“Urgent plea for help!!”
These words have never failed to fill my heart with equal measures of deep sadness and relief.
Coming from a post made by DAS, it could mean only one thing. A dog that’s injured, diseased, abused, neglected, starved, and in desperate need of help, had been rescued, or is still in need of being rescued.
The sense of relief comes from the assurance that this little one’s suffering is about to end, and that he’s going to be alright, because DAS had found him, and that the people behind this sanctuary would try to move heaven and earth to get him safely into their care.
What is DAS and what does it do? The letters stand for Dumaguete Animal Sanctuary and it is a SEC-registered, non-profit organization that was started by a handful of people who wanted to do something for the stray dog population in and around Dumaguete.
They started with practically no funding, and with nothing but a prayer and a hope that the community would rally behind them, they went about rescuing dying strays from the streets of our province.
I first came to know of their existence when I was at the Cats and Dogs Veterinary Clinic some years back. There was a donation box at the counter and a printed sign asking for building materials for dog shelters such as nipa, bamboo or cocolumber, cement, even nails. I remember giving a token one hundred pesos then quickly forgot about them.
I, too, had a lot going on from my end, rescuing and giving a home to abandoned puppies and kittens I chanced upon in the streets. With limited financial resources, I believed that I was doing my fair share and that was it.
But it was there that I made a serious mistake. I thought that to support organizations like DAS, I had to give big, like huge amounts, otherwise, it would just be for nothing. Let me get back to this point later.
First, let me tell you about DAS.
We know of hit-and-run victims, terrified and pain-filled aspins, who, more often than not, are condemned to die lonely deaths by the roadside.
We know that there are people who abuse and neglect dogs under their care.
And who can fail to notice the strays that we pass by as we go about our daily lives, those disease-ridden bag of bones that roam the streets, searching for anything to fill their empty stomachs, trying to survive a pitiful existence, day after day, until they succumb to their thirst and hunger, or to the disease that’s plaguing them, or until they’re given a quick release from their suffering by uncaring wheels that roar passed them with indifference?
The Dumaguete Animal Sanctuary takes them all in, or at least, they try to. And that’s the core and the spirit of DAS. They rescue, they provide food and shelter, they treat and rehabilitate the very sick ones, and they try to find them their forever families when they are well again.
DAS never, ever gives up on any one of the animals that they have taken in. They have dogs with cancer currently receiving expensive chemo treatments. They have an old one with end-stage renal disease that would only eat when he’s given Jollibee’s chickenjoy, and so chickenjoy they give to him. It makes his final days happy ones.
All that needs a lot of money. Those new to DAS might think that they’re rolling with cash but on the contrary, the people behind the Sanctuary struggle month after month with worries about having enough funds to feed the 150 or more under their care. They need money for their medicines and for medical supplies. They need money to pay the utilities and the salaries of the staff looking after their charges. They need money for the diagnosis, treatment, and even surgery, of those gravely-ill and injured dogs which they’ve just taken in. It’s an unending cycle of worrying about where to get more than enough financing to keep them afloat one day after another.
You see, DAS does not receive any funding from government organizations. So far, they have survived purely on private donations consisting of P10s, P20s, P50s, and P100s sent through GCASH from people who’ve been following them. Yes, you read that right. They’ve been surviving on individual P20s for years now.
They do receive some corporate backing but they need more of this kind of support from private and public entities inorder for them to attain financial stability.
In the meanwhile, they rely on the little P20s whenever they’d need cash to send a broken puppy to the private vets to be mended and made whole and happy again.
“It takes a village to raise a child”.
These words have been ringing in my ears a lot these past few days because this is actually what has been happening as far as DAS and its rescues are concerned.
It is very heartening to witness how the community, and even those far away, regularly rushes to DAS’s support whenever they would ask for it in behalf of any dog needing help.
Sadly though, this is not nearly enough to keep them from drowning in the bills which they need to pay. The money that pours in when they make the call goes only to the treatment, or the surgery, of the specific dogs whom they made that appeal for.
To keep everyone fed and housed day after day, DAS needs regular, monthly support from everyone who have been supporting them until today.
They do not need an earthshaking amount from each one of their supporters.
They simply wish for P10.00 from each and everyone, sent regularly and continuously, without fail, every month, for as long as they continue to operate.
It really isn’t much. Just P10.00. Every month. From everyone.
And with that, they could build another shelter and rescue more dogs.
If the village, that’s “us”, could grant DAS this little wish, at so little cost to our wallets, we would have done our part at lessening the amount of hardship, despair, hunger, and suffering in this world, even if it’s only for the animals.
We couldn’t help everyone, but we can still make a difference one life at a time.
If you wish to learn more about Dumaguete Animal Sanctuary, or how to donate, please look up their link below.
https://www.dumagueteanimalsanctuary.com/
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Author’s email: OlgaLuciaUy@gmail.com
