Building an Animal Shelter on Malapascua!
Donation protected
THE STORY
Malapascua Island is a small island located in central Philippines, just off the northern tip of Cebu Island most notably known for it's white sand beaches and excellent diving. It is most well known as being the only place in the world where you can regularly scuba dive with thresher sharks! It stretches 2.5km long and is home to several thousand people - the island is completely dependent on tourism, mostly diving. That being said... this island, like many others, has been greatly impacted by the COVID-19 situation in the world and most people have lost their jobs. People can barely afford to feed themselves, so it is understandably difficult to provide for their pets.
Even more concerning is that there was and still is a large stray dog and cat population here which used to primarily rely on the restaurants and markets as their food source. Now all of these food sources are closed and they do not have anywhere to get food. These animals will starve to death if we do not intervene. We are not looking at a short-term solution here - we are planning to setup a shelter and intend to treat, care for, spay and neuter, in an attempt to control the population of strays here and keep both the animals and residents of the island safe.
THE SOLUTION
Before the Covid-19 situation, we were already planning to create an animal clinic on Malapascua Island - we are calling it "Malapascua Paw Heroes" (MPH). The goal is to end the stray population growth in the island by catching and spaying/neutering all animals with consistent and more frequent vet missions and actions. By having a central location to treat the animals it will allow us to treat more animals, more effectively during the visits from the veterinarians. During the animals stay at the clinic they will be treated, fed, made healthy and ready for vaccines and spay/neutering, or other treatments.
WHAT WILL WE PROVIDE?
PROVIDE URGENT VETERINARY CARE
Transport to local vet clinic in the mainland, and organize monthly visits from vets from the mainland to perform spay/neutering, vaccines, and other surgery we cannot handle on our own
PROVIDE DAILY CARE
Basic medicines, baths, food, water, and love from our team of volunteers and staff
EDUCATION
We will visit local schools and homes to educate the local population on how to love fur babies and how to care for them
THE TEAM
We are a small permanent team supported by a large network of international volunteers and local community partners. Each one of us is willing to share our time and love to support the animals of Malapascua. Gina De Ruyter, the co-founder and project-champion of MPH, oversees operations with volunteers and day-to-day activity. Gina has certificates in animal care and first aid and has experience from kennels and shelters internationally.
The other co-founder, Lee Gallant is from Canada and has been in Malapascua off and on for the last 7.5 years. Other than running a busy resort on the island, he has been involved in the local community for several years. Lee co-founded the islands first solid waste management program in 2018 and has been organizing vet missions as acting president of the Malapascua Business Association (MBA Community Development Inc., Non-Profit) among other community initiatives. Lee and his partner have been adopting strays for years and currently have 12 dogs and 12 cats under their care.
VOLUNTEERS
The daily operations will be supported by a rotating team of volunteers as decided by the project-champion, Gina. The majority of the volunteers will be from our partner, Neverland - Neverland is a community based accommodation establishment located very close to the shelter. They are involved in other community projects such as community gardens, regular beach clean ups, and waste management in their area. They offer special prices for accommodation as long as you will offer your time to help volunteer in the projects they are undertaking.
The plan is to also have some permanent local staff to provide support and employment for the surrounding community. Volunteers will be responsible for a variety of tasks including, catching strays, bathing them, feeding/watering them, cleaning up the shelter, as well as providing love and care for them!
HOW WILL THE FUNDS BE USED
►Building up and improving the temporary shelter by securing a bigger land plot, building a fence, some shaded and sheltered areas, and quarantine area for the strays.
►Basic medical supplies for the animals including disinfectant shampoo, powders, and mixes to be used in bathing to remove mange, ticks and fleas, and other skin problems.
►Transport of animals and vets to and from the island to vet clinics for surgeries, and supplies and cost of performing the surgeries such as spaying and neutering, vaccines, and vitamins.
►Information microchips to be implanted into each dog in order to track their vaccine records, surgery records, and location.
►Education outreach and food pack distribution for families with pets and those who have been affected the most by COVID-19 situation and the economic downturn.
►Payment for support staff food and accommodations.
WHAT WE'VE DONE SO FAR
►Last November we organized a vet missions where we treated more than 300 dogs and cats in 3 days, including vaccines, vitamins, spay/neuter, and surgeries
►Established temporary shelter located in the North of Malapascua
►Over the last few months, we’ve taken in more than 50 kittens and dogs, treated them for mange, kept them fed and safe, had them vaccinated and spayed/neutered, and are trying to find a family for them
►Treating strays around the island with basic medical care and food/water
BEFORE
AFTER
WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP
We've reached our limits in our temporary shelter and we can’t help more unless we get funding and support from you! We have identified several potential lots to build the new shelter which will allow us to start really addressing the problem by bringing in more stray cats and dogs and treating them.
Please help us achieve our goal of making Malapascua a stray-free island by treating and spaying/neutering all of the sick/stray dogs and cats to control the population and eradicate disease and sickness which can also be spread to the residents. Any help you can provide is much appreciated, please donate through this campaign or send funds through our Paypal account here:
Malapascua Island is a small island located in central Philippines, just off the northern tip of Cebu Island most notably known for it's white sand beaches and excellent diving. It is most well known as being the only place in the world where you can regularly scuba dive with thresher sharks! It stretches 2.5km long and is home to several thousand people - the island is completely dependent on tourism, mostly diving. That being said... this island, like many others, has been greatly impacted by the COVID-19 situation in the world and most people have lost their jobs. People can barely afford to feed themselves, so it is understandably difficult to provide for their pets.
Even more concerning is that there was and still is a large stray dog and cat population here which used to primarily rely on the restaurants and markets as their food source. Now all of these food sources are closed and they do not have anywhere to get food. These animals will starve to death if we do not intervene. We are not looking at a short-term solution here - we are planning to setup a shelter and intend to treat, care for, spay and neuter, in an attempt to control the population of strays here and keep both the animals and residents of the island safe.
THE SOLUTION
Before the Covid-19 situation, we were already planning to create an animal clinic on Malapascua Island - we are calling it "Malapascua Paw Heroes" (MPH). The goal is to end the stray population growth in the island by catching and spaying/neutering all animals with consistent and more frequent vet missions and actions. By having a central location to treat the animals it will allow us to treat more animals, more effectively during the visits from the veterinarians. During the animals stay at the clinic they will be treated, fed, made healthy and ready for vaccines and spay/neutering, or other treatments.
WHAT WILL WE PROVIDE?
PROVIDE URGENT VETERINARY CARE
Transport to local vet clinic in the mainland, and organize monthly visits from vets from the mainland to perform spay/neutering, vaccines, and other surgery we cannot handle on our own
PROVIDE DAILY CARE
Basic medicines, baths, food, water, and love from our team of volunteers and staff
EDUCATION
We will visit local schools and homes to educate the local population on how to love fur babies and how to care for them
THE TEAM
We are a small permanent team supported by a large network of international volunteers and local community partners. Each one of us is willing to share our time and love to support the animals of Malapascua. Gina De Ruyter, the co-founder and project-champion of MPH, oversees operations with volunteers and day-to-day activity. Gina has certificates in animal care and first aid and has experience from kennels and shelters internationally.
The other co-founder, Lee Gallant is from Canada and has been in Malapascua off and on for the last 7.5 years. Other than running a busy resort on the island, he has been involved in the local community for several years. Lee co-founded the islands first solid waste management program in 2018 and has been organizing vet missions as acting president of the Malapascua Business Association (MBA Community Development Inc., Non-Profit) among other community initiatives. Lee and his partner have been adopting strays for years and currently have 12 dogs and 12 cats under their care.
VOLUNTEERS
The daily operations will be supported by a rotating team of volunteers as decided by the project-champion, Gina. The majority of the volunteers will be from our partner, Neverland - Neverland is a community based accommodation establishment located very close to the shelter. They are involved in other community projects such as community gardens, regular beach clean ups, and waste management in their area. They offer special prices for accommodation as long as you will offer your time to help volunteer in the projects they are undertaking.
The plan is to also have some permanent local staff to provide support and employment for the surrounding community. Volunteers will be responsible for a variety of tasks including, catching strays, bathing them, feeding/watering them, cleaning up the shelter, as well as providing love and care for them!
HOW WILL THE FUNDS BE USED
►Building up and improving the temporary shelter by securing a bigger land plot, building a fence, some shaded and sheltered areas, and quarantine area for the strays.
►Basic medical supplies for the animals including disinfectant shampoo, powders, and mixes to be used in bathing to remove mange, ticks and fleas, and other skin problems.
►Transport of animals and vets to and from the island to vet clinics for surgeries, and supplies and cost of performing the surgeries such as spaying and neutering, vaccines, and vitamins.
►Information microchips to be implanted into each dog in order to track their vaccine records, surgery records, and location.
►Education outreach and food pack distribution for families with pets and those who have been affected the most by COVID-19 situation and the economic downturn.
►Payment for support staff food and accommodations.
WHAT WE'VE DONE SO FAR
►Last November we organized a vet missions where we treated more than 300 dogs and cats in 3 days, including vaccines, vitamins, spay/neuter, and surgeries
►Established temporary shelter located in the North of Malapascua
►Over the last few months, we’ve taken in more than 50 kittens and dogs, treated them for mange, kept them fed and safe, had them vaccinated and spayed/neutered, and are trying to find a family for them
►Treating strays around the island with basic medical care and food/water
BEFORE
AFTER
WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP
We've reached our limits in our temporary shelter and we can’t help more unless we get funding and support from you! We have identified several potential lots to build the new shelter which will allow us to start really addressing the problem by bringing in more stray cats and dogs and treating them.
Please help us achieve our goal of making Malapascua a stray-free island by treating and spaying/neutering all of the sick/stray dogs and cats to control the population and eradicate disease and sickness which can also be spread to the residents. Any help you can provide is much appreciated, please donate through this campaign or send funds through our Paypal account here:
Fundraising team: Malapascua Paw Heroes (3)
Leegal Ant
Organizer
Gina De Ruyter
Team member
Logan Hayman
Team member
