canned food and went inside the carrier without a fight.

Her eyes reflected pain and emptiness...

On the way to the vet, the dog threw up in the pet carrier. The vomit had a faint smell of curry rice with spices, food that isn’t supposed to be eaten by dogs. Due to hunger, she must have desperately rummaged through the garbage in order to find some leftovers to fill her empty stomach with. She was in such a sorry state it was heartbreaking.

At the vet, we could feel the accusing stares of other pet owners that burned into the back of our heads as we stood at the counter. It was as if they thought of us to be the cause of state that this poor dog was in! While waiting for the vet, she curled up into a ball quietly at the base of our feet. The way she curled up seemed as if she was just waiting for death to come and take away the unbearable pain she was in.


Her skin condition was terrible

Who knows how long she has been in this state? Looking at the open sores on her body, we think it would have been more than half a year for her to reach this pitiful state.

As she was all skin and bones, the vets had a hard time looking for a proper vein to draw blood from! A little while earlier, she had tried to bite as the feeling of receiving help was something new and foreign to her. Eventually, she relented, probably guessing the doctors meant well. Besides, she was too weak and in no condition to put up any sort of a struggle.


Curled up in her own little world

Thankfully, she passed her blood test without trouble. The sole problem was that she was undernourished and had a case of severe mange. The vet diagnosed her skin condition as dermodex mange (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mange for more information). Moreover, she smelled rather bad due to a sour smell emanating from her hardened skin. It looked raw and reddish, but in fact, it was rough and hard, similar to a tree bark. All this was the cause of the mange.

She scratched until her skin was raw and red

Due to the state she was in, the vet was unable to estimate her age. At this point in time, she could do with 3 solid meals a day where her diet has lots of meat and protein in it. She is also currently on medication for mange in the hope that it'll help her. Beyond her sad eyes was a black endless vacuum of space, where life seemed to be cruelly sucked out.

Her bark-like skin

Her rescuer took her home for the night as it was almost 9pm by the time we were done at the vet. At the rescuer’s house, Angel ate ravenously, as if she had never eaten such a good meal before! It was probably the first time in a long while that she had a shelter over her head and that she didn’t have the hard cold gravel as a bed. She slept soundly like a baby for the first time in a very long time.

Yes, we named her Angel. To us, we feel as if God must be watching over her from afar, keeping her alive despite her pain. Now, thanks to her rescuer, she has hope. We pray that she would recover in time so that we’ll be able to transport her to Noah’s Ark. There, she will be loved unconditionally and never have to worry about food, water or shelter ever again. It is there where she will receive the necessary treatment for her skin and be able to live the life that she fully deserves.

Angel, an apt name for a tiny dog that has had to struggle with life. Thankfully, Angel now has a fosterer who will care for her, feed her, love her and strengthen her, till she is ready to head for Noah's Ark, her forever home.

Would you please help me?

If you would like to donate towards Angel's medical bills, food, supplements and eventual passage to Noah's Ark, please make a direct transfer to our bank account or fill up and send a giro form. All details can be found in the right column under the section "Contribute" and "DBS Giro form".

Thank you in advance. Please help us help her.