Charity:
Pawssion Project
GIVING A VOICE to the voiceless, Pawssion Project was an initiative started over a year ago by founder Malou Perez. The first shelter was created in Victorias City, Negros Occidental. “It all happened so spontaneously after I came across a Facebook post about 50 unwanted dogs who were scheduled to be put to death by gunshot at a local pound. I, like almost everyone else, shared the post but never really did anything to save them at first.
Two days later, after talking with Manang Jen, the owner of the farm, about a business venture we were about to start at the property, she tagged me on the same post and asked me if I was willing to rescue the dogs saying that she could offer the farm as a temporary shelter for the dogs. Without a second thought, I just said yes!” shares Perez. With no concrete plans, no experience or idea as to how to operate a shelter, Perez agreed to get the dogs out of the pound despite the farm not being prepped at that point. “All I had was a sincere desire to save them, commitment, and a whole lot of faith,” she says with a smile. All she had wanted to do was get the 50 dogs out. “But after the first rescue, after witnessing how horrible their situation was, and upon seeing the hole where they were supposed to be buried, I thought to myself, ‘This really has to stop—I need to do something.’” In the three days since having said yes and saving the dogs, the farm was ready with a big kennel separating male and female dogs, as well as the shelter’s initial bags of dog food and bowls, leashes, and collars.
After that first rescue operation, Perez would get messages nonstop from people reporting pounds, animal cruelty, dog abandonment, and more heartbreaking stories. She considers herself lucky then to have found a volunteer who was just as committed to help the dogs, Tita Spy. “She helped me with the shelter operations, rescue efforts, and fostered some of the sick dogs, as well. I didn’t really have a team then; all I had were Tita Spy, two caretakers, and my family. And of course, God, who really made everything possible. Soon after, we started accommodating some rescue requests from other locations in the Philippines, and then, the rest is history,” shares Perez.
Having just capped off its first-year anniversary and now with a total of two shelters—one in Bacolod and one in Bulacan—Pawssion Project has saved so many lives and has truly raised awareness on the situation of the strays in the country. When asked about the beginning of the Bulacan shelter, Perez recounts: “Just like the Bacolod shelter, it happened very spontaneously and it was all because of 106 dogs on death row at SJDM Bulacan pound. Again, with just guts and high hopes,
I said yes to rescuing those dogs. With the help of Iza Calzado, we got the place where the shelter is right now. The place
is owned by her high school kabarkada’s family who offered the place just less than 30 minutes after Iza posted on her page about our search for a temporary shelter. God willing, they offered the place to me for a longer period of time and that is why the dogs now have a shelter in Luzon. The support from everyone when the shelter started was amazing and I could feel God move through everyone every single day.
I’ve had a number of celebrities advocate for the dogs and it’s helped a lot in raising awareness and encouraging adoption. Some of the most helpful celebrities and influencers are Iza Calzado, Marc Nelson, Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla, Celine Lopez, Angel Jones, Kim Cruz, Gabs Gibbs, Tita Ana Lim, Patricia Prieto, Carla Abellana, Kris Bernal, Korina Sanchez, beauty queens Bea Rose Santiago, Kayesha Chua, and Ang Probinsyano partylist Representative Ronnie Ong. I always tell everyone, never ever underestimate the power of advocating.”
Very little compares to knowing in one’s heart that these rescues’ lives have been changed for the better. Perez most certainly keeps all the rescues and their individual stories close to her heart. “One rescue we will always remember is Bonbon,” she shares, without missing a beat. “He was reported to our page when someone posted a tweet about his case. He was hacked in the head and was badly hit. Our rescuer went to get him around 11 pm in Malabon and he was brought to a 24/7 clinic for medication. Bonbon stayed at the vet for a month, lost so much weight as he was really sad to be in the cage and was not eating so well. As soon as we got him out of the vet, his face lit up and he really enjoyed his car ride home as a new dog. He was slowly gaining weight again as he was fostered by my rescuer, Gab, before he was brought back to the shelter. Bonbon, together with the other rescues, went to the first ever International Homeless Animals Day event, and was adopted soon after! He now enjoys his new home and family,” says Perez.
Another one of her favorite rescue cases is Pali in Bacolod. “Pali was a reported hitand-run case in Pali, Mandurriao. One of our followers, Iris, saw Pali under a pile of wood, crying, with his leg cut off already. She was not from the area and was just there visiting, so she messaged the page and asked for advice. I asked her to bring Pali to the vet and I will take care of Pali afterwards. Pali was saved, though his leg was amputated. Then I asked a friend from Iloilo to get Pali and foster him for a few days. Then, I went to Iloilo to pick up Pali as I was supposed to foster Pali for a while but fostering is always a trap!” she says with a laugh. “I ended up adopting Pali and now, he’s grown into a big pup, enjoys running and jumping and cuddling, just like a normal dog. He cries every time he hears my voice on the phone when I’m not home and in Manila for Bulacan shelter duties. He would sleep by the door patiently waiting for me to come home every day. Pali brings me so much hope and love and reminds me that rescued dogs, even dogs like him who are tripods, aren’t broken but beautiful.
On Pawssion Project’s agenda in the near future are many big plans beyond continuing the promotion of adoption and raising the value of their beautiful aspins. “We are looking into finishing the registration of the organization as a foundation this year. We have started to work with Representative Ronnie Ong on a house resolution that will revisit the current animal welfare act and laws and move towards implementing laws and projects that can help animals, especially the strays. We are also working towards massive educational campaigns on responsible pet ownership and animal cruelty.” Perez also notes that some of the plans, upon getting funding as a foundation, include massive free spay and neuter operations, sponsoring students to vet school, mobile vet vans, and more 24/7 public veterinary clinics.
It’s a tough job but Malou Perez and her Pawssion Project team, composed of less than 10 people, are up to the challenge, doing whatever they can despite the advocacy being physically, emotionally, and financially draining at times. Pawssion Project accepts help in any kind, either through adopting, fostering, donating, volunteering, or advocating. “Adopting and fostering are two of the best ways people can help us. Adoption is for free and it is the fastest way people can help us with the monthly operational cost as well as being the beginning of the rescues’ happy endings. They can donate both in cash or in kind.” In kind donations may be in the form of sacks of rice and dog food, dog bowls, leashes and collars, cleaning materials, and even construction materials for the shelter. Cash donations may also be sent through the following: BPI Savings 33349032421, Paypal Pawssionproject@ gmail.com, GCash 09778210271 or Go Fund Me. Volunteers are welcome any day. To volunteer, drop a message to Malou or the Pawssion Project page to find out how you can help in whatever way you can.
To help save lives and for more information on Pawssion Project, follow them on Facebook and Instagram at @PAWSsionProject.
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