Hero Dog Returns Home to Philippines After 7 Mos.
- View PhotoAssociated Press/Aaron Favila - Kabang, a two-year-old injured mixed breed, is held outside the quarters of an elephant named Mali during a visit at Manila's Zoo, Philippines on Sunday June 9, 2013. Kabang
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Every dog has its day, but few canines get a motorcade on their return home.
Kabang, who lost half her face after jumping in front of a motorcycle to save the lives of two girls, received a rousing welcome Monday in Zamboanga, a city in the southern Philippines.
The mixed-breed came back from months-long treatment at the University of California, Davis, veterinary hospital, paid for with $27,000 in donations raised in the Philippines and abroad. She was reunited with her owner, Rudy Bunggal, and the girls she saved from the accident in December 2011 — the owner's daughter, Dina, and cousin Princess Diansing.
"She is not just my friend, she is like a part of our family," 13-year-old Dina Bunggal said. "I am very thankful to her, because without her, maybe I will not be alive today."
Kabang and Rudy Bunggal rode in the back of a pickup truck festooned with yellow balloons to the Municipal Hall, where Mayor Celso Lobregat bestowed the title "Pride of Zamboanga" on the dog.
Motorcycles and cars took part in the motorcade that drove Kabang through the port city. Residents snapped photos of the dog and kids petted her. At the mayor's office, Kabang was given a bag of treats.
But all is not well in Kabang's household.
Rudy Bunggal, who told reporters he was struggling with drinking and financial problems, asked the veterinarian who had accompanied Kabang to the U.S., Anton Lim, to temporarily care for the dog.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer also quoted Bunggal's wife, Christina, as saying the couple has separated.
The husband, who worked as a mechanic, now lives alone in a shanty and found a new job as a construction worker, earning less than $5 a day.
Posted: 10/13/2012 01:05:37 AM PDT
DAVIS (AP) -- A dog that lost its snout while saving two girls in the Philippines has been brought to the University of California, Davis, where veterinarians will try to fix its injuries.
Surgeons at UC Davis' veterinary medical teaching hospital looked over the mixed breed dog named Kabang on Thursday.
Kabang became a star in the Philippines after it got in front of a speeding motorcycle, saving the dog owner's young daughter and niece.
The crash took off the dog's snout and its upper jaw, and veterinarians in the Philippines were unable to treat the injury.
So Karen Kenngott, a critical care nurse from Buffalo, N.Y., spearheaded an online fundraising campaign for the dog's care.
Thursday's hour-long exam at UC Davis included blood and urine tests.
Surgeons determined that the dog will need at least two surgeries over the next six weeks -- one procedure to focus on dental work and another to close the gaping wound on her face.
There were no plans to fit Kabang with a "prosthetic snout" or to replace the dog's jaw, the hospital said in a statement.
Zamboanga's hero dog Kabang going to US for surgery
Kabang, the hero dog that lost its upper jaw after saving two girls from being overrun by a speeding tricycle in Zamboanga, will go to the United States next week for surgery. A report of Lia Mañalac Del Castillo on GMA Network's “Saksi” news program on Monday said Kabang will be operated on in the US by veterinary experts from University of California Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
The doctors will create false teeth for Kabang who lost her snout and upper jaw after being run over by the tricycle. Kabang heroically saved her owner's grandchild and niece by jumping in the path of the tricyle that nearly ran over the two girls. Kabang successfully stopped the tricycle from hitting the children who only sustained minor scratches. However, Kabang paid a high price as her snout and upper jaw were ripped off from her skull in the horrific accident.
Daily antibiotics
Different animal organizations and concerned individuals have donated medicine and supplies for Kabang who still needs to be operated on to avoid infection.
On "Saksi," Dr. Anton Lim said Kabang receives antibiotics daily to avoid infection that could be fatal for her. “It’s [mouth and throat is] really exposed. So that’s the reason why we have to give her antibiotics everyday,” he said.
Lim admitted that taking antibiotics daily may cause certain side effects on Kabang. “The side effect of giving antibiotics everyday is that the red blood cells will go down which is not healthy for the dog but as of now we have no choice, we have to do that,” Lim explained.
Man’s best friend
Meanwhile, Rudy Banggal, the owner of Kabang, didn’t see off his beloved dog as she left for Manila, saying it will only make him sad.
“Hindi na ako sumama sa airport kasi baka tumulo pa luha ko,” Banggal said.
At the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2, two representatives from the Animal House in Makati fetched Kabang.
Kabang’s location is being kept confidential to give her time to rest after the flight and the separation from her owner. - VVP, GMA News
UC Davis to help disfigured 'hero dog'
Peter Fimrite
Updated 9:33 a.m., Saturday, September 15, 2012
The heroic exploits and tragic difficulties of a dog in the Philippines named Kabang have touched hearts across the world and grabbed the attention of a team of Northern California veterinarians who are stepping up to help.
The mixed-breed female, which resembles a short-haired German shepherd, became a national hero in December when she reportedly threw herself into the path of a speeding motorcycle just as it was about to hit two young girls crossing a roadway in Zamboanga City.
The dog spared her owner's daughter and niece but sacrificed her snout and upper jaw, which were sheared off when she got tangled in the motorcycle's spokes. The horrific wound leaves Kabang, who by all accounts remains loving and loyal, literally with half a face.
It is a wonder that Kabang survived, veterinarians say, but the gruesome injury puts her in grave danger of developing an infection. At minimum, the gaping wound must be closed, a delicate procedure that is beyond the capability of any veterinarian in the Philippines.
'Hero dog'
An international donation campaign, spearheaded by a Good Samaritan nurse from New York and fueled by blogs and social networking, managed this week to raise the money necessary to bring the "hero dog" to UC Davis, where surgeons are planning to perform reconstructive surgery.
"She will be a future patient of ours," said Rob Warren, the spokesman at William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at UC Davis, which is hoping to bring the dog to the renowned facility on Oct. 8. "We take great pride in the services we offer here, so we're really excited. This dog has become quite a celebrity around here."
The tale began nearly two years ago in a swamp near Zamboanga. Anton Lim, the local veterinarian, said Rudy Bunggal, 57, was collecting swamp cabbage during a rainstorm when he ran across an abandoned puppy in a paddy field.
Bunggal, who makes a living mending punctured tires, cannot speak English and could not be reached for comment, but he told Lim and others that he had often eaten dog and initially intended to fatten up the puppy and eventually serve him to the family.
Family pet
Instead, his daughter, Dina, 11, and niece, Princess, 3, grew close to the dog, according to Lim and several Philippine news accounts. The family named their newfound friend Kabang, meaning "spotty" in their native Visayan language.
Bunggal fed the puppy coffee creamer because milk was too expensive, Lim said. As Kabang grew older, she became more protective of the girls, according to various accounts, and Bunggal kept the dog as a pet despite the family's perpetual food shortage.
The accident just before Christmas last year inspired animal lovers everywhere. Lim, in an e-mail to The Chronicle, confirmed published reports that Kabang came from nowhere and leaped in front of the speeding motorcycle, knocking it away just before it hit the girls. The girls and the motorcyclist were bruised, but otherwise unhurt.
The disfigured dog ran off after being disentangled from the motorcycle. Nobody knows where, but most people figured she had gone somewhere to die. Incredibly, she showed up at the family doorstep two weeks later, creating a national sensation. Local veterinarians offered to euthanize the faceless canine, but Bunggal refused.
"What is important to us is she saved our children and we cannot thank her enough for that," he told the Inquirer News, a national newspaper in the Philippines. "I believe she was God's gift to us."
Euthanasia rejected
Lim said the dog was not in pain.
"I was one of those together with Rudy who refused to put Kabang to sleep because she was coping well and not in pain. Except for her features she is OK." Still, Lim knew, something had to be done about her injuries.
The problem was that the surgery alone is expected to cost between $8,000 and $10,000 and Bunggal, who originally emigrated from Malaysia, barely has enough money to feed his family. Warren said the hospital is not permitted to waive the fee. Transportation, hotel expenses, visas and other costs are expected to bring the bill up to $20,000.
Karen Kenngott, a longtime critical care nurse from Buffalo, N.Y., was moved to act in February after reading about the dog's plight online. She started a website, at careforkabang.com, opened Facebook and Twitter links on the site and began working with animal welfare groups to get Kabang treatment in the United States.
"The dog is a living creature who saved the lives of two little girls and she needs our help," Kenngott said. "It doesn't matter what she looks like. She should get care."
Kabang's puppies
The trip to Davis seemed imminent earlier this year until it was discovered that Kabang was pregnant. The puppies were delivered on April 13 and Kenngott said she had to wait eight weeks until the pups were weaned. In the end, only one of the puppies survived - possibly because Kabang was not producing enough milk.
Meanwhile, Bunggal watched over an animal that he had apparently come to view as a guardian angel.
"He has been fiercely protective of her," Kenngott said. "He would not let her out of his sight."
Then more problems surfaced. The money that a nonprofit animal welfare group had promised did not come through, forcing Kenngott to begin her own fundraising campaign.
She said Friday that she has succeeded in raising $22,800, mostly through small donations of between $5 and $50 from concerned individuals in 18 countries.
Her grassroots campaign has been helped by bloggers and websites, many of which have considerable Bay Area followings, including DogHeirs.com, Dogster .com and Dogtime.com. Kenngott, who is now working as the U.S. coordinator for the Animal Welfare Coalition, managed to broker a deal for free transportation on Philippine Airlines and persuaded the Hallmark Inn, in Davis, to comp some of the cost of a hotel room while the owner is in town.
Prepping for operation
She is now working on obtaining a visa for Bunggal, who insists on staying by his dog's side.
"There has never been any other instance in my life where I felt so compelled to help an animal," Kenngott said. "Compassion has no boundaries."
Kabang was taken to Manila this week in preparation for the overseas flight to Davis, where staff veterinarians Boaz Arzi and Frank Verstraete are prepping for the operation. Although great strides have been made recently in facial reconstruction surgery, Warren said the best hope for Kabang is that enough function can be restored in her face that she can fulfill her life's mission as a family pet. The miracle, her many fans say, has already occurred.
"You kind of wonder if divine intervention hasn't got a hand in there somewhere," Kenngott said. "The irony is that Kabang has become an underdog by virtue of her heroism. We owe her reciprocation."
'Hero dog' will get surgery in Davis
For more information about Kabang and the fundraising campaign to bring the hero dog of the Philippines to UC Davis for reconstructive surgery, go to careforkabang.com.
Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @pfimrite
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