Snow White and her rescue story

…and there were no seven dwarfs, just a few humans!

I was at the temple for a meeting today when the caretaker, Harsha, called me away to look at something.

It was a puppy. Harsha said he puppy was left at the temple yesterday and he said the puppy could not walk and had injuries. When Harsha carried her, she would squeal in pain. And she also cried during urination.

Being a Sunday, the Subang Jaya vets were all closed, so seeing that the puppy looked happy (wagging her tail, etc. and was also eating, according to Harsha), I made arrangements with a friend to take the puppy to a vet tomorrow for a check-up.

However, after the meeting, I figured we had better not delay treatment, so I got one of the devotees who was willing to take Harsha and puppy to the clinic in PJ for a check-up.

By then, some devotees had noticed the puppy.

I was worried in case her leg was broken.  According to Harsha, both the front paw and the hind leg looked injured. In any case, the puppy could not walk at all.

She’s completely adorable and extremely friendly.

Two devotees contributed some money when they heard we were going to take the puppy to the clinic.

And children gathered around her, patting her and she definitely enjoyed the attention.

I guessed the injury may not be extensive or very painful since she wasn’t reacting in a defensive way, but still, we should not take chances.

This is Harsha, the caretaker.

According to Harsha, the puppy was abandoned at the temple a few months ago and was found under the van when Harsha was about to drive the van off. Luckily Harsha noticed her and brought her out. She was a very tiny puppy then.

A lady from the temple then adopted the puppy and yesterday, the lady brought her back and left her at the temple. No one informed the temple that the puppy could no longer walk. Harsha noticed the puppy back at the temple and found that initially she could walk a little, but later, could not walk anymore.

Well, we don’t know what happened in between, so X-Rays might shed some light.

Being Sunday, there was an extremely long queue at the clinic.

We named her Snow White and many pet-owners at the clinic were totally enchanted by her.

Soon it was our turn. We explained whatever we knew to the vet and X-Rays were taken. Snow White was taken into the imaging room and she seemed very cooperative. But while she was taken away, she defecated. Two well-formed stools.

The vet took images of the front paw and back leg.

 

No broken bones here.

No broken bones in the front paw or back leg.

What a relief!

The vet decided to check the abdominal area as well since Snow White’s abdomen looked distended.

The only thing the X-Rays showed was a lot of fecal matter in the gut.

We were all a little puzzled. If there are not broken bones and nothing seemed to be wrong, why couldn’t Snow White walk? And why was there pain when Harsha carried her and also when she urinated yesterday?

As we were trying to hypothesize what could be wrong, the vet assistant exclaimed from inside the imaging room, “Eh, dia boleh jalanlah…!”

Oh look….Snow White is walking!!

She was really walking on her own, though just a little bit awkwardly.

But she was walking!

And before we knew it, she defecated…a lot!

The vet wanted to be sure, so she brought Snow White down to consult the senior vet. The senior vet says it is probably a soft tissue injury which will heal itself. It is likely there is nothing seriously wrong.

Oh wow…what a relief! Harsha was beaming with joy.

Snow White was dewormed and given some painkillers.

 Thank you, Harsha, for doing the needful for Snow White.

This is compassion in action.

So the friend drove Harsha and Snow White back to the temple while I went off from the vet’s clinic to the (human) hospital as my father was hospitalised due to a fall.

Later, I contacted the temple and was told Snow White had eaten up a whole packet of chicken rice in less than a minute after she returned! A good appetite is always a good sign. The temple staff will look for another adopter for Snow White. Meanwhile, I’ve suggested that Snow White be spayed and vaccinated before being put up for adoption. Harsha will take care of Snow White and her food.

The temple also bore the remainder of the bill for today’s check-up.

Let’s hope Snow White will continue to recover and be well, happy and healthy!