After a few days of seeing him stick around, the policemen took him in. Soon, the dog, fondly named Johnny, became their loyal companion.

The dog stuck with them through rain and shine, and soon became quite well-known among the other officers.

Sadly, yesterday, Johnny got into an accident when a Hilux hit him. The car drove off leaving the injured dog behind.

“The policemen called me yesterday. They are just constables so their pay isn’t high and they only have a few hundred ringgit for the vet’s fees,” Kuan Chee Heng, known as Uncle Kentang, told FMT.

Worried that Johnny might not survive his injuries, the policemen who had been feeding and caring for him all this while brought him to the nearest vet.

But due to his complicated injuries, the procedure needed to be done at another animal clinic in Johor Bahru, an hour away.

Kuan said the surgery that Johnny requires may cost up to thousands of ringgit.

“The bone is fractured, and the vet told them Johnny needs to be sent to a better facility for the operation. He also has injuries on his abdomen.”

“It is such a heart-warming story because these are Malay, Muslim policemen. And they took Johnny back and nursed him, and were worried that his leg wouldn’t heal.”

“I told the policemen, don’t worry about the bill, I will pay for it. They are the real heroes of the day.”

Kuan, who founded Community Policing Malaysia, is known for his acts of charity. He organises efforts aimed at helping society’s most vulnerable, such as cheap ambulance services, food deliveries to the poor, and his “10 sen pasar” programmes, where he sells donated clothing, appliances and books to the needy.

He is due to receive a certificate for the Commonwealth Points of Light Award on June 12 at the British High Commissioner’s office in Kuala Lumpur.