Batang Kali Landslide Survivors Hope To Reunite With Their Missing Dogs
"We want to bring them home. They are equally important to us. They are family, and I have the responsibility to bring them home," said one of the dog owners.
By Nurul Qistina — 19 Dec 2022, 05:28 PM
As rescuers race against time in their search for the missing campers at the Batang Kali landslide, some survivors are asking authorities not to forget about their pets that have also gone missing since the calamity struck
One of the landslide survivors, Toni Wong, 40, is missing her dog named Sherlock, a grey Schnauzer mixed breed with black spots.
"I know that at this crucial time when everyone is thinking that saving lives and looking for bodies, whether they're dead or alive, is more important, but my dog is my family, too," she told Bernama.
Wong and her friends, Katherine Poh, 36, and Eric Ng, 66, checked in at the Father's Organic Farm camping site last Wednesday, 14 December, along with their dogs, named Sherlock, Bernice, and Benji.
"It was all good and we had a lovely time together on our first camping trip there until the terrifying incident happened on Friday, 16 December, at 2am," Wong said, who was initially submerged in the landslide before being saved by neighbouring campers.
"Luckily, our neighbouring campers came to help and pulled us (Poh and her) out. I was very grateful to them that we managed to eventually escape the landslide that destroyed the tent," she said.
While they were escaping their campsite, worried about another upcoming landslide, Wong claimed that Ng was seen buried in mud. But they couldn't get close to help him.
Wong claimed Ng is among the people who are still missing.
Initially, the three dogs were safe at their sides as they rushed to a presumably safer spot near a waterfall.
"We were together with our neighbouring campers, a big family that happened to have a child with them, too. But, as we were grouping there, we heard a loud sound, and that was the time when we knew a second landslide was happening," Wong recollected.
"We ran further, feeling frightened and exhausted. Poh was carrying Benji, and it was the last time Bernice was caught in our vision before she escaped. And my Sherlock was nowhere to be found either."
"By the time we stopped running, as the second landslide was believed to have stopped, we couldn't find the two dogs anymore," she explained.
They kept calling and screaming for Sherlock and Bernice, but, she said, the effort was pointless because the scene was too chaotic, with the waterfall making a deafening sound
"Then, a guy told us we have to keep moving as more landslides were expected. Eventually, we met the rescue team, and we were led to a safer spot," she told Bernama.
"As for the dogs, we miss them a lot. We want to bring them home. They are equally important to us. They are family, and I have the responsibility to bring them home. I have the responsibility to care for them."
Speaking to reporters yesterday, 18 December, Wong firmly believes that the dogs are still alive and safe, and hopes the search and rescue teams can help look out for Sherlock and Bernice while searching for the remaining victims.
Meanwhile, they are also trying their best to search for their beloved dogs on their own by sharing information about their lost pets online.
"I hope the authorities or anyone else can help us find a solution to bring our dogs back home. I know it's impossible to access the site at this moment. But, if someone can tell us what is the best way, we surely will attend to it," she added.
