One blast of the horn and they immediately knew he was there. With their tails wagging, the dogs run to meet the man who feeds them every day
, fearlessly, for 14 years. Viriya Raman works as a truck driver during the day and personally feeds about 100 stray dogs in Gombak area every evening.
In the remote mining area, many dogs have nothing to eat. Unfortunately, this is a place where animals are often abandoned, even pets that the former owners don’t think are safe. It started in 2010 when he saw something heartbreaking on the street.
I was sitting in my truck and I saw a dog kill a cat and run away with a dead cat in its mouth. I followed the dog into the forest. When I looked closer, I saw that she was giving cat food to her children, recalls Viriya. It was then that she realized that the dog was not being fed properly while she was milking her pups.
I bought a packet of instant rice to give to the dog. And as soon as I did that, I saw other dogs looking at me. I don’t have the heart to leave others without food. This is how his mission began. At first, Viriya collected food scraps to feed the dogs, but during the epidemic – one of the most difficult times for stray dogs in Malaysia – she started cooking fresh food for them every day. In a large pot, he cooks about 25 kilograms of rice and 40 chickens every day, making sure that everything is soft enough that even a small dog can eat it. Sometimes there are so many that there is not enough for all the dogs. So I also buy kibble, if available, he added. Viriya spends about RM300 a day to feed her dog. He also participated in the vaccination of some of them – almost 40 to date – at his own expense. This is why he accepts donations of rice and kibble from the public to continue helping the residents and stray animals.
He explained that although his friends and family help him in the kitchen, he has a lot of work to do. “I don’t have free time for entertainment,” Viriya admitted. However, he has no intention of stopping. Despite his asthma, this kind-hearted man tirelessly loads food into his Kancil and walks along Jalan Gombak, stopping at various places to feed stray dogs stray, even if there are only three or four at a time. Walking through the rough terrain to reach the top of the crater – the final destination – was not an easy task, but it was worth it to see more than 50 dogs running in Viriya.
I don’t want to punch – as soon as they hear my car engine, they run to the side of the road and wait for me with their tails wagging. It’s not bad: the dogs – young, old, small, big, some injured and disabled – are eager to eat the food that he brought, enthusiastically playing their noses in the house of each to retrieve each particle.
Be it a weekend or a holiday, Viriya never misses a day. “These dogs live in remote areas, near the forest. If I don’t feed them, no one else will. I can’t sleep at night knowing they haven’t eaten, he concluded.
