I went to the place today to drop off some food that I had bought for their rabbits and chicken earlier. I also cooked some food for Miko, the rottie. He was always so very hungry. Look how small his body is in relation to his head. Pak Mie said that Miko doesn’t like rice because he often leaves a lot uneaten. Sometimes he tips his bowl over. Pak Mie said that he was protesting because he didn’t like the food. Strange, I thought.
One day, I observed Miko eating and finally realised out that it was none of the above. They put the food in such a small bowl that he simply could not fit his big face into it! The rice would be pressed solid against the bottom and sides of the dish. He would lick and lick at it, trying to pick it up, and the harder he licked, the more compressed it became. Then he would give up and flop down and just stare at the bowl. Think how hard it is for a dog with such a blunt face to turn over his bowl. It was simply to get at the food inside! He wasn’t protesting - that just goes to show how much Pak Mie knew about dogs. At any rate, the portion is also too small because the bowl is simply too small. I bought him a bigger bowl, but it was gone the next day because there are always never enough bowls to go around. They never buy any bowls no matter how much money you give them. Miko’s single bowl here is alternated between water and food, and here he has neither, which is the norm.
This was how fat Miko was when he first came two months ago - look at his butt!
There was no hope of getting Pak Mie and Mak Intan to change, so I thought I would bring him food myself. I cooked Miko some brown rice with chicken meat (because they never get any meat) and carrots (because they never get any veggies).
When Mak Intan saw me getting out of the car, she told me to leave. (This was a week after she had kicked me out.) I said I just wanted to drop off some rabbit food that I had bought for them earlier. She said, "I don’t want it. Just get out of here. I don’t want you here." I said I had bought it already, takkan just want to throw it away? She said, "Throw it away then!"
Stupidly, I thought I would just leave the food there as I had bought it for their animals and I really had no other use for it. So I went over to the main area to leave it there. [Had I left it there in the end, she would’ve thrown it away herself.]
I also brought over the food that I had cooked for Miko. It pains me to see how skinny he is. (The pic at top is from February - now he’s even skinnier.) The cooked food I truly had no other use for, so I thick-skinned-ly went and gave it to him anyway even though Mak Intan had told me not to, cos I so wanted him to have some good food to eat and this was my last time there. I emptied the food into a big plastic bowl that I had bought specially for him (the second one already). Mak Intan quickly caught up with me from behind. She shouted loudly that there was no need for me to give him anything. She was already quite angry at this point. I ignored her and went ahead anyway. This was my last chance to give Miko a decent meal - the first and last time I had ever brought food for him. I don't know why I never thought of it before. He was sleeping like a log. I woke him up and he sniffed at the food. Strange smell - chicken meat! Before he could take a bite, she grabbed the bowl and flung the food far away, out of reach of Miko. All the chicken, carrot pieces and grains of rice were now scattered all over the gravel. Miko sniffed hungrily at the food and pulled at his chain but couldn’t reach it.
She said, "This is our dog, we can feed him ourselves and we feed him what we like, we don’t need you to bring anything!!" Oh?? Why ask people for donations then? Give me back my money, you hypocrite!!!! I pulled out my camera to take a picture of what she had done. People call me a liar - I want you to see the real Mak Intan you didn’t see on TV! She smacked the camera out of my hand and it fell onto the stones. The shutter never closed properly again after that. Some more shouting. I tried again and she smacked my hand a second time, but this time I was prepared and the camera didn't fall. An old man and a lady with a young girl stood there and watched the altercation.
She shouted, "Kamu jahat!!! Kamu bubuh gambar di Facebook!!" Er, most of them were actually Pak Mie’s own photos, which he himself put on FB long ago. I just copied them and put them on my page. They had been around a long time, they weren't new. She shouted some more and told me to leave, so I did. I didn’t want to waste any breath arguing with her. I even forgot to take back the thing which I went there to take, I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
I’m just pained that Miko didn’t get to eat the food I cooked specially for him. All the grains of rice had fallen in between the gravel now. She had to be that nasty. Every time I eat, I feel sad thinking how he is perpetually hungry. I’m sorry, Miko. I tried. :'(
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September 2014: Miko died.
