If you google the name Vijayakumari Pillai you will find her to be an avid protector and advocator of children’s rights. On the same page, you will also find her to be a protector and rescuer of dogs.
Ever since she left the civil service as assistant director of the Welfare department 26 years ago, she has not stopped advocating for these vulnerable groups of the community.
Her compassion for the animals led her to form Hulu Langat Homeless Dogs Rescuers association PATH (Persatuan Penyelamat Anjing Terbiar Hulu Langat) four years ago. Fifteen members in this group primarily rescue dogs and get them to be fostered and adopted.
“I received a call last week that a woman wanted to give her one year old poodle away because she was under pressure from her condo management to remove the dog as there were complaints about the dog being noisy
“When I arrived to take the dog, the owner cried when she gave it to me. I cried all the way back home. I felt so bad separating her from her family. It’s the condo rules, I couldn’t do anything to help,” Vijayakumari went on to look for someone to adopt the dog.
“10 years ago, a friend of mine, also a dog lover, called me crying and said the stray dog and puppies that she was feeding near a housing area had all gone missing. I guessed they must have been captured and sent to the council pound.
“I was then part of an informal group of dog rescuers called Furkids Ulu Langat. We went to the council pound and found the dogs. We took the dogs to a huge shelter belonging to another dog lover called Meefah in Rencing, Negri Sembilan.
“This shelter was well facilitated and at any one time, there would be more than 2,000 dogs. The owner had great compassion for the animals and dedicated her life to looking after them. In 2019 the owner died of covid 19.
“I am supporting another shelter in Pulau Meranti. Every Wednesday I will send 20 kg of chicken carcass to be cooked for the dogs. I have sent 6 or 7 neutered puppies there,” Vijayakumari, 73, is passionate about every dog that she rescues.
At present, nine dogs are boarding in her house and some of them are waiting to be adopted. It is tough to raise funds for her cause and most of the time she bore the expenses for boarding, food, neutering and medical care herself.
Just as her mother had nurtured her love for animals, Vijayakumari’s three children and husband also care for the animals and help out with rescue work.
She grew up in Sungai Siput, Perak where her father used to work as an estate manager. “During that time my mother used to keep so many cats, that they usually loitered in the verandah outside. We also had two dogs and they ate vegetarian food too!” she recalled.
During one of the floods in Kajang, her husband brought a dog home. “His friend had rescued it from the river during the floods. He said the dog had fallen into the river and it would surely die if he had left it there. He brought him home,” she said.
Five years ago Vijayakumari used to contact friends in other states to arrange for shelter transfers and began talking to local politicians about ways to help homeless animals.
“During the pandemic, we couldn’t go across district borders so the rescued dogs didn’t get adopted. There were eight puppies that we rescued in Berangan that no one wanted, so I took them into my own house.
“The puppies were earlier kidnapped and thrown into an abandoned area. I went to look for puppies with my friend who was feeding them,” she explained.
People in the town council pound who are familiar with her work would send her the rescued dogs and puppies. She would then them straight to foster care or to a pet shop for boarding and later to a shelter. The rescued dogs are sometimes given out through adoption drives.
The challenge was not only about getting people to adopt the dogs but she also had the case of a shelter owner who refused to bring the puppies for the adoption drive because she had a bad experience with putting puppies up for adoption.
Her voluntary work includes organising volunteers, keeping them motivated to do rescue and raising funds to get the animals boarded until someone adopts them. She doesn’t dismiss any information on dogs needing rescue and would go to great lengths to pull resources for this effort.
“When my foster daughter Samantha turned 18, I told her let’s do something good and go and feed the dogs. So we would get up early at 6.30 am and I cooked chicken with rice and a bit of turmeric.
“We would go to this place near a pet shop where there were 10 to 12 stray dogs. I would place brown papers on the ground and Samantha put food on them. So nice to see the dogs come around to eat,” a smile to reflect her sense of satisfaction. – JE Tan
Interested in adopting, fostering dogs or contributing cash or kind to PATH, can contact Vijayakumari Pillai at +60123773676
