In loving memory of Tang
1st May 1986 - 21st December 1994
When I was a kid, I was given a Pound Puppy for Christmas by my Aunt Saylee. From the very day I saw it, I would carry it everywhere except to school & when I bathed: when I slept, when I ate, when I had tuition or did my homework.
This obsession of mine drove my Dad CRAZY!!! He'd always threaten to cut it apart or bury it
since he said it was so 'stinky'. He'd always ask me what it would take for me to let my Pound Puppy go.
My answer was always the same: A Real Dog.
It was on a Saturday that my Dad decided to get me a dog & he looked through the newspapers
as I sat in front of the telly watching my Saturday morning cartoons with Pound Puppy
by my side. The next thing I knew, my Dad had bundled the whole family into the car (including my grand-aunt who was visiting us at the time) and drove us to Ang Mo Kio (I remember because of the huge 'Ang Mo Kio' sign)
When I arrived at this home, I was taken to the backyard where I saw the 3 most gorgeous looking puppies I had ever seen. Two of them came rushing up to my sister and I, and were absolutely friendly and playful. The third didn't bother with us and walked up and down outside his mum's cage. My dad chose him.
The 8 years I spent with Tang were bliss. We shared all our spare time together & he was my pride and joy. He loved his baths and got to go egg hunting every other day (we reared minature chicken too at the time & sometimes the hens laid eggs in the strangest places), where he'd eat the prize. He had his beef everyday, with plenty of doggie biscuits. He killed a rooster who pestered him constantly & a huge rat who tried to steal his dinner. He went to the beach whenever we did and loved the sea (we'd give him a thorough shower after that). My Dad and I went on nature walks with him. Tang was the best friend I had.
Dear Diary,
Think about Calvin & Hobbes...I was kinda like that....
"Daddy! Tang doesn't want to eat."
"It's ok, he's just getting old."
That's what my Dad told me & I trusted him. Tang looks so sick, his poop is dark green and watery, and he hardly got up to play with me anymore.
I couldn't get Dad to bring him to the vet yesterday, because Mum took the car to go for her facial appointment & our lorry had a weak battery.
We only managed to take Tang to the vet today after Dad got the lorry a new battery, but Tang wouldn't jump up onto the back of the lorry like
he is trained to. Dad had to carry him up and I stayed with Tang as he drove us to the vet.
When we arrived at the vet, Tang wouldn't jump down either & Dad forced him to come down on his own. Tang fell and strick his head on the concrete,
and lay there, concisous and breathing hard. "Don't tell me he's so weak?" Dad had the cheek to exclaim. He went to the nearby shops to see if he
could borrow a trolley to wheel Tang to the vet, but there were none & we had to carry Tang back onto the lorry to find a spot closer to the vet.
While I stayed with Tang on the lorry, Dad went into the vet's to fill in forms. It started to drizzle & I didn't want Tang to get wet, so I
went in & called my Dad to help me carry Tang onto the shaded pavement beside the vet.
As we waited for our turn (the clinic was full of cats, other dogs & their owners), I noticed blood trickling out from Tang's penis. It seemed
forever for our turn came.
My Dad and I carried Tag into the clinic & onto the metal table. The vet examine Tang and told me to wait outside. I knew Tang was going to
have an operation to remove some stones from his kidney, because I sat just outside the door and heard everything the vet told Dad.
Mum came by and took me home where I took a bath and waited for Tang to come home. I prepared some newspapers in the corner of the porch for Tang
& when he came home, I helped Dad carry him onto them. Dad sprinkled some talcum powder over the wound to prevent the flies from coming and
infecting it. He said the vet told him the first 2-3 hours was important and that we should keep an eye on him.
Every once in awhile, I looked out the window to check on Tang. I saw him cringing violently, then relax and start cringing again. I shouted for Dad
and he said Tang was having fits & there was nothing we could do. It looked like electricity was going through his whole body. I kept calling
Tang's name, hoping he would stop and recognise me, but he didn't. He didn't even lift his head to lick my hand. I couldn't stop crying.
He died at 2:15pm.
When he died, I started screaming at my Mum...that it was all her fault we couldn't bring Tang to the vet earlier, that she had always wanted him
dead & now her wish came true. She didn't say anything, but she seems happier without him. Dad drove to Grandma's to borrow a 'chungkol' and went
to the nearby woods to dig Tang a grave in the center of 4 young coconut trees. I helped Daddy carry Tang to the grave and cover everything up.
I found a big slab of loose concrete and placed it near his head as a tombstone and marker. His grave is near the guppy stream.
Dad says he will miss Tang the most, because whenever we go on holiday without him, Tang is the only person who keeps him company. I will miss him too.
I'm keeping his collar in my money box. I don't want anyone to take it from me. Dad says it is better for Tang to go now, at least he'll never hear my Mum
nagging about Tang. Did you know that a man at the clinic loved Tang when he saw him laying on the pavement? The man kept stroking Tang and even helped us
caryy him into the clinic. He said Tang was beautiful. Tang was.
I keep thinking about Tang as a puppy. He was so cute then and he was beautiful when he grew up. I love and miss him.
I wish he didn't die.
