Of Waterfalls & Puppies

Decided to make a trip to JB Kota Tinggi Waterfalls this morning. The last time I visited it was more than 2 decades ago. But for some reasons, I felt the urge to visit the place. And so, we (pz and I) drove in about 8am. It was great that there was no traffic jams at the Second Link and in no time, we were cruising along the Johore highway towards Kota Tinggi. The roads had been widened since I last drove there and we managed to arrive at the place late morning. Sadly, the place was closed for maintenance. Nonetheless, I decided to park the car to take a closer look at the signage at waterfall entrance.

Once I got off my car, I heard cries from a puppy and a bitch barking at me. I couldn’t see the puppy as it was blocked by the bitch and she stood there between two parked cars. Something seemed wrong, judging from the sound of its cries. I dropped onto my knees, signalling to the bitch that I’m not hostile. She barked a bit more and then she stopped and just stood there, looking at me. After a few seconds, she walked away from the car, revealing a yelping puppy behind, half-hidden by the car. Now, this was not normal - a mother moving away from her crying puppy. Sensing something was not right, I walked towards it and I saw a disturbing sight. The puppy, probably no more than 6 weeks, had had its head caught in the fence and it was struggling to free itself. I told myself I had to help it. 

I walked to it, half expecting the bitch to charge at me, as what all mothers would do. But surprisingly, she was nowhere to be seen. I knelt down and held the puppy’s head. The neck was tightly encircled by the fence wire and it was trying to push its body across. And the more it tried, the tighter the wire got and it was choking. All it could do was simply cry and yelp badly. Judging from the pool of saliva on the floor, the exhausted face and the fearful look of its small eyes, I could only conclude that its head had been caught for some time. Gently, I held the head with one hand as I loosen the wires with the other. Once the wire loosen, the puppy lunged forward as it tried to push itself through. I had to push it back. There was no way the whole body could go through the hole. It struggled and pushed hard against my hand even as I pushed the head backwards. After a while, it stopped pushing and simply let me move it’s head. I managed to release it from the fence and once released, the puppy stumbled back and quickly ran into a hole in the drain as it continued crying and yelping. Quickly, I reached into the hole and pulled it out and brought it across to my side of the fence. I needed to reunite it with it’s mother. I placed it beside the car and it crawled under it as it continued crying. It was a very sad sight. A badly traumatised and weakened puppy hiding underneath a car and crying away. 

I left it there and walked towards the entrance of the waterfall and noted it was off limits. Regretably, I had to leave the place. When I reached back the car park, a group of foreigners walked by and the bitch barked ferociously at them. The bitch had gone back to her puppy and she had with her another puppy! I believed she was trying to protect her puppies from a perceived hostility. I stood there and observe her and bend down to look at the two puppies under the car. And guess what? The bitch walked up to me, looked at me and walked pass me. It was amazing. It seemed like she understood I was not an enemy. I poured a container of water and left it beside the car for the puppies. By now, the traumatised puppy had stopped crying and it was simply lying down resting underneath the car. I left them there to rest and drove off.

Reflecting through this whole incident, a few things struck me - the bitch could distinguish between friend and foe and when the situation calls for it, she will entrust her puppy to someone whom she felt could help. Also, even a puppy no more than 6 weeks old has a very strong will to live and will use all its strength to save itself, no matter how hard circumstances are. And lastly, a bitch is fully capable of showing appreciations. Amazing. It was indeed a really good and meaningful trip, even though I didn’t get to see the waterfalls. The puppy wouldn’t have lasted much longer under the blazing sun, and a dead puppy strangled by a fencing wire would have been a very gruesome sight.  For that moment, it felt like someone had wanted me there to save the puppy. Cos thinking about it, the chance of it happening was very slim for two reasons - the place is closed and quite deserted; and secondly, Malaysia is a Muslim country and I suspect not many would dare to approach a dog.