Dead puppies

The day that was : 25 September 2010

My brother Liew koko’s dog Lembu has recently given birth to a group of tiny puppies underneath a discarded old car in front of my brother’s workshop. She guarded her offspring like it was the most priceless possession in the world.

But the next morning koko discovered that one of the puppies was dead hence retrieved the body from underneath the car while Lembu was away perhaps searching for food. My sister and I then buried the dead puppy in a shallow grave in front of my brother’s workshop, after saying a short prayers and a little communication to ask the puppy to let go of attachment to its body and rest in peace.

We could sense that Lembu was a little distressed over the death of her puppy.

We left for a trip back to village that day and when we returned to the workshop the following evening a heavy stinging stench hung in the air. Yet another puppy was found dead.

I asked my younger brother to bury the dead puppy however it was already late evening and drizzling outside and he needed to leave immediately for some official matters hence hurriedly said a prayer over the dead body, then got rid of it somewhere outside the house. I would have preferred a proper burial, but relented somehow , albeit hesitatingly.

Lembu this time was seen outside the gate, ignoring my calling out to her and looking obviously dejected, sitting on the side of the road as if nursing its own depression and grievances on yet another loss of a dear life she called her own.

When I got back home and called my sister I was told that Lembu had just a while ago dugged out the first dead puppy from the shallow grave and carried it around the house compound, emitting an unbearable stench due to the highly decomposing state of the carcass. She wouldn’t release her grip despite the incessant prodding, determined to hold on to the dead body with all her strength.

The following day we did not manage to find Lembu nor her offspring. I think she mistook our interception as a form of violation of privacy, and a threat to the wellbeing of her newborns, therefore decided to move the newborns away to a place where we were never able to locate its whereabout.

Few days later, Lembu was found dead on the roadside and her puppies were never to be found.

My mum had earlier related a story in her younger days of a family dog which after a puppy of hers died had refused to leave the place where its body was buried, not willing to accept the fact that her puppy was now gone, she was determined to protect the offspring with her entire presence, till she died beside the grave due to prolonged hunger and malnutrition..

It’s heart wrenching to see how a dog, just like humans, displays its emotional fragilities when the time comes to part with its loved ones.

Because letting go of our attachments, be it to people matter most to us or even a value possession we hold on to dearly, can never be easy.

Once in a while, we learn a valuable lesson from a little episode in our life, like this.

Dead puppies.

And a grieving mother unwilling to let go..


Burial for a tiny life gone too soon