I got angry when I remembered this story.
We used to rent an apartment compound, one of those with the same backyard for all the units. It was a two-house compound, so we rented both to have the place to ourselves. When we started renting, there was already a dog there named Kaykay. She was supposed to be the guard dog. The owner said she had been there even with the past renters.
When we moved in, Kaykay was still there. She was a very scared and traumatized dog. My mom told me that the previous renter’s kids used to bully her. Over time, I noticed the owner barely fed Kaykay. (The reason we eventually moved out was because the owner kept coming into the compound even though we rented both houses. At first, we didn’t mind, but it got worse over time. Sometimes they would bring people we didn’t know, and we stopped feeling safe.)
Kaykay was always on a leash and stayed in a doghouse with only a roof, no walls. She was always afraid, so I slowly started hanging out with her. I played with her, gave her treats, and tried to make her feel safe. We also had our own dog, Akil, and we used to joke that Akil and Kaykay were dating.
As time passed, the owner stopped paying attention to Kaykay. She was lucky to get fed once a week, but by that time, we had already started taking care of her. We fed her, bathed her, and eventually took her off the leash so she could live inside with us.
Three years passed, and we really wanted to move out because of the owner's habit of entering the compound without notice. When we decided to leave, we asked if we could adopt Kaykay, but the owner insisted she would take Kaykay to their house along with her other dogs. It was frustrating because the owner always bragged about her purebred dogs but barely took care of Kaykay.
We stopped asking, but about a month later, Akil seemed sad. We thought it was because he was alone, so we went back to the old house to ask if we could adopt Kaykay. That’s when we were told she had already died. The owner said she died of sickness but didn’t give any details. I was so angry because we had grown close to Kaykay, and I felt regretful. I kept thinking that if we had pushed harder, maybe she would have let us take Kaykay earlier.
When we moved in, Kaykay was still there. She was a very scared and traumatized dog. My mom told me that the previous renter’s kids used to bully her. Over time, I noticed the owner barely fed Kaykay. (The reason we eventually moved out was because the owner kept coming into the compound even though we rented both houses. At first, we didn’t mind, but it got worse over time. Sometimes they would bring people we didn’t know, and we stopped feeling safe.)
Kaykay was always on a leash and stayed in a doghouse with only a roof, no walls. She was always afraid, so I slowly started hanging out with her. I played with her, gave her treats, and tried to make her feel safe. We also had our own dog, Akil, and we used to joke that Akil and Kaykay were dating.
As time passed, the owner stopped paying attention to Kaykay. She was lucky to get fed once a week, but by that time, we had already started taking care of her. We fed her, bathed her, and eventually took her off the leash so she could live inside with us.
Three years passed, and we really wanted to move out because of the owner's habit of entering the compound without notice. When we decided to leave, we asked if we could adopt Kaykay, but the owner insisted she would take Kaykay to their house along with her other dogs. It was frustrating because the owner always bragged about her purebred dogs but barely took care of Kaykay.
We stopped asking, but about a month later, Akil seemed sad. We thought it was because he was alone, so we went back to the old house to ask if we could adopt Kaykay. That’s when we were told she had already died. The owner said she died of sickness but didn’t give any details. I was so angry because we had grown close to Kaykay, and I felt regretful. I kept thinking that if we had pushed harder, maybe she would have let us take Kaykay earlier.
22-25, M
