From Diva
http://www.divaasia.com/article/3490
This Mother's Day, 30-year-old mummy-to-be Ms Sabrina Peng received her Mother's Day gift in the form of a large, three-legged dog. Left: Ms Charmaine Fernandez with her adopted dog, Pappy.
While most people looking for a pet would have gone straight to the pet shop to look for a cute, tiny puppy or kitten, Sabrina Peng thinks nothing of adopting dogs that others would have turned away from.
So when she saw Sugee, a three-legged dog that was rescued by the Action for Singapore Dogs (ASD), she just knew she had to have her.
Sugee lost her leg when she was hit and dragged by a truck for a few miles before being able to escape by crawling from under the wheels when she was only three months old.
The handicapped canine was unable to find a home despite being rescued and nursed back to health by her ASD rescuers. People looking for dogs as pets just did not want a "disabled" pet, until Sabrina came along.
Lots of heart for a 'disabled' dog
“Zoro, stop!” Sabrina admonished her other adopted dog in a firm voice the way only a mother can, and as the large, wolf-like dog stopped barking, pouted and hid under the table, you realise how much she actually is a mother to them.
Sabrina started looking for another dog after she realised how lonely Zoro - her adopted dog of three years - was. She wanted "a little brother or sister" for him, and that was Sugee.
And she knew she had to have Sugee the moment she laid eyes on her picture on the ASD website. She said: "We took her there and then. Whether dogs are two or three-legged, they still need love, just like us."
Sabrina and her husband think their three-legged companion is just perfect.
As Sugee snuggles closer to Sabrina and curls up next to her, it's an amazing close bond, considering that the dog was extremely timid and hesitant when she arrived at the Pengs' home less than a week ago.
But Sabrina had her work cut out for her.
She knew that Sugee, who had suffered from a terrible trauma, would feel uncomfortable and scared in a new environment. So Sabrina, who is pregnant with her first child, stayed up through the night to watch over her, then spent the next day sitting with both dogs and familiarizing them with each other. And she had to make sure that both her dogs could get along fine.
It was through Sabrina's dedication and hard work that Sugee now feels safe in her new home.
Sabrina says that Sugee's disability is not a problem and she behaves like any normal playful dog.
"Now that she's comfortable, she tries to bite the remote control, so I have to catch her at the right time and show her that it's wrong," Sabrina says with a laugh. "A bit of positive reinforcement."
All this mothering comes as practice for Sabrina too, as her baby is due in four months. But her two big dogs have not caused her concern when it comes to the baby.
She thinks little of people who abandon their pets when they have a new addition to the family. She said: “I’m not that scared, because you can keep the house clean. But a little bit of exposure actually helps the immune system!”
Ms Eunice Ng with her adopted puppy, Bambi.
Ms Charmaine Fernandez, 34, who works in finance, has added another dog to her growing family of six dogs. And Pappy, her black and white spotted mongrel, is fitting in nicely.
32-year-old marketing executive, Ms Eunice Ng, on the other hand, already has four cats. But she thought nothing of adopting a new puppy, Bambi, who gets along with the cats.
For both of them, their love for dogs brought them to the Action for Singapore Dogs website and prompted them to adopt a new dog.
Ms Fernandez said: "Dogs give you their undivided attention and unconditional love."
