We had already ordered the dogfood and was awaiting confirmation of the availability of the lorry. The confirmation only came last night at 11pm.
Amy Tham and I had planned to go together this time, so we started off at 9.30am this morning to Amy Lim's shop to wait for the lorry. I would drive and Amy would navigate since I'm completely hopeless with directions. I don't even know how to get to Genting Highlands from Subang Jaya, so....that's why I needed Amy!
Here's the food.
Unfortunately, the lorry driver had gone on emergency leave and there was a miscommunication as the order got passed down.
Instead of a lorry, it was just a van....
I told the driver, Yusop, that the van would be too small.
True enough, our total load was 1224kg, but the maximum this van could take was 1000kg. My car couldn't carry the additional 224kg. So after consulting Jeen Lim (who offered his lorry - thanks, Jeen!), it was decided that the van would be driven back to the factory in Puchong in exchange for a lorry.
By the time the van got back to Puchong and the lorry came, it was past 11am. And when we finished loading the 68 packs of food, it was 11.30am that Amy and I started on our journey to Raub.
The trip to Raub is a driver's paradise, especially for Klang Valley drivers. WHEN do we get to see such beautiful scenery and clear roads?
We got to our usual meeting point in Raub, which was a Jotun signboard. Meiji was coming back from UPM with two dogs she had sent this morning for medical treatment, so she got her sister Lai Mei (who now stays in Bentong) to meet us first. We decided we'd wait for the lorry.
That turned out to be a long wait because....
Yusop was new to this route. He spotted a Jotun signboard in Bentong and waited there. Long story cut short, Meiji found the lorry and guided Yusop to the Raub Jotun meeting point, and off we started our journey up to Doggie Paradise. Amy went in Lai Mei's Suzuki while I went in Meiji's jeep. Lai Mei had also brought Dato' Ted Miles for a visit. The Dato' was formerly with Taylor's College.
Here we go! (But it was already 2pm in the afternoon.)
These are the two dogs Meiji had taken down to UPM today.
The lorry had to stop halfway up the hill to unload the 68 packs of dogfood because that's as far as it could go. I thanked Yusop and his friend and the lorry headed back to KL while we carried on up the hill. Meiji says she would make 4 trips down to carry all the food up. We couldn't take any packet up because of the dogs at the back of her jeep. There was absolutely no more space.
This is Meiji's old rackety jeep. As rackety as it is, this is the jeep that has brought so many dogs up and down from Raub to KL and back, regularly, for medical treatment and spay-neuter. Before she acquired this jeep, she used a motorbike to ferry the dogs from Raub to KL and back! It would take 4 hours by motorbike, and yet, nothing is too difficult for Meiji when it concerns the dogs' wellbeing.
Up, up and away...
Suddenly, a new stretch of road appeared before us. Meiji said someone had just bought a piece of land here and built this road. It makes driving much easier now.
Here's what the person has built - it's a "swallow house", a place for breeding swallows to make birds' nest.
After a short stretch, we hear the dogs barking. The usual welcoming committee must be busy welcoming Lai Mei, Dato' Ted and Amy as they arrived first.
The dogs soon came down to welcome Meiji and me too as we drove up.
Here they are...hello everyone!
Aww...it's Sweetie!! She was the first to greet me. I'm still amazed how she remembers me. Sweetie was our Klang rescue. She had tick fever and TVT, was treated and subsequently fostered by Dayani for months before Meiji offered to take her two years ago. I did not quite have many encounters with Sweetie, but she somehow remembers me well. Must be some affinity....
And I certainly named her aptly, because she is SO sweet.
Each time we visit, Sweetie would be so happy to see me. I guess dogs never forget? I asked Meiji if Sweetie had ever bled again (in case the TVT recurred). Nope, never. Sweetie is as fit as a fiddle and is quite plump too. And no other dog here has TVT, which goes to show it has not spread because Sweetie had healed before Meiji took her.
The dogs welcomed their two friends back from the hospital.
Meiji carries the sick one back to her cage.
All the doggie friends followed.
We went upstairs to the shrine hall.
Meiji has four rescued cats as well. Here's Amy with one of the cats.
That's Dato' Ted Miles. He loves animals too.
Oh, I remember this dog! He seems to have put on weight too, but Meiji says it's all just fur.
I handed over the cash donation given by Linda La Brooy and Mrs Low; this is for Meiji's personal use. The rest of the donations were used to purchase the 67 bags of food, and a Ms Liew donated one bag through Amy Lim. That makes a total of 68 bags today.
Amy patting another dog.
I asked if I could see Jackie, the one-eyed dog, also our Klang rescue. Jackie was fostered by my friend, Yi Lin, after her eye operation and subsequently, Meiji offered to take her. The moment Meiji brought her back, Jackie became the "big sister" of the colony.
 Let's go see Jackie now. Russell is also there. He's our Klang rescue as well.
Hello there...
We squeezed through the gate...
Jackie is queen in this colony.
And Russell is the "big brother" of this other colony.I think that big brown dog is Russell (There are a few who look like him there!).
Jackie's friends are greeting me, but Jackie is nowhere to be seen.
Meiji pours some food out.
Russell watches from his colony.
Meiji goes looking for Jackie.
Hi there!
There you are, Jackie....
Meiji carries her out. She's very shy. Maybe she cannot see very well, so she feels a bit insecure by the presence of someone unfamiliar.
Hi Jackie....she looks so well and healthy.
Good girl, Jackie.
The big sister is still very shy....but Meiji says she bullies the other dogs!
We're coming to see you now, Russell.
That's Russell up there, Meiji says. Yes, the one peeking out from the hut.
We go up to see Russell. Amy decides she will not follow.
 This is Kwai Kwai. Believe it or not, this petite little girl is the leader of the (now) 128 dogs. She guards the whole sanctuary at night by sleeping at the entrance. She's at the forefront...every single night. She raises the alarm should there be any suspicious noise.
This white dog is Kwai Kwai's assistant. He patrols the uphill slope many rounds each night. Kwai Kwai seems to have set up a security surveillance at the sanctuary, and I'd dare say it's pretty good too.
Unfortunately, a neighbour known to the dogs has been coming in to steal Meiji's things lately. Sigh...humans. Meiji told me many stories about how some humans have been really a pain. Also, two of the dogs had gone missing, one was tragically killed, another still missing (I remember Meiji had called me the day they went missing). Sad to say, there are Vietnamese workers in some of the farms up here and they eat dogs and cats. I suggested that Meiji fences the entire perimeter of her area, but she says it's just too big and it would be so costly. Also, she said the wild boar destroys the fences very frequently.
Recently, someone dumped a family of 5 dogs to Meiji, and the total number of dogs in the sanctuary now is 128.
 Meiji explaining some of the problems she faced at the sanctuary. Human-related problems. A few people still constantly harass her for keeping so many dogs.
This is the family of five that was dumped on her recently. Meiji is going to get them all spayed-neutered.
This is the dashchund mix who has gone through repeated spinal chord surgeries over the years. That makes him the "most expensive" dog in the sanctuary!
This big black dog is such a baby. He craves for attention.
Hello? Aren't you sweet?
More dogs...
Every dog is oh-so-friendly. Even when we were in Russell's enclosure where all the rough-tough dogs are, none of them were aggressive. They are just too strong, and one almost pushed me down the slope because he was so happy and excited....and BIG!
Where can you find a place with so many happy dogs?
This place may not be a paradise to us, but it is to them. Because dogs don't go for luxurious places. All they want is food and lots of love. That would be heaven for them.
This IS their heaven.
For them, lounging here in the hot afternoon is heaven enough. They feel safe and secure.
How often can you find a place where so many dogs can lounge freely, have enough food, given lots of love, given immediate medical treatment when sick (transported from Raub to UPM), are free from the local council dogcatchers and fast-moving vehicles?
That is why they are all so happy.
We told Meiji we should leave, as we did not want to take up her time. She still has to go downhill to take the dogfood up. It was already 3.30pm and we had to start the journey back home.
Meiji had to settle some things in the house, so I took a walk around.
Oh hello...sorry we did not visit you guys just now.
See you all another time, ok?
This cute little fella had found one side of Meiji's shoe and had brought it all the way into her cage. That was SO incredibly cute!
She actually went back for the other side later, and put the other shoe beside the drain.
Amy placed both sides of the shoes on top of a cage, and these other dogs were trying to retrieve them for their friend!
This black dog is Doby, the fourth and last of our Klang rescues at Meiji's. Doby has a perpetual skin problem. It's not life-threatening at all, just a bit annoying because it's always there. Amy Lim had donated ten bars of her Virgin Coconut Oil Soap to Meiji this time, so I suggested that Meiji tries this soup on Doby. Amy Lim says it has worked wonders with many dogs with skin problems.
Meiji has to get some of the dogs into their cages before driving off. These are the ones who aren't adept at avoiding the jeep.
The dogs seems to know who has to go in and who doesn't.
We're all ready to go. Amy will go in Lai Mei's jeep as Lai Mei has to take Dato' Ted Miles back to Bentong. The Dato' had a fall recently (he is an octogenarian) and Lai Mei is looking after him now.
Just as we had a welcoming committee, we also have a canine send-off.
Bye bye....see you next trip!
Thank you for the food!
Two of them watch us from on top of a hillock. Bye, doggies!
As we were driving downhill, Meiji told me more about the many problems she was facing with the some of the humans who lived there. There was this particular person who would take in dogs, and later dump them under the pretext that there was a "personality clash" between the dogs and her. "The dogs cannot adapt to me", the person would say. Meiji said how could we expect dogs to adapt to us? We are the ones who should adapt to the dogs. How true... And then there was this family who offered to look after the stray cats rescued by Meiji, but the cats ended up being eaten by their Vietnamese workers. "No more!", Meiji said. She is now thinking of making a cathouse so that she could house the cats herself.
As I listened to the stories, I empathised with what she had to face. Just as we face numerous hindrances in the animal welfare work that we do, so does Meiji.
We soon reached the foothills and it was time to say goodbye. I wished Dato' Ted Miles well, and he said, "Why don't you take some of Meiji's dogs home next time?" I told him, without a doubt, that all the dogs cannot possibly have a better life than what they have now, with Meiji. I cannot do any better. Not even near enough!
We reached home at 7pm (no thanks to the infamous KL traffic as we got onto the MMR2 highway). Though driving has never been my forte, for Meiji and the dogs, I'll drive all the way again.
Many thanks to Amy Tham for accompanying me and her superb navigation, and to Jeen Lim for providing his lorry, and Yusop and his friend for making the trip.
The money collection for this dogfood donation was done by Mary Yap.
Meiji conveys her most grateful thanks to all the donors for their generosity and kindness:
Tigger and Winnie Dr Veeranoot Nissapatorn
Lina Toon (for Chewie) Angief Amy Tham Ooi Nee Geok Goh Wai Kah Foo Yee Loo Oo Khaik Cheang Goh Lu Teng Anna Ang & Moon Lee Andrine Chan Jessie Yee Linda La Brooy Lim Lay Chin Iris Tay Hong Lian Nanda Leonie Hong Tony Lim Brian Law Leong Peng Kei
Ms Liew Bobby & his feline friends
For someone like Meiji who single-handedly toils day and night for the wellbeing of these 128 dogs, this is the least we can do to help.
May all beings be well and happy!
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