PETALING JAYA, June 10 — A Malaysian Twitter user’s viral thread proves that dog is truly man’s best friend, no matter what race or religion you belong to.
The Twitter user with the handle snugdeal3r, known as Effy, shared a story of her dad rescuing 12 dogs from meeting a dark fate with the local municipal council.
“Blacky is one of the first dogs we rescued. At the time, the authorities were shooting all the stray dogs in the forest and they had nowhere to go,” she wrote.
Attached to the tweet was a picture of Effy cuddling the black and white mutt, who she described as her “best companion”.
Some of Effy and her father’s other canine friends include Bella, Sasat, Magic, Gegirl, Bellbell, Jacob, Edward, Noisy, and Whitey.
Effy, who is Muslim, also addressed questions around the samak (purification) process she goes through after touching the dogs.
She explained that she and her dad use a Taharah soap to cleanse themselves and their clothes of najis mughallazah (major impurities) after coming into contact with the dogs as per Islamic guidelines.
Effy added that the pooches themselves know how to keep their distance when needed.
“They know how to respect my dad and when he walks around in a jubah, they know those clothes are for solat.
“They don’t come near him because they’re scared they’ll get the clothes dirty,” she wrote.
Two of the rescued mutts have been adopted by Effy’s neighbours, though she said the duo can’t resist popping back into the house in the evenings to seek her father’s attention.
Twitter users have been praising both Effy and her father for setting a good example to other Malaysians when it comes to caring for animals.
“Please send my regards to your dad and tell him what he’s doing is such a great thing. May Allah bless him and your family,” wrote AfiiiiQ.
“You’re a good example of what a lot of Malay Muslims should emulate,” wrote peterkhoon.