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written on Thursday, December 11, 2008 @ 2:45 AM ∞ 0 candies

ANNA NIEVES H. CABRERA is in her element. The Filipina is holding up two dog puppets, Brownie and Itchy, and animatedly singing before a class of rapt preschoolers. Then, for an encore, she introduces Big Boy, a Labrador, to the children so they can pat and hug a real dog.

Although the Philippines' comprehensive Animal Welfare Act is often cited as an example for other Asian countries to aspire to, the sad reality is that Filipinos are largely ignorant of how to be responsible pet owners. Using her puppets and songs, Cabrera, a director of the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), is trying to change this reality.
Anna teaches Filipinos how to be
responsible pet owners

Cabrera has seen many acts of cruelty towards animals in her nine years as a PAWS volunteer. Last May, for instance, the group's animal rescue team saved Tiger, a four-month-old puppy who was run over by a tricycle. The accident tore Tiger's upper snout and left it hanging loose. To make matters worse, a man had cut off the flapping skin, completely exposing Tiger's nostrils. The puppy had been suffering for two weeks when the team brought it to the PAWS Animal Rehabilitation Center (PARC), in Quezon City, for treatment.

In the face of such cruelty, Cabrera sometimes gets discouraged. Still, the many acts of kindness she witnesses at PARC keep her going. The shelter is a sanctuary for abandoned and abused animals. On any given day, PAWS volunteers groom and prepare animals for adoption, exercise and feed them, clean animal cages, find homes for rescued animals, and process the needed paperwork.

In July, Tiger found a new home and now a team of doctors is waiting for the puppy to turn a year old so they can put a permanent artificial nose on him.

"The work we do for the animals is work for the soul," says Cabrera. "We're never thanked with words by our rescued animals, we're thanked with wags of the tail and licks on our faces. We're thanked by Christmas cards from families whose adopted pets are their pride and joy."

With funding from the Hong Kong-based Animals Asia Foundation, Cabrera is now able to bring Brownie, Itchy and Big Boy to more schools and more school children.
article by: Dianne Louise C. Dayao
Reader's Digest
September 2006



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