Our wee friend, Whitey - Sumatra 2024

 

We often find ourselves in countries where there is a stray cat and/or dog problem and where the state of animal welfare is not to our liking. SE Asia has it's own problems in this way borne mostly of poverty and lack of support systems at government and community level. In all our time here we have not seen anyone be actively cruel to an animal, but plenty of neglect (which of course, is a cruelty in itself).

When we arrived at Sibaranum Island and moved into our own idyllic cabin on the beach we found ourselves surrounded by a gaggle of local dogs on numerous occasions. Most of these dogs had a home to go to, they just liked hanging out with us during the day.

On the second day, we realised there was one wee dog that never went home. He stuck to us like glue day and night. We named him Whitey. We decided not to offer him any food for the first two days in the hope that he would go back to whoever was looking after him. He didn't.

We angsted over the decision to feed him as we didn't want him to become reliant on us. But decided if we could feed him up and give him as much love as possible while we were here then at least he would have had a wonderful experience for at least one week of his life. As our accommodation was inclusive of three meals a day, we were able to feed him everything we ate. He had lots of fish and rice! He also enjoyed porridge, banana, coconut rolls and much more. He didn't even mind the spice.

Whitey became our little shadow. He was the most loyal and gracious guest we could have hoped for. We realised he was quite young as once he was able to relax he became quite playful. He followed us EVERYWHERE. He slept on our deck each night and his friends would come by each morning for play dates.

When it came time for us to leave, we would have given anything to take him too. Unfortunately our lifestyle precludes us from doing so. We just hope he is able to find his person/people sometime soon.

Our hearts still hurt ....

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