Kuning… our hero…
Kuning’s no coward — he’s a deep-sea rescuer
HIS name is Kuning and he’s fast gaining a reputation as a wonder dog, helping animal rescuers bring home fellow canines from the uninhabited islands off Pulau Ketam, Klang.
Indeed, according to pet rescuers, Kuning — who had gone missing two weeks ago — and his fellow pooch- Hitam are touted as the ‘leaders’ for aiding in rescue of 18 abandoned dogs.
Kuning was one of the first batch of dogs left by Pulau Ketam villagers on an isolated island. He swam from the mangroves to the nearest kelong (floating fish farm) where he and Hitam were adopted by the workers there.
Furry Friends Farm (FFF) principal Sabrina Yeap said that Kuning did not know what the rescue missions were about when they first started on May 2.
"We asked for the fishermen’s help but because of the jellyfish and sea snakes, we had discouraged them to go into the water. Unexpectedly, Kuning swam to the island one day. Some of the dogs there followed him and swam back out. It was as though he understood we were trying to lure out the dogs," related Yeap.
"The fishermen would then place cages on the boat and coax the swimming dogs into climbing onto the boats and straight into the cages."
She said the fluctuations between high and low tides had hampered rescue missions but the combined efforts of Kuning and Hitam and the fishermen helped to save time and speed up operations.
"Hitam would eat fish at the kelong and swim out to the island where he would actually cough out the food for the other dogs to eat," narrated Yeap.
FFF managed to rescue 21 dogs, three on their own and the rest with the ‘follow the leader’ style of Kuning and Hitam. Yeap said proudly: "They deserve medals."
Even the kelong workers felt safer with the two around as they proved to be excellent guards, barking and alerting the workers whenever anyone neared the place.
So, when free-spirited Kuning went missing, speculation was rife for about a fortnight about what could have happened — until he was found, safe and sound with veteran webmaster-blogger TV Smith, who was also doing rescue work. Kuning had been mistaken by two independent rescuers for one of the abandoned dogs and carted off for fostering.
But you can bet after a fully sponsored break with free board and breakfast and more, Kuning is back to business of being ‘lifeguard’.
* sources here *
hi andromedia - sorry but i’m VERY bad with names and i can’t remember your real name.
anyway, thanks for leaving a comment on my blog, i appreciate it. i need to get posting again because this whole issue is so important to me.
as you guessed, we were the ones who showed up 2 sundays ago in FFF and as you posted earlier, it was VERY impossible to find. hehe i just wish that we could have found it earlier so that we could help out more on the actual works. we were actually talking last night before bed time and decided that we would go there again this weekend but without the dogs so that we can do our part of the hard work needed to be done. i only wish that i could do a lot more!
thanks for the compliments on the dogs…of course i love them to pieces!
they were very nervous on that day and i think even moreso than usual because they were in the car for soooo long as we were lost for such a long time looking for FFF. they both even got very car sick. they were both relieved when we finally got home and just layed on the couch all night to watch TV with us. hehehe
well, we will see you this weekend if you guys are there. if you happen to know if there is any supplies that sabrina needs can you please let me know? i sms her but i didn’t get reply…i think sometimes she gets so many sms that it is hard for her to manage. see ya sunday!! Scott
Comment by scott warmer — June 10, 2009 @ 4:16 pm
Hey Scott… thank you for leaving a comment here. The name is ck by the way.
Trust me. I know how hard it is to find FFF. I have been through similar ordeal myself. I’m just glad you found your way at last. I knew my way now after a few trips there.
I’ll be there this weekend and you will definitely see me there. Just remember if you are going over to help, please bring extra clothings for changing, drinking water and if required, some food. It’s quite a long way out to get food.
As for Sabrina, she is always in need of supplies. Try calling her instead of SMS. She will eventually picks up after a few tries but she rarely replies her SMS, especially when she is busy with her chores. Try calling her around noon or late evening…
Comment by andromedia — June 10, 2009 @ 4:23 pm
hi ck - thanks for the information on the new website and also being able to contact sabrina. I will try to give her a call later tonight when I’m home already. Look forward to seeing you on Sunday!!
-Scott
Comment by scott warmer — June 11, 2009 @ 12:16 pm
Sure thing… see you this coming Sunday…
Comment by andromedia — June 11, 2009 @ 12:20 pm