P.A.W.S.

I have always been an animal lover. I've had countless of pets; from cats to dogs to rabbits to rats, I loved them all. I'm lucky because all of us in the family love animals that me and my brother are always free to bring home pets whenever. It doesn't matter if they don't have any breed, we still love them dearly. So dear that aside from feeding them and bathing them (yes, even the cats), we cuddle them, stroke them, buy them clothes and toys and even talk to them! To date we only have two dogs (our askal doggies died last year) - Alfred, my Rottweiler and Twinkle, my sister/parents' bunso/Shitzu Maltese brattinelang Deng Deng, and 6 pusakals - Tuki-Tuki, Mamoth, Tagpian, Tails, Whitie and Bubongers. Bubongers used to be a stray cat who found her way to our roof. Every meal time she would meow her lungs off so that we would feed her also. After several months of doing this, we finally gained her trust and now she joins our other cats in eating in their plate.

I learned about The Phiilippine Animal Welfare Society last year when I was surfing the internet. Being the animal lover that I was, I imeediately joined the group. They are dedicated in advocating animal rights and welfair. They also run a shelter wherein they save homeless and abused animals and rehabilitate them so that they can be pets to someone in the future. I really admire them for doing this because all animals, with breed or without, deserve to be loved. We don't choose our pets because they are pretty. We embrace them to our home no matter what they look like or how they behave. I remember having a cat when I was young who came from the streets. She would bite or scratch me for no reason whatsoever but we still loved her with all our heart. In a world where there are a lot of human suffering, animal welfare can be often overlooked. But this shouldn't be the case. Man cannot live in this world alone and the animals are created by God to help us. It is therefore our duty to take care of them.

***Help care for the animals. You may visit PAWS at www.animaladvocates.multiply.com.