Amidst all the wonderful stories and articles about dogs that we've been reading in the media lately during this coming auspicious Year of the Dog lunar event, I would like to make a special mention of three very inspiring and extraordinary Malaysian women (and others like them) who make up another group of unsung Malaysian heroes in our society.

These are individuals who in their selfless service year in and year out, never fail to answer the call for help from animals in danger in our neighbourhoods.

Once, there was an emergency at 4am where a dog had landed in a one-metre deep drain and was in severe pain. Upon hearing the dog's yelps for help, one of these Malaysian angels without a moment's hesitation grabbed a towel and jumped into the drain risking her life to rescue the animal. Although the dog died two hours later, its last moments was spent in a pair of arms full of love.

Another incident involved a dog that was padlocked to a thick chain in a back lane without proper shelter. It had a gaping wound the size of a human fist. Although one of these women wasted no time in alerting the authorities about this form of cruelty, by the time action arrived, the poor dog had already died.

Not all cases, however, end up with failure.

Another small dog that had suffered abuse daily from its owner who would beat the animal with a baseball bat was somehow persuaded by one of these women to surrender his pet to her. The canine was happily re-homed in an animal sanctuary.

Syabas to Pat Chee-Lim from Klang, Jackie Tsang from Kuala Lumpur and Terry Poh from Petaling Jaya for being there for our animals in crises.

We need more animal rescuers like you in our society!