Giving hope to stray dogs and cats
IT started in February 2015. Animal lover-turned-advocate Paulina Pinos spearheaded the adoption of dogs from the City Pound of Muntinlupa City. This gave birth to the group Hope for the Strays (HFTS), a Facebookbased animal welfare group. Later, entrepreneur Cecil Fernandez, who was then an active supporter of the group, succeeded Pinos after eight months as one of its main moderators and administrator.
In a recent interview with BusinessMirror, Fernandez recalled that one of the difficulties or challenges faced by HFTS during its first year was the handling of multiple cases of animal abuse, neglect and abandonment, which required immediate attention in terms of rescuing, medication, recovery and rehabilitation, even adoption.
“Helping a neglected dog or cat does not stop with the rescue. It leads you to a longer, more engaging and even heartbreaking, and financially draining process, such as providing veterinary needs, recovery and facilitating the adoption process for dogs and cats under our care,” Fernandez explained.
To update HFTS on new developments, Fernandez said members of the group can post any related article pertaining to animal rescue, cases and stories of abuses, and even foreign news regarding animal welfare. She added HFTS checks submitted content to makes sure they abide by established guidelines before the submission is approved and posted. Already deployed is a messaging function to allow people to reach out to them privately.
“More often than not, they are seeking for various types of help needed for dogs and cats neglected or maltreated by their owners, animals that are in bad shape or have a medical condition. There are also pet owners seeking for financial help for their own dogs, wanting their dogs/cats to be adopted when they are experiencing financial difficulties. There are some owners who want to give away their pets because they can no longer afford to take care of their pets,” Fernandez pointed out.
According to Fernandez, an average of eight to 10 people are using the messaging feature on a daily basis for their reports. Since all members have fulltime jobs, Fernandez said HFTS tries to manage the messages because a lot of senders often tag people they know who can bravely facilitate rescue, raise funds, adopt and provide public awareness for the protection of animals. Currently, HFTS has 22,600 members.
RESCUING NAIA
ON March 3, 2017, Fernandez and her team saw a dog along the center aisle of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) road. She noticed the dog was full of ticks and fleas and a bit aggressive when they tried to rescue the dog. Nevertheless, they rescued the dog and sent her to the nearest veterinarian. The dog, who was named Naia, was treated for ehrlichia.
Naia stayed in a pet mobile in Parañaque for a week. Later, she was sent to Cavite to be fostered for more than a month, until HFTS decided to get her and adopt her. Naia has fully recovered and even became the mother of four puppies. FUlFIllmENt IN thE AdvoCACy
ON a personal note, Fernandez said getting involved in this worthy advocacy is quite fulfilling because many people today, especially the millennials, are so engaged or interested to join.
“I realized I already found my purpose in life. I find joy and happiness in saving dogs and cats, feeding dogs and cats whenever I can. People in our area already know me as the lady who goes around practically every day to do my feeding activity. People sometimes ask why I am doing it, and I just tell them: Why not? It’s small thing I can do for dogs and cats, since they bring joy to my life,” she explained
“I am also blessed since I have a job, a small business and friends I gained for being in this advocacy, so I want to share and inspire people to do the same. I intend to do this for as long as I can.” n