BATANG KALI, Dec 18 — “I know that at this crucial time, when everyone is thinking that saving lives and looking for bodies, whether they are dead or alive, is more important, but my dog is my family too,” said Toni Wong.
Wong, 40, one of the victims of Friday’s Batang Kali landslide tragedy, is the owner of Sherlock, a grey Schnauzer mixed dog with black spots that went missing in the incident. She genuinely considers her pet as a family member
Speaking to Bernama, Wong said she and her friends, Katherine Poh, 36, and Eric Ng, 66, checked in at the Father’s Organic Farm camping site, the scene of the tragedy, on Wednesday along with their dogs, namely Sherlock, Bernice, and Benji, at around 11 in the morning.
“It was all a good and lovely time we had together on our very first camping trip there until the terrifying incident happened on Friday (December 16) at 2am.
“When it happened, I was submerged. Luckily, our neighbouring campers came to help and pulled us (Toni and Katherine) out. I was very thankful and grateful to them that eventually, we managed to escape the horribly destroyed tent,” she said in describing the gruesome time of her only second time camping experience.
Unfortunately, Wong said when they were escaping their campsite, worrying about another series of landslides that could occur in an instant, Eric, who she claimed to be still missing, was seen to be buried in mud, which made it impossible for them to access and rescue.
Initially, Wong, from Petaling Jaya, said the three dogs were safe by their sides while they were rushing to a presumably safer spot on the waterfall side in the lower area.
“We were together with our neighbouring campers, a whole big family that happened to have a child with them too. But, as we were grouping there, we heard a very loud sound, and that was the time when we knew the second landslide was happening.
“Exhaustedly, we ran further, frightened. Katherine was carrying Benji, and it was the last time Bernice was caught in our vision; 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 said.
Not giving up, they kept shouting and screaming for Sherlock and Bernice, a whitish, creamy poodle mix, but she said the effort was in vain as the scene was too chaotic, with a noisy, earsplitting sound made by the waterfall.
“Then, someone told us we have to keep moving as more landslides were expected to happen. Eventually, we met the rescue team, and we were led to a safer spot.
“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,” she said.
Firmly believing that the dogs are still alive and safe, as it is only their third day since going missing, Toni hopes the search and rescue team can give their attention to Sherlock and Bernice too while searching for the remaining nine missing victims of the incident.
While on their side, they’ve opted to use all ways and means just to reach their beloved dogs, including advertising online the information of the lost pets with pictures and their numbers to be contacted.
“I hope the authorities or anyone else can help us find a solution to bring our dogs back home. I know it is 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 sadly said.
— Bernama
