Now that the paradise island Boracay is shut down to visitors to give way to a massive rehabilitation program, not just the two-legged inhabitants are lost about how to survive. The survival of its two-legged inhabitants is also at stake.
The founder of Aklan Animal Rehabilitation & Rescue Center (AARRC), Michel van der Kleij is frantically calling on everyone to help him transport 100 homeless dogs to a nearby animal shelter. He is afraid they will just be euthanized when no more tourists and workers are feeding them.
Here is his post:
Read the complete text:
We are looking for sponsors for 100 dogs before they get murdered
?!
Asia’s top rated tourist location
Thousands of workers that originate from other islands or even further afield will leave in search of work.
Hundreds of (stray-)dogs
As roaming or stray animals, they are expected to be murdered when nobody is there to watchWe are just a local animal welfare but with your help we are able to rescue
Of course, he together with AARRC will not let anything bad happen to the dogs of Boracay–if they can help it. If the authorities are willing to cooperate, he plans to evacuate at least 100 adoptable dogs to AARRC’s Animal Sanctuary in Linabuan Sur, some 80 km away from the island where they can be looked after properly. He may combine the evacuation with a large scale spay/neuter campaign together with the Philippine Pet Birth Control Center (PPBCC).
Rescuing the 100 or more dogs is a costly operation, however. He needs help. “They need to be transported to the AARRC facilities, temporary kennels need to be constructed and they will need veterinary care, as well as spaying and neutering. Then they obviously need good food to improve their health and a staff to look after them. We expect that it will be a couple of years before they all find loving homes. Some may even never leave. But whatever the case may be, you can rely on AARRC ✊to give them the best possible lives under the circumstances,” says Michel.
Michel is also calling on the government for a sustainable, animal-friendly, and effective method of stray animal population control in Boracay. The cleanup and shutdown of Boracay might exacerbate the stray animal situation as migrant workers might leave their pets behind. Through an open letter published on Philippine Daily Inquirer last April 25, he implored President Duterte to promote the only proven effective method to control the stray dog population, and that is spaying/neutering the dogs combined with vaccination and deworming.
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