Article: Hope for stray animals

Our write up FINALLY Came out!!!

Thursday August 27, 2009

winnie@thestar.com.my

By WINNIE YEOH

YOU would have heard of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) but how about another body called Green Animal Shelter and Sanctuary or GrASS?

This non-profitable organisation was set up in December last year by animal lover Joanne Deborah Scott, 22, a Malaysian of Chinese and British parentage.

Joanne Deborah Scott, 22, with a rescued stray.

Scott, an engineering student in a local college, said she first toyed with forming GrASS in January last year due to the escalating problem of strays and abused and abandoned animals and apparent lack of animal protection.

"The current method of clearing stray dogs from the streets through capture and shooting is distress-ful to the canines.

"My friends and I, all 17 of us, got together and started saving strays from the streets. We want to help as much as possible as we know SPCA alone cannot handle all the tasks," she said during an interview recently.

She said GrASS operated on a 'no-kill' policy and hoped to give every stray animal a better chance in life by getting them rehabilitated, trained and adopted by members of the public.

Scott said as of now, the animals rescued from the streets were being housed at pet shops in the area where they were found.

"We hope to set up our own shelter in Balik Pulau and we need about RM10,000 to get the project going.

"We're really thankful to the pet shop owners who have offered their places as a shelter for the homeless animals.

"We're proud that 80% of the animals that we rescued have found a home," she said, adding that GrASS had rescued about 50 animals to date.

She also said dogs adopted from GrASS are entitled to a 50% discount on obedience classes at the Penang Dog Agility Association.

"We want to educate pet owners that pets are more than animals. They could be our best friends provided they are given the correct training and attention.

"All dog breeds look cute when they're puppies. However, some owners dump their pets when they don't know how to control them.

"So we encourage owners to train their dogs into becoming valuable members of the family," she said.

As for fundraising, Scott and her committee members are operating a stall at the Little Penang Street Market on the last Sunday of every month.

For pet lovers: Scott showing the items for sale at the Little Penang Street Market to raise funds for a centre.

"We sell home-made dog biscuits, birthday and post cards, key chains and also pet magazines and the money goes to our building fund," she said.

Apart from that, GrASS also provides dog-walking services in Tanjung Bungah. It charges RM12 for a 30-minute walk, an extra RM6 for additional 30 minutes and an extra RM5 for an additional dog.

"We also have 'in house pet sitting' with RM15 for the first hour and RM10 for each consecutive hour," she said.

For details, call Scott at 012-4862776 or click on to grasspg.blogspot.com.

This article was taken from: The Star Online: Metro: North 27 August 2009