Billie Tan, who lives nearby, agreed to keep her while waiting for the adopter from Melaka.
“But then he backed out,” Tan told FMT Lifestyle. “Another one came along, but kept postponing. In the end, Doçinha just stayed. And honestly, I think she’d already chosen me.”
Today, Doçinha is Tan’s constant shadow. The name “Doçinha” – Portuguese for “sweety” – comes from Tan’s habit of calling every stray “Sweety” out of affection. But this one stuck.
“She has really bad separation anxiety,” Tan said. “Even now, if I ever gave her away, I’m quite sure she’d try to find her way back.”
Doçinha’s story is far from unusual in this Section 17 neighbourhood, where over 150 residents have banded together to care for stray cats and dogs – feeding them, neutering them, and giving them a fighting chance on the street.
“It started with my neighbour more than eight years ago, when she found a dog after a hit-and-run,” Tan, who works in aviation ground handling, recalled. “A few residents raised money to treat it – and from there, the group just grew.”
Now, the WhatsApp group has become an unofficial animal rescue task force. The residents share cases of abandoned pets, coordinate vet visits, and collect funds into a community pot to cover medical costs.
“We have donors, feeders, transporters… everyone does what they can,” Tan mentioned. “We don’t pay people to feed, but we support them when their animals are sick or need spaying.”
One key figure is Kenny, a cleaner originally from Indonesia. “Through her, we’ve neutered more than 35 cats in eight months,” Tan shared. “She feeds them, so she can catch them. She has such a big heart.”
Some of the most heartbreaking stories come from abandoned pets, like Tom and Rexie, two friendly adult dogs likely left behind when their owners moved away.
Another helper in the neighbourhood fed them quietly. But when one got hit by a car, the group stepped in. “We got them to the vet, paid for boarding and neutering. But no one wanted to adopt them – people only wanted puppies.”
So they were released back onto the streets, but not forgotten. “We told our residents, Please don’t harm them. They’re not aggressive. They won’t reproduce. Just let them be’.”
It’s a bittersweet kind of rescue. Not every story ends with a home, but every act of care counts. “Sometimes it’s disheartening,” Tan admitted. “People refuse to neuter their pets. Or they dump them.”
What keeps her going? “Each other. I couldn’t do this alone. Some people never say a word in the group chat – but when we need funds, suddenly there’s money in the tabung. That keeps us going.”
The community now includes members from nearby areas like TTDI, Bandar Utama and even Klang. “Anyone can join,” Tan said. “As long as you care about the animals.”
As for Tan, her own little animal family has grown. Doçinha now has a younger sister – Hana, a bouncy pup from a litter of seven.
“Six were adopted, and this one just stuck to Doçinha. Always licking her face, always playing. So I thought, okay lah, I’ll keep her too!” Tan said.
Now, the two are inseparable. When Tan’s working from home, Doçinha still bullies her for walks – sometimes five times a day.
“She comes and paws me like, ‘Let’s go!’ I got deadlines! So Hana keeps her busy. They’re just so loving, these two. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
And in a neighbourhood where love shows up at midnight with kibble in hand, maybe that’s not so surprising after all.
This story was written by Dinesh Kumar Maganathan @ FMT Lifestyle. Read more pet stories here.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR PET: FMT Lifestyle readers are invited to send in pictures (landscape format) and a short video (if any) of their furry, scaly or feathered friends to [email protected]. Don’t forget to include details like your pet’s name, age, breed and a short story about them.