Heartbreaking footage shows how a frantic mother dog was barking at passing cars to try to help her puppy, after he was knocked over by a vehicle on a busy road.
The family of stray dogs had been living by the side of the road in La Paz, Iloilo City, the Philippines, where the locals treated them as ‘community pets’ – and it seems we just don’t deserve dogs, after all.
Onlookers reported, while the mother dog was scavenging for food, one of the puppies wandered off and was hit by a passing car.
In a heartless and destructive act, the driver reportedly did not stop to check on the puppy and left the scene, where the puppy later died from its injuries.
The grief-stricken mother dog refused to give up on her lifeless puppy and began frantically barking at passing vehicles – even standing in front of them trying to make them stop.
Tragically, none of the drivers pulled over to help and the motionless puppy was left unattended before dying.
A local shopkeeper filming the incident said she was roused by the barking and went to help but was unable to cross the road – which explains why she filmed rather than attempted to rescue the pup.
Lynette Labating added:
The dog was so distressed, we tried to help the puppy but the mother dog was very upset so it was hard to get near to them.
Village council officers came after a few hours, but the mother had already disappeared with her two other puppies. We don’t know where she took them.
Lynette said this was the second time one of the dog’s puppies had been knocked over by a vehicle.
Only two weeks ago, another puppy in the litter was struck, which broke his hind legs leaving the mutt permanently disabled.
Lynette said village officers are investigating the incident to try to trace the vehicle that hit the puppies.
They’re also trying to locate the stray dog family to provide them better shelter and give medical help to the injured puppy.
She’s understood to have two others which have not yet been hit by cars, Lynette added:
I pray that the family can be helped. The mother has suffered enough misfortune already. The community was feeding them and we can try to look after her if she returns.
It just seems their home has been made unsafe by the endless traffic – and common sense dictates a busy road is no place for a home for a mum and her pups, who seem to be quite reliant on the humans who live there.
Hopefully the community will be able to find the little family unit a safe place to lay their head in a basket soon.
Street dogs are common in the Philippines, often called by the name ‘askal’ – a Tagalog-derived portmanteau of asong kalye or ‘street dog’.
The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) has suggested the alternative term aspin – short for asong Pinoy (Pinoy dog) – probably to avoid the stigma associated with the term ‘askal’.
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A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.