Kollam: Temmy, the dog, finally found her master. The strange reunion created emotional moments at the District Veterinary Hospital, where the dog has been recuperating after getting a cancerous tumour removed from its abdomen.
Radhika Menon was on the verge of tears when she saw the pet she thought she had lost forever. She caressed its head and back and fed it from her hand. Temmy stood there, rubbing against her master and wagging her tail. Radhika and her son Mindhun R. Nath took the dog home.
Temmy landed up in the street after being abandoned by the person her owner had entrusted the dog with. She has been in the hospital for two months. The vets had removed a 4.5 kilo tumour from her abdomen.
Radhika, a human rights activist, came to know about Temmy’s location after Manorama published a report about the dog that has made the veterinary hospital its home. Radhika’s friends in Kollam forwarded the report and the photo of the dog to her.
Temmy had been leading a cozy life with Radhika in their house at Tripunithura. She had a place among members of the family. She would wait on her seat near the dining table until the others had finished their dinner. She would follow even the slightest gesture from Radhika.
Her world was upset when Radhika and family shifted to a rented house at Pallikkara near Kunnathunad. Though they had sought the house owner’s permission to accommodate the pet with them, their neighbours objected to it. They even threatened to poison the dog, Radhika said.
A year ago, the family was forced to send Temmy away to the house of a family friend at Kaithakkott when he promised to take care of her. They wanted a place for the dog until Radhika’s son finished the construction of his own house.
Radhika and her son would visit Temmy often in the initial days and call up to ask about her. Recently, the caretaker called up to say that the dog was missing.
SPCA volunteers found the dog suffering from a large growth in her belly near the village office at Perinad on July 6. They suspected that the owner of the dog might have abandoned the sick dog.
More and more pets land up in streets
The SPCA has found an increasing trend of abandoning sick pet dogs. Three such cases were reported in a week, volunteers said.
A few people have abandoned their pets at the District Veterinary Hospital once the animals were diagnosed with some serious illness. It is illegal to abandon pet dogs.