Man Takes in Abandoned Dog With a Moving Note Attached to Her Collar

Lionel Vytialingam lives in Ipoh, Malaysia. In a viral Facebook post, he explains how he was on his way home from a trip to the local grocery store when he spotted a "lone lil dog running aimlessly in the middle of a big road."

Cars and bikes were blaring their horns as she —frightened — swerved to avoid them. He took a leap of faith and followed the little dog. Anyone with a heart would have done the same thing. He never would have guessed he'd be so moved by what he found, though. 

The little pup cautiously approached him, and he stood still to "gain her trust." "She stood away for about 10 minutes watching my every pulse it seemed, before she finally approached me from the back, sniffed, then walked around to face me," Lionel wrote. 

He'd noticed that she had a soggy note attached to her collar, so he (very cutely) asked her if he could read it. "By this time," Lionel wrote, "she had formed the most intense, most pleading eye contact with me from under her matted fringe." Is that not the saddest thing you've ever heard?

He unhooked the note from her collar and opened it, thinking there would be some owner contact info included. "But it was," Lionel wrote, "sign, a different sorta note. And I broke down in tears, one hand firmly grasping onto her sticky knots of fur." On an unrelated note, is Lionel a professional writer? Because he should be. Anyway...

"WOOF!" the note reads. "My name is Siggy, and I'm the most loving and attentive doggy you'll ever see! My master is very sorry he had to leave me here with you, but he just can't look after me anymore. I'm very sorry about that, as I am sure he is too. 

"Please take me into your home.

"Please let me be a part of your family.

"Please love me.

"I am a goldendoodle, I'm 5 years old this year, and I have not been neutered. I am very nice, I haven't bitten anyone, ever! I am a good guard dog who will sit in front of your door all day and bark at anyone who comes to your gate. Until you tell me to stop. Or if I know the person very well. I can do some tricks too! I hope you'll accept me. With love, and some woof, Siggy."

What a note. It's safe to say that note is not at all what Lionel was expecting. But he barely thought about it before he decided Siggy was coming with him. "she was going to get into my car and off the road," Lionel wrote. "Not because I knew what I was doing or where to go but because right then I knew I didn't need to have all the answers before I took a step forward." 

So he put Siggy in his car and he brought her home. "fed and bathed her, dried her off and put her to bed," Lionel wrote. "She's downstairs now in a cozy bed I made under a couch where she seems most comfortable, and I'm up here in my bed, about to feed her bread and honey and chunks of chewies in my dreams."

Lionel was the first to admit that he didn't know what the future held, but it didn't matter. His post captured the hearts of thousands around the world. Part of Lionel's message was directed at those who are thinking about getting a pet. He reminded everyone not to commit to caring for an animal unless you are ready for a full-time commitment. 

Adding a pet to your life is adding a family member. If you don't understand that and you can't take care of the pet you've taken in, don't send it out into the street. Siggy was lucky that someone like Lionel came along and saved her. But many others aren't so lucky.

In a welcome update to his original post, Lionel wrote, "We've found this lil girl a HOME! Yesterday's tears and fears have brought me to squeals of joy today!" Lionel's brother has agreed to take Siggy permanently after their quarantine is over. This loving pup is going to have a home for the rest of her life.