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Last month, Lionel Vytialingam was picking up a few things at the grocery store when the sound of blaring horns caught his attention.
He turned to see what was causing the commotion and spotted a small dog weaving in and out of traffic. Gripped with fear, he jumped in his car and started following the dog down the street.
“She had no idea what she was doing or where she was going,” Vytialingam told The Dodo. “There were cars and bikes going along the street and she was walking right into them like she thought they were family.”
Lionel Vytialingam
Vytialingam held his breath each time the dog swerved into oncoming traffic until he finally got close enough to pull over. The matted dog noticed Vytialingam’s outstretched arms and slowly walked out of the middle of the road.
As the dog approached, Vytialingam noticed a soggy note folded over a rubber band around her neck.
“I’d never come across a flimsy paper note tied around a dog’s neck that way,” Vytialingam said. “I hoped it would be some form of contact information — some way for me to get the little dog back to some home that was looking anxiously for her.”
Lionel Vytialingam
But when he opened the letter, his heart sank. The note, written in the dog’s voice, said her name was Siggy and that her owner abandoned her because “he just can’t look after me anymore.”
“I broke down in tears,” Vytialingam wrote on Facebook. “Probably wasn’t a good sight for all the passing vehicles.”
Lionel Vytialingam
Vytialingam scooped up the little dog and placed her in his car. At home, it took Siggy a few hours to warm up to Vytialingam, but once she did, she wouldn’t let him out of her sight.
“She was the gentlest, most loving little dog I had ever seen,” Vytialingam said. “She began inching closer to me, maintaining strong eye contact and allowing me to hold her close to me. I was surprised by how easy it was to get her into my arms and into the bathroom for a warm shower that first night.”
Lionel Vytialingam
Since then, Siggy couldn’t be more grateful to be safe and has made sure to show Vytialingam every day just how happy she is to be in a home. “When she’s with me, she’s calm,” he said. “[She] just sits near or on me and either falls asleep or tries to get my attention by nibbling my fingers or yelping or tugging at my shirt.”
While Vytialingam would love to keep her, Siggy and his rescue dog, Sammo, have not gotten along. Luckily, Vytialingam quickly came up with a solution after speaking with his brother.
Lionel Vytialingam
“He’ll be taking her in as soon as the COVID-19 Movement Control Order here in Malaysia ends,” Vytialingam said. “It’s really the perfect match between them because they share some personality traits.”
Vytialingam hopes Siggy’s rescue story will remind people that abandoning pets should never be an option when there are so many animal shelters and rescue groups ready to find them a home.