Saturday, October 16, 2010

Did anyone love this dog before?


I've come to call him "Brownie, the Dog Wanderer" because since late last year, I've always seen him wandering around our neighborhood, usually around the intersection of Corrina Avenue and Aramis Street in Pasong Tamo, Tandang Sora district, Quezon City, Philippines. And he's always been sleeping--rain or shine, if not walking around--rain or shine, on the sidewalk in front of the gate of a house there. Thus I suppose that Brownie used to live there. Maybe his human, his dog parent, in that house used to love him, and Brownie loved him or her back. That is, until maybe Brownie's dog parent kicked him out because he or she couldn't stand anymore or didn't want to do something about his wounds and nasty smell. Just a thought.


But if Brownie's not sleeping on that sidewalk, he just walks around the vicinity of the said streets, silently eyeing passersby and looking at vehicles zooming by. Having taken pity on Brownie, I would take some leftover food with me if I knew I will be passing by the area where I usually see him (I live nearby where his territory is). He has come to recognize me (or maybe my "smell" since, I think, he can barely see now) whenever I approach him, waiting for me to give him something to eat. Sometimes, he follows me even several meters away, looking at me with his pitiful eyes, if I pass by him and I don't happen to have food with me to give him. But there've been instances, too, that I bring him food, but I don't find him in his usual place. That's the time he's off wandering somewhere. Perhaps looking for food and water. Or, perhaps following another neighbor who's taken to dropping Brownie some food, too, as he or she passes by this friendly-looking dog. Brownie still had brown fur when I first saw him wandering around (late last year). And I was able to take his photograph in December 2009. Now, he's lost much of his hair, exposing his gray scalp (if that's what's it's called in a dog), and has more wounds. But I still call him "Brownie." And...he responds to that name, too! Or, maybe he just smells the food am carrying for him, that's why he stands up when I call him Brownie. Or, maybe, he just didn't have a name at all and has come to like being called Brownie. I took more photographs of Brownie just the other day. And he gamely posed. I've not seen him since then. I hope he's okay. Sometimes, I can't but wonder about Brownie, the wanderer.



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You made a very big careless mistake. You should have taken that dog to whatever no kill local sheter there is around you. Or contact people like AFOC in CT and ask them who they recommend near you. If you see this dog again, please don't be careless. Take the dog to some caring people who will feed him, and take care of his vounds. He seems to have lost his fur because of mange. This dog must have suffered like a crazy MF and you not helping when you could have, when he still had fur, aided to his suffering. FEEDING someone in trouble isn't helping them. Taking a dog, without dog tags to authorities is helping them out of misery. From the view of his nose wounds he was used as a bait dog for dog fighting, so you can't imagine the agony he lived through. If you ever see him again and you can't find a no kill shelter take him to your police station. Even death is better than suffering the way he has on the streets like that.