Agilan shares his love for dogs and how they inspire him

There are many things that spark joy in Malaysian martial artist Agilan "Alligator" Thani’s life.

Among them is the bond he shares with his father, the country’s delicious foods, training at Monarchy MMA, and, of course, his dogs.

Agilan was rather excited when asked to speak about the relationship he shared with his dogs ahead of Love Your Pet Day on Wednesday, 20 February.

“I can’t tell you how much I love my dogs. They mean the world to me,” the 23-year-old Kuala Lumpur native said.

“I’ve loved dogs for a very long time, but I only had the chance to own them while I was injured last year. I could not do much at that time, so I started looking for dogs to adopt.”

That moment changed the welterweight mixed martial artist's life and it allowed him to find the true meaning to the phrase "man’s best friend."

“I never knew you could do so much with dogs,” he confessed. “When I had all four of them at the same time, I realized I could exercise, interact, and do a lot of fun activities with them.”

During a brief injury stint from March 2018 to later that May, the Sentul-born athlete adopted two dogs – a Rottweiler named Premium and an American Pit Bull Terrier named Bella.

He also purchased a Poodle named Mimo and a Husky named Mayo from two shops which could not find a buyer for them.

“It is a must for me to walk all of them every morning, while during the weekends I take them to the dog park,” he said.

“I’ll make time for them always. On occasions, we play ball at a park or I’d take them to Bukit Gasing in Petaling Jaya for a hike. They love it!”

After suffering another injury in December, and then a break-up one month later, Agilan put his dogs up for adoption because he thought he could not handle them anymore.

However, after seeing them off with their new owners, he felt lost without them.

He managed to get back three dogs, but Mayo could not be parted from its new owners.

“I broke up with Amy (his girlfriend), and I just wanted to give them away. But after a couple of days without them, I realized they were an important part of my life,” he explained.

“I then hired someone to take care of them if I get too busy. That’s how much I love them, and I felt that my decision to put them up for adoption was too harsh.”

Agilan described his furry friends as a bunch that has inspired him throughout the year.

“Even though I am angry at them, they always show me affection. They learn to accept everything and do not complain much,” he said.

“They have a strong mind, and I am inspired by their simplicity in life.”