How Cruel Can Some People Be?

Justine, a very gentle looking dog

I went to do my marketing at Bandar Baru Sri Petaling few days ago, I saw a dog in front of a chicken stall, he was lying down and not moving, I thought he was sleeping or just resting. But curiosity got the better of me and I enquired about him from the chicken seller. Apparently he has been lying there for two days, his legs seemed stiff and straight, he could only lift up his head.

It was drizzling and I have to take him away from the dirty ground of a wet market. I bought a towel and wrapped  him up with it, luckily he did not put up any struggle nor tried to snarl at me, it was an easy task from wrapping him to carrying him to my car. He was very wet and  smelled strong urine, so I bathed him first  before taking him to the clinic.

Dr. Lee examined his body and legs, upon touching his front legs, he felt great pain and jerked up to bite. Dr. Lee could tell there was something wrong with his spinal cord., a X-ray was necessary to find out what happened. Dr. Lee also tried to get him walk but he could not do it, lots of  urine came out, apparently his bladder was full. There was no control  over that part of the organ. He could not urinate the normal way.

We have to bathe him as he was wet and dirty with urine

Dripping wet but very clean after the bath

Justine at the clinic, he was cool and relax 

Justine being examined by Dr. Lee

Had to muzzle him so he won't bite out of great pain

Wear a E -collar to make it easy for  the vets to examine him

Dr. Lee tried to walk him

The X-ray showed a broken spinal cord, it could be due to a strong brutal force aimed and impacted at his back spine, or caused by an accident, but the likely cause would be the former because there was no other visible wounds on his body if it was a car accident. Dr. Zamzi informed that there was nothing he could do to fix the problem , surgery would not be able to help. This means that Justine (the name I gave him) has to lie down on his side for life and he will suffer bed sores, inability to urinate without help (need to press his stomach to get the urine out), could not poo properly too. Justine did not have any appetite to eat, he did not touch the roast meat I bought for him earlier. But he ate a/d canned food given by Dr. Lee, but only ate a little.

It is a tough decision, how to save him ? Should I save him? I have wished surgery would help him to walk again but the damage of the spinal cord is far worse than I thought, even acupuncture might not help him.  I took Justine home and gave him some care and love. Justine is such a gentle dog, he has not make a noise since I picked him from the market, he loves and enjoyed all the attention I gave him and I could tell from his eyes, he is very thankful and he trusted me. Who could have harmed him? Who could be so cruel to inflict such pain on him?  

He was happy to see us

Justine has not much appetite, so we had to force feed him a little

Dr. Lee texted me to try acupuncture on Justine and she has fixed an appointment with Dr.Nazariah  Cheng. It is a slim hope but it is better than doing nothing for him.

Dr. Nazariah Cheng checked his X-ray and informed us that the prognosis for Justine is quite good and acupuncture could make his condition better. It was a good news to us. The next day, we took Justine to the clinic to be examined closely by Dr. Nazariah Cheng. I have left Justine there for 3 days for necessary examination and treatment before I received a call from Dr. Nazsariah Cheng to want to talk to me about Justine.

Justine has to be carried to the car

He was so happy to have the car ride to the clinic

Carried him while waiting for the vet.

Justine's scrotum has become swollen

Put him down to rest so he would be more comfortable

 

Dr. Nazariah Cheng has examined Justine but found there were more problems than she realised. She told me the bone surgery needed very refined surgery and advanced equipment which she did not have. Justine could be left alone for the bone to form its own callus but it would penetrate some parts of the bones . While callus is being formed, there should not be too much body movement so bed sores are inevitable.

Besides the broken spinal bones, Justine also has few other problems. He has a swollen scrotum which is filled with urine that leaks from a  damaged urethra. The repair to the urethra requires a sewing up or just left it as it is if it could not be sewn up but  it in turn would cause gangrene. The bladder needs to be drain off of urine which requires a tube to be inserted every 3 days and a daily cleansing not to mention require some expensive medicine.

He also suffers nerve damage problem from lower neck part , it could be caused by some brute force on his neck. Dr. Nazariah Cheng also noticed twitching on his legs which could be caused by distemper. It meant Justine might not be able to recover fully his leg condition. To top it all, Justine was hostile to human approach due to excruciating pain caused by a even a light touch on his front legs, he did not have appetite to eat (he lost a lot of weight within few days in the clinic) because of the great pain he suffered.

 

 

 

Justine barked fiecely at me when I went to visit him 3 days later

Justine has a large swollen scrotum that is filled with urine

After some time, Justine sat upright to look at me

I waited for sometime till he calmed down, Justine was his old self again, cool, gentle and trusting 

With all these problems, Dr. Nazariah Cheng advised me to take the option to end Justine's suffering, he is in great pain and it takes a long time to give all the necessary treatment and the cost involved would be very high, at the end of it, Justine might not completely recover. He also would need long time nursing care.

It was an obvious but a very difficult decision, I have rescued Justine only to agree to terminate his life. I went into the room where Justine was, I wanted to spend some time with him. I wanted him to know besides those people who had beaten him up so cruely, there are people who love him. I stayed in the room for a good 20 min. Justine has such gentle look on his eyes at me, he would not think in a few minutes to come, I would consent to release him from pain and suffering, away from this dog-hostile place. I patted his head many times, reluctant to leave him.

Finally I gave Justine one last pat on his head, asked for his forgiveness, pray that God will give him peace, then I walked away .....

Justine has lost some weight due to poor appetite and great body pain

I tried to touch him and he seemed to like it

Justine is always thirsty, he drank a lot of water

This is my last touch on him before he goes to a better place, away from human hostility

It is so difficult to say goodbye,  may God takes good care of you, may you have peace, Justine.