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Sammy Sutherland

In Loving Memory of Sammy Dog-gis JR (1994-2007)

You can take the dog off the street but not the street out of the dog.

If there was one dog who led her life being in the right place at the right time, it had to be The Sam. She lived most of her life being an 'accidental pet' who just happened to 'be there'.

At about a year old. Sammy came to Kitty's life when she was single and living in Manila. A good friend of Kitty's but someone she hardly ever saw happened to mention he was 'trying to get rid' of a local mongrel. With already two large Alsatians but still enough room in her house, Kitty took Sammy thinking she would be a dog that would just be 'there', part of a menagerie that later included four dogs and a myna bird.

Another dog, Tallulah, came later under similar circumstances where she was unwanted. Sammy and Talullah were always together. They constantly escaped from the house and spent all day on the streets unbeknownst to anyone. They never really received much attention because the two older Alsatians were much closer to Kitty, having moved with her from Los Angeles to Manila.

In 2000, Kitty married Matthew and moved to Hong Kong with him. She wanted to bring at least 2 dogs. By then one of the older Alsatians, Ching Ling, had died and it was impossible to bring the other dog Sierra, a Los Angeles earthquake rescue, because she was too old.

That left Talullah and Sammy, the accidental pet. Unfortunately for them, they went from a very large house with a garden in Manila to a 2000sq ft flat in Hong Kong but with a balcony where Sammy loved lying in the sun. In 2004, they all had to move to Taipei and Sammy had a lot of problems ---- biting Kitty three consecutive times in a day and fighting Tallulah to bloody bits. Even dog lovers suggested we put Sammy down. She even escaped from the flat for days.

We gave up on ever finding her until one day Matthew saw her walking around the neighbourhood--by accident! We knew she loved the street life but Matthew took her back to the flat anyway. In 2007 we returned to Hong Kong to the same neighbourhood and everyone (dogs and humans) remembered her because she was so tough, always the leader.

In July 2010, we moved to Tokyo but left Tullulah and Sammy in the care of our Helper Nora and her sister Monica. We are glad we left them in Hong Kong because in November, Sammy developed a tumor on the left side of her snout that was eating into her lips. She was 16 and our vet for 10 years, Dr Lloyd Kenda was hesitant to operate because of her age and the potential result -- death. But he took a calculated risk which resulted in a successful operation. We will always remember his advice then, 'If she dies, at least you tried. If you don't, she'll die anyway.

With Dr Kenda and his staff's help, Sammy was able to live decently - eating, walking slowly - for another three months until pain set in. On the february morning of our scheduled appointment for euthanasia, Kitty took her for a walk and let her eat anything off the streets - chicken bones, old bread, garbage - and she loved it. Nora was finding it very hard to accept this decision but when the tumor started bleeding profusely that morning, all of us knew 'it was time'.

The Sam lived a long and happy life in different countries. Some poeple may not even travel as much as she did. She was healthy all her life and her illness was more likely from old age (at some point everyone old gets cancer). She suffered very briefly but gave us all enough time to say our goodbyes. We wouldn't have had it any other way. Death is unavoidable but to be able to control how you die and to do it with dignity is the greatest privilege. We would have made the same choices for ourselves.

We would like to especially thank Dr Lloyd Kenda and his staff at Valley Veterinary Center in Hong Kong for keeping Sammy (and Tallulah) healthy for so many years. And to our helper Nora who truly loved Sammy and was totally committed to her care.

In loving memory of our Sam-Sam....

Matthew, Kitty, Nora, Tallulah and Monica