PAWS has helped us a lot ever since we started, right from the days of our Klang rescue until now. Their management has offered us boarding for our Klang and Selayang rescues, subsidised vaccinations for the needy rescuers who come through us, reduced surrender rates (sometimes, totally waived) for financially-deprived rescuers, free spay-neuter for Meiji and Kwai Chee at Teluk Chamang, offered to provide free spay-neuter for several other bigtime rescuers (but the rescuers themselves could not source for a sheltered area with electricity and water, so it could not be done), transport for emergency rescue work (Old Klang dogs and Sunshine Courage) and most of all, sound advice when we most needed it and help, very sincerely given, with no strings attached at all, asking nothing in return. How often I could not thank PAWS openly because they did not want the publicity.
My personal thanks to PAWS go back to the days when I first fostered Cow, Bunny and Pole. I had never touched a cat all my life and here I was, with 3 newborn kittens, picked up from the roadside. I rang PAWS and the officer who took the call taught me what to do, step by step. Cow, Bunny and Pole survived, and I have since passed his step-by-step infant-animal caregiving procedures to many, many first-time rescuers.
I became a caregiver because of my success in nursing Cow, Bunny and Pole and almost exactly 3 years later, I started AnimalCare to extend help to other rescuers-caregivers. So, a good deed, even in a phonecall, goes around and around, many times over. Sometimes a good deed proliferates into great deeds.
PAWS was also one of the very first organisations to publicise our Sunsuper participation on their Facebook page to help us garner votes. And no, I did not ask. PAWS did it by themselves. For this, we are so grateful.
Our Sunsuper-food sharing is miniscule and almost negligible compared to the amount of help PAWS has given us thus far, so we humbly hope they will take it as a small token of goodwill, friendship and gratitude from us, all in the spirit of sharing and rejoicing.
Long-time dedicated staff of PAWS, Uncle Charles, receiving the food on behalf of PAWS.
A message from PAWS:
Dear Kah Yein,
It has always been an honour to be of help to you and your organisation. We are afterall doing what we are doing for those poor unwanted souls. If only all of us can work together with less politics, I am sure we can and will achieve much much more.
Deep inside me, I would very much like you to give the allocation meant for us to some other group that are more in need but I can’t refuse your kind thoughts and gift as I don’t have the authority to say no.
With heartfelt gratitude and thanks, we gracefully accept your generosity.
Thank you and God bless.
Rgds,
While we endeavour to practise no-kill with the animals that come through us and we know that PAWS has a euthanasia policy in place, we understand that their numbers is huge while ours is very small in comparison. So while we can afford to give palliative care to sick and dying animals and we have the resources to nurse infant animals; PAWS does not because they do not have the resources or the manpower to do so. But all said, PAWS does a great job in providing food and shelter to hundreds of street animals and their monthly adoption rate is impressive too. That is something we cannot do. So, to each its own, and let’s look at all the good each organisation does, and rejoice in that.
Comments
2 responses to “Sunsuper-food for PAWS, with our heartfelt gratitude”
Dear Dr Chan,
I am happy to read this post of yours. I have in the past been questioned by some of my acquintances of why i am donating to PAWS knowingly that they have a euthanising policy in place. Each time, i will try to explain the struggles that PAWS has to endure and make them understand that rescuing, shelthering and rehoming of strays in Malaysia is an uphill challenge for many more years to come and everyone is doing their best to cope. Since in this post, you have mentioned that PAWS has been graciously offering help to you in the beginnings of your organisation’s struggle, i would like to share this post in my facebook with a few comments attached to it (see below). I believe in your work and your policies. As such, i would also love to see that more people would understand PAWS’s struggles and not just condemning it without thinking from their point of view. If you may, the below is the comment that i will tag with the blog posting, which i will share out on my facebook, and would like to see your approval before doing so.
“I would like to share the selflessness of AnimalCare Org in sharing their good fortune with PAWS. A lot of people has deep misunderstanding about PAWS’s policies. Though many may not agree with the policies, but i would like to take this opportunity to show some of the kindness that PAWS has extended to other organizations despite their struggle to maintain the shelter, and now receiving in return. I seek for the understanding of those who is skeptical, that each and everyone one of us/non-profit org is trying our best to improve the strays situation in our beloved country.”
Hi Yoke Mei,
Thanks for your kind words. Please do go ahead and share it on your facebook, and yes, PAWS deserves to be given credit for what they do.
While we endeavour to practise no-kill, for me personally, we are able to do so because our numbers are very small. PAWS is a shelter and as such, they cannot turn down any animal that is surrendered. As I understand it, they do not have the resources nor sufficient voluntary manpower to give palliative care to the sick and dying or to nurse the very young animals. Knowing that shelters have their policies, we can do our part by not surrendering the sick, dying or very young ones to the shelters, and instead learn to nurse them ourselves.
I know of some rescuers who complain a lot about shelter policies, yet do not do much themselves. We cannot compare ourselves with what goes on in the shelters. Their numbers are huge; ours is so small. Yet, I trust we all do the best that we can, within our means.