Faceless Kabangs among us

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March L. Fianza

Are there still many of us who are “faceless and selfless” like Kabang? Perhaps Kabang’s accident was no accident after all. It had a purpose. As the story unfolded last year, people took it as a simple accident news article.

But as it got updated along, the story started to evolve into something that wanted to tell us something more, only that it was being revealed through the life of Kabang (Visayan for “spotted”), an ordinary asongkalye or “askal.”

God indeed is wise so that even in the middle of a number of criticisms on why people are giving so much importance to an ordinary dog, Kabang caught the attention of a group of veterinarians “with hearts,” so to speak.

It was in the news that there were objections to spending money on Kabang when the world was busy fighting wars against poverty, hunger, global warming and terrorism. It’s good the incident did not happen somewhere in the Cordillera where dogs that meet accidents land on my cousin Sammy’s list of pulutan.

Except for Editor Sly Q who takes care of dogs, I admit my other editors have other interests when it comes to eating meat. One or two of them that I know are fond of eating raw meat like kilawen kambing, aside from white meat. If you know what I mean, it’s not what you’re thinking.

Kabang became famous worldwide when she rescued her two children masters from a motorcycle accident that could have proven to be fatal. The hero-dog was a stray puppy that was taken in to the family home of Rudy Bunggal in Zamboanga City, (Southern Philippines) in 2011.

In a news story by Rudy, her 9-year-old daughter Dina and 3-year-old niece Princess Diansing were about to cross the road on the way of a speeding motorcycle. Kabang sensed the danger and from out of nowhere, threw herself at the speeding motorcycle. Apparently, the girls were not aware of any motor vehicle on the way and could have been seriously hit or killed if not for their dog.

Kabang’s snout and upper jaw were crushed as these got caught in the spokes of the motorcycle’s front wheel. Bunggal said they just pulled the dog away from the wheel. Kabang ran away from the incident and never came home until after two weeks later.

Kabang’s story came out in tri-media but nobody came to his rescue until it was posted on social network. By the way, I still have to hear or read about the participation of our local “animal welfare” organizations in Kabang’s case. It is very noticeable that they vanish into thin air in situations like this but are in the forefront when it comes to money-making operations like raiding restaurants that serve dog meat.

In February 2012, Karen Kenngott, a New York nurse organized “Care for Kabang,” a fundraiser, after Kabang's story on the internet caught her attention. With the help of Animal Welfare Coalition, Kenngot’s initial effort paid off. The campaign amplified Kabang's situation worldwide to the extent that people from all over came to have their photos taken with the faceless hero-dog.

In October 2012, Kabang was brought to the William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital in the US where she underwent a very successful surgery that had a total cost of US$27,000 paid for by donations from people in 47 countries.

Kabang came home to a hero’s welcome in Zamboanga last weekend. Dr. Anton Lim, Kabang’s veterinarian said she is now as normal as she can be as he thanked the hospital and others for saving the hero-askal on behalf of the Bunggal family.

As of this writing, according to the news, the hero-askal has been proclaimed as the new “Ambassador of Dog-will.”  Are there still many of us who are “faceless and selfless” like Kabang who sacrifice their own lives just to save others? Consider the ordinary person who found a way to make a difference in other people’s lives, not the high-ranking cop or politician or “civic worker” or self-nominated city awardee that donates cash and other assistance to community projects but is up to something in exchange.

Consider the street sweeper or the basurero in one corner who, without complaining, sees to it that he and his team are able to gather all the collected garbage that were dumped in streets that they were assigned to clean up, while solutions that never come are promised by politicians.

Think of the average farmer who earns just enough for his family but bestows big profits for the middle businessman while at the same time, executives of his vegetable-producing province try to improve farmers’ conditions with means that prove to be ineffective over and over again.

Consider the true environmentalists who do not get paid by government just to plant trees but produce their own seedlings, plant them, protect them, and even “donate” their lands so that a city can have water that it can profit from by selling the same to its residents. In so many instances, newsmen and others like them were branded as grumblers and people who bring bad news most of the time, but that is the case for those who refuse to see the truth.

Heroism has many faces but a true hero and a true “faceless and selfless” Kabang is one who fights for a cause he thinks could change the future for the better despite many obstacles, and most importantly, do not expect something in return. Are there still Kabangs in our midst? – marchfianza777@yahoo.com