Animals undeniably play a large part in our ecosystem. Some of us offer our bit of compassion to them, some find them to be a nuisance, while some don’t pay any heed to them at all. Nonetheless, they exist. And like all living things, they have feelings too.
Kimmy is one of those people who offers heaps of compassion to animals outside her home. She started her efforts by feeding stray dogs – only those outside her home as her mother did not allow them in. All that changed when a tragedy struck. Kimmy’s mother, affectionately known as Auntie JiaJia, noticed that a dog her daughter had been feeding was culled outside their home. She called Kimmy, who was in school at that time, and they both decided to open their lawn to 20 of their neighbourhood’s stray and feral dogs to stop them from being culled.
As word started spreading about the step they had taken, Aunty JiaJia received a call for help on a similar case. Authorities had seized a feral dog that the caller had been feeding and Aunty JiaJia went to the authorities to help retrieve the dog. There, she realised it would not be fair to just save one dog, especially without knowing the future of the others. That day in 2008, she saved 200 dogs from the gallows. She obtained space for them, rescuing more dogs on the streets. Today, they run Malaysia’s biggest no-kill, cage-less dog shelter with over 3000 dogs: HOPE.
The shelter, located in a plantation estate in Pekan Nanas, is clean and has no distinct odour that you get in shelters that are not maintained well. Happy dogs greet guests and volunteers. Once a month, HOPE organises a dog bathing event to bathe and treat all their rescued dogs. The event gathers over 100 volunteers, all good-hearted people who ensure the best welfare for the dogs. Dogs are social animals that have a special chemistry with humans. They are known as a man’s best friend for a reason.
HOPE focuses on rescues, rehomes, and promotes TNR (Trap-Neuter-Release) programmes. The dogs rescued and rehomed are typically neglected and abused feral or stray dogs who need time and a lot of affection before they can trust humans again. Once the trust is rekindled, they are rehomed. If they do not find a home, the dogs remain in the shelter; cared for, and loved until the end of their time. For animals on the streets that are not causing a nuisance, HOPE traps them and sends them to a veterinary clinic to be neutered. The animals are attended to during their healing and then released back to where they came from. In this case, even though they are not in shelters, female dogs and cats do not risk their lives by becoming pregnant and giving birth in dirty alleys.
HOPE is currently building a clinic facility in a location the size of an average shop lot. They plan to quarantine, treat, and ward ill animals as well as neuter animals when the facility opens up to its full capacity.
According to the Animal Act 2015, pet abandonment is a crime. “Be a responsible pet owner,” Kimmy says. “Be kind to all animals. The planet is not only for humans to live in. It is for all forms of life to get along together.”
For more information, visit their website:
