Who killed 龐哥?

Earlier this week, Apple Daily came out with a story about a Golden Retriever named 龐哥 (Pange) dying from a heat stroke after spending 45 minutes in the 37 degree Celsius heat on the deck of a ferry.

Local TV stations (including ours, and I happened to be assigned to it) followed the story that day. Funny thing is, my angle came out different from everyone else's, once again. Here's how TVBS and 華視 reported on it. I've copied and pasted them from Yahoo's news service.


TVBS's report:
昨天是台灣狗節，卻發生狗狗被活活被曬死的意外，一群愛狗同好帶著愛犬到綠島出遊回程時；船家卻逼逼小狗得待在甲板，結果天氣太熱主人來不及送水，一隻黃金獵犬活活被曬死，狗主痛哭失聲。

接近正午，36隻狗加上48個人擠在船艙上，不到2平方公尺的範圍裡，寸步難行連轉身都有困難。

引擎不但吵，還一直冒出熱氣；黃金獵犬拼命喘氣，主人趕緊用濕毛巾擦拭，右下角這隻雖然身上蓋著濕毛巾，但實在忍不住站起來，位置太擠，鼻子都快頂到條紋上衣男子的背後。

2公尺平方不到的空間裡，擠了5個人、6隻狗；2隻黃金獵犬肩並肩完全無法轉身，畫面右上角欄杆旁還塞了另一隻狗。

在這種情快之下，黃金獵犬龐哥熱到想跳海，體溫不斷升高、瞳孔放大，舌頭也開始發紫，甚至連眼睛視網膜微血管爆裂發紅，3分鐘之後龐哥休克昏倒、口吐白沫。

狗飼主商小姐：「艙門是鎖住的，然後牠就用力一直敲，你開門哪，我們要上廁所，他就是不要，他就說你走，哪有那些水去救我們家的龐哥，看到牠躺在那個地方叫，你知不知道我那個時候我多痛啊。」

飼主痛批船公司竟然將人和狗全被反鎖在甲板上，連上廁所甚至裝水也不行；甚至看著小狗被擠到牆邊，船家仍然不為所動，比較龐哥中暑前後的照片，中暑後眼睛已經發紅；牽著狗出遊回家卻抱著一盆骨灰，愛犬活活被曬死，這口氣他們嚥不下去！


華視's report:
一個黃金獵犬的家族聚會，帶著三十六隻狗狗搭船到台東綠島玩，回程船家不讓狗進船艙又不給水喝，結果造成一隻狗中暑死亡，船家說這隻狗身體狀況本來就不好，氣的主人跳出來大罵船家說謊！三歲大的黃獵犬龐哥，生前模樣可愛，主人沒想到這趟旅行，怎麼會讓狗兒子連命都丟了？時間回到八月三十一日，飼養黃金獵犬的狗爸爸狗媽媽一起快樂出航到台東綠島玩，搭船時人狗都在船艙內，但沒想到回程，四十八個大人加上三十六條狗，卻是通通擠在甲板上，龐哥因此中暑送命。狗主人商小姐：「水都不給我們，我們船上的那個礦泉水，你想想看，狗也要喝，人也要喝，都已經不夠了，人家哪有那些水去救我們龐哥？你就看牠躺在那個地上，你知不知道那時候，我多痛啊？」氣船家連一杯水都不肯給，而且還把艙門給反鎖，被指控的台東船家則出面喊冤，懷疑是狗狗的健康有問題，船東：「大約二、三十隻狗，每隻狗都很肥，很大隻，其中有一隻沒什麼精神，一上船就趴在那個甲板上！」但船東的說法讓主人更無法接受，把龐哥的健康手冊都拿出來，指控船東說謊，雙方各說各話，而對主人來說，原本快樂出航竟然會變成跟愛犬的最後回憶！

民視's report (mine):
週末和假日，許多人喜歡帶家裡的小狗出門玩，不過炎熱的夏天要特別注意曝曬過度的狗也會中暑。8月底，一群狗友帶著30多隻黃金獵犬到綠島玩，不過搭船過程時，由於船家要求狗必須待在甲板上，結果一隻黃金獵犬熱到血管破裂死亡。

黃金獵犬的頭上都蓋著溼毛巾，但37度的大熱天，這群狗在船的甲板上曝曬，熱的受不了，舌頭都要碰到地了。

綠島到台東航程45分鐘，36條狗當中，龐哥就在拍完這張照片3分鐘後，嘔吐昏迷，不久之後就死亡，

訪問: 狗友Lydia 描述大家在甲板上用濕毛巾和水幫狗降溫,龐哥想跳海
訪問: 飼主Ms Shang 描述龐哥休克狀況

飼主說，去綠島時，是坐在客艙裡，但回程時，船家說狗只能待甲板，狗友們想說沒關係，因為狗的健康狀況都很好，所以同意和狗待在甲板上，沒想到龐哥竟然曬死了。

訪問: 飼主Ms Shang 描述接近下船時,大家用礦泉水瓶裝水來到在龐哥身上,但已經來不及了

不過獸醫提醒，其實氣溫超過30度時，就不該帶狗出門狗

訪問: 獸醫描述狗在30度不通風空間就很可能休克, 建議30度以上不要把狗關在家裡或車子裡

狗不會講話，不會說不舒服，只能默默承受，所以飼主更是要了解牠們的需求。


The interview contents of FTV's reports don't show up on the internet, so I roughly filled them in here.

Here are the key facts:
Dogs and owners warned at time of boarding that dogs will only be allowed on the deck during the trip.
Owners accepted the condition and joined their dogs on the deck.
Owners asked to be let into the passenger cabin to retrieve water for the dogs after the ferry departed.
Ferry operator denied request and locked the passenger cabin from the inside.
Ferry operator told dog owners they can get water on the upper deck, which they could get to by climbing up the ladder, so the dog owners DID have access to water, and WERE getting water from the upper deck.

So who really killed Pange? The rude and inhumane ferry operator or ignorant dog owners that decided to board the rude and inhumane ferry operator's boat, knowing that it was a danger to their dogs' health? Most stations ignored key facts and bent the story to make it look like the poor, innocent dogs and their owners fell victim to a cold-hearted animal-hating boat operator.

Lydia, who was also there with her own two dogs and one foster dog, admitted to me that it really was their mistake that they decided to board the boat after being warned that they could only stay on the deck. This only confirmed what the facts pointed to, but even if the other reporters didn't know Lydia like I did, why did they not look at all the facts? Or did they decide to ignore the facts? Or was it both? Whichever the case, I'm (once again) disappointed that these are the people I call "my colleagues."