Ever since she turned three, Chinks have been bugging us about having a pet dog. When we were in the Philippines, we decided not to have a pet since we were always out of the house and would also go out of town most weekends. But when we got here in Phnom Penh, we gave in to her request since we thought a dog would be nice companion for her plus she’d be learning about responsibilities once she has a pet to take care of.

Hubby’s bestfriend gave us a puppy, we named her Mai-mai. I’m not sure of her breed, but I’m thinking she’s like a chow-chow. Everything was well and Chinks was really happy with it. She’d wake up early to feed her dog, and what she enjoys the most is giving Mai-mai a bath. I’ve also grown attached to her, I got used to having her snoring beside my feet while I’m working on my computer.

But a few days ago, we lost her. Nope she didn’t die. That’s what really makes me more sad. Someone got it. Early in the morning, she usually goes out of the gate to pee or poop and it would just take a minute or two. But that day she didn’t come back. We looked for her everywhere, but she was gone. We talked to a couple of construction workers and one said they saw a woman and two kids with a cart buying recyclable stuff from our neighbor and got the dog, put it in their cart and off they went.

I feel extremely pissed. Why is that? The dog is obviously well kept, even has her tag, so they must have known it has an owner not a stray dog. I feel all the more bad because Chinks keeps asking for her, sometimes goes out and pretends her dog is there and places food on her bowl. We’ve been trying to comfort her and hopefully she’ll get over it in time. She probably needs to experience something like this one way or another…

We’re thinking of getting another dog, maybe a big one. Hubby says at least that one cannot be easily taken. Why do I feel so emotional about this? I’m sad, really. She has been a part of our home and everyday I keep wondering how she is, if she ate or is the place she’s sleeping clean and safe…