28/01/2023
Why is it that sometimes I write the tales of hero dogs from history? Is it because I enjoy crying? I must enjoy crying. Dammit. This was a rough one. Should reading this piece get to be too much, I find it helps if every time you see the dog’s name you think of a Ricky Martin song made awkwardly infamous by an American Idol contestant. Well, maybe “help” isn’t the right word, because that’s one terrible earworm.
Anyway, her name was Kabang, and she lived a long life, although she almost sacrificed it to save her two young humans. Speaking of humans, let’s begin with a bit of history on dogs and people existing together where Kabang’s heroic deed took place: the Philippines.
Sapient bipeds arrived in the archipelago of more than 7,000 islands about 40,000 or so years ago and brought domesticated quadrupeds with them. And for a very long time the place was not called the Philippines. Its various regions went by myriad names across the eras, but then the place was conquered and colonized by Spaniards in the 16th century. They decided to name the place after King Philip II of Spain. Philip. Philippines. That crap still sticks. Much like the Americas being named for a slave-trading Italian navigator named Amerigo Vespucci.
Stray dogs are so common in the Philippines—more than 12 million of them—that the name askal was coined. It’s a portmanteau of the Tagalog words asong (dog) and kalye (street). They are mixed breeds of all shapes and sizes, but generally have short-haired, rough coats. Kabang was an askal, but she was not a stray, at least not for long. Many askals become a part of loving homes, as they are known to be protective of their families and good with children. They are also known to be suspicious of strangers and make excellent watch dogs.
Kabang was watching when tragedy almost struck.
She had been adopted off the streets by Rudi Bangghal of Zamboanga City as a puppy in 2008. In December of 2011, Bangghal’s nine-year-old daughter and her three-year-old cousin were attempting to cross a busy street. According to several eyewitnesses, the two girls did not see a motorcycle fast approaching and were about to be struck by it.
Kabang saw the motorcycle. She leapt at it and knocked it over just before it hit the girls. The rider and the two girls only sustained some bruises, but Kabang was horribly injured. Her nose and upper snout were caught in the wheel and all the bones were crushed. They pulled her from the wheel, and she fled.
For two weeks Kabang was gone. For two weeks, alone, and in horrible pain. DAMMIT! *deep breath* ♫ And she bangs, she bangs! ♫
Okay that actually helped a bit. Back to the story.
After 14 days on the streets, Kabang finally returned home. She had difficulty eating, but was able to manage. The greater problem was infection. The family refused to have the hero dog euthanized, and she was put on antibiotics. But the open wound would be repeatedly infected, and the family was impoverished and lacked the funds to pay for a proper surgery.
Then a nurse in New York named Karen Kenngott read about Kabang’s story and decided to act. An online fundraiser was launched, the word of Kabang’s heroics and plight spread, and enough money was donated to send Kabang to a veterinary hospital at the University of California in Davis.
Upon her arrival the vets learned she had both heartworms and cancer, and had to delay her facial surgery to treat her other ailments. Months of chemotherapy followed before her surgery was done in March of 2013. She was released to travel back home to the Bangghal family in June. People from 47 different countries contributed to cover the costs of her various treatments.
Kabang returned to the Philippines to a hero’s welcome. She lived a long and happy life with her family, dying peacefully in her sleep at the age of 13 in May of 2021. A statue was erected by the city of Zamboanga in her honor a few months later.
Get On This Day in History S**t Went Down at JamesFell.com/books.
