Every day I am horrified by the sheer number of animal abuse cases and stories of our furry friends being dumped.
Shazreen Othuman, from Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, posted a photo that quickly spread across the globe, leaving animal lovers shocked and heartbroken. But what had really happened? Behind the disturbing image was a story few saw coming.
In 2019, a heartbreaking sight stopped residents in their tracks—a dog, completely covered in green paint, was seen stumbling through the streets of Petaling Jaya. The poor animal was crying out, clearly in distress, and searching desperately for food.
The toxic fumes from the paint appeared to have made him gravely ill. He looked limp, disoriented, and utterly drained of energy.
“It looked like he hadn’t eaten in days,” said Shazreen, the woman who discovered him. “He desperately needed help.”
Animal rights activists were horrified by the images and quickly voiced their outrage. Why anyone would commit such a cruel act is simply beyond comprehension.
”It is totally inhuman,” Shazreen added.
”Anyone who has made this gesture must be mentally ill. It is totally inhuman to think of doing such things,” his post read.
Shazreen’s images of the green dog was shared all over the world with an appeal for anyone with any information on the culprit was also put out.
His post continued: ”Meanwhile, the Malaysian Association of Veterinary Pathology (MAVP) says that ‘the paint is very dangerous for animals, it can also be lethal because it interrupts the respiratory system, causes nausea, dizziness and skin allergies.’”
Days later, Shazreen posted an update thanking the person who came to the dog’s rescue and gave him a shower. The dog was rushed to safety and given a much-needed bath to wash off the toxic paint.
His exposure could have been fatal, but rescuers managed to reach him just in time. We don’t even want to imagine what could’ve happened if they hadn’t.
It turns out the dog was taken in by the MunMun Furry Sanctuary, and according to them, this was not a case of animal abuse, as many originally believed.
”Mr Greeny has been rescued and in safe hand now. He is not an abuse case so please stop the curse. Someone dump the green dye /powder at the dump site and this doggy roll over it. The colour was wash off with shampoo. He is well fed by the construction workers and healthy,” the sanctuary wrote.
It turns out the dog, whose real name was Bocky, had been hanging around a construction site and likely rolled around in some leftover paint. It was actually one of the workers who gave him the name.
Still, some people in the comments weren’t convinced — a few questioned how a dog could cover himself in that much paint just by rolling in it.
And if the construction worker really was looking after Bocky, you’d think they would’ve made sure he didn’t have access to toxic paint. It hurts to think that this sweet dog wasn’t being properly watched or protected.
We may never know exactly what happened to Bocky, but the most important thing is that someone stepped in, gave him the care he needed, and made sure he’s now safe and healthy.
