Migrant worker rescues missing dog from Whampoa drain 2 days after it escaped daycare

After two days of intense searching, a lost dog was finally found scampering along a drain in the Whampoa area, and rescued by a migrant worker.

The 5-year-old male chow chow named Kiko was reported missing by his owners on the night of Dec. 7.

The family has had Kiko since he was a three-month-old puppy.

Matthew Teh told The Straits Times that at about 8pm that day, he and his family learnt from Kiko's dog daycare, Woofworks, that he had gone missing.

Although they were in Vietnam at the time, they decided to fly back to Singapore three days earlier than planned on Dec. 8 to look for their beloved dog.

On Dec. 7, a dashcam video from that afternoon was shared on the Singapore Road Vigilante Facebook group, showing a chow chow wandering unleashed among traffic on the Central Expressway (CTE).

It appeared to have been bumped by a car.

Public search

Missing posters, offering a reward of S$1,000, were shared online and pasted at public places in the area where Kiko was last seen.

Through a Telegram chat group named "Search for Kiko", people from the public asked the family for more information about Kiko to help with the search.

Many went out individually to look for the dog, either on foot or in a car, and shared the routes that they have checked but failed to find him.

Matthew told the group on Dec. 8 that Kiko had been spotted near the CTE on 6 Mar Thoma Road.

On the morning of Dec. 9, when the Telegram group had around 800 members, Matthew sent a new poster to the group with a higher reward of S$5,000.

Rescue

At 3:17pm on Dec. 9, as others were still sharing their search attempts, a member of the Teh family wrote in the group chat, "WE FOUND KIKO".

Kiko was spotted walking along a drain at 8 Mar Thoma Road, and a migrant worker had gone in and carried him out, the family member told Mothership.

She also sent a photo of the migrant worker with Kiko.

"He carried Kiko out of the drain single-handedly," she told the group.

In reply to a question from the group later, she affirmed that the man had been helping to put up the missing posters.

The family had run over to retrieve Kiko with durian, she also said, as Kiko liked eating fresh durian.

Matthew and others from the chat group shared photos and videos of Kiko after the rescue, in which he looked well and was walking normally.

The Teh family member thanked everyone in the group chat for their help.

"It is insane we were able to reach so many people and everyone was so willing to help, we wouldn't have done it without y'all," she wrote.

"We are sending him to the vet now and we will give you guys updates. As of now, Kiko has eaten a bit of durian and drank lots of water."

How Kiko went missing

On Dec. 9, Woofworks wrote on Facebook that Kiko had slipped out of the daycare during an event, "when an exit wasn’t secured properly by a visiting guest".

The staff chased after him immediately, but ultimately lost sight of him.

Woofworks apologised and said it was "doing everything possible to find him".

"We are also reviewing and strengthening all safety measures — including smart tag locator, additional barriers and stricter visitor protocols to ensure every dog in our care is safe," it added.

Top images from Teh family member/Telegram chat group