TWS - April's Safe Home for Donkeys, Dogs & Cats
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Todd's Welfare Society (TWS) is a small registered non-profit organisation, based in Lahore that came into existence in 2016. TWS aims to save, rescue, and treat the street animals of Lahore, and also works to promote animal welfare in Pakistan. In a country with no animal welfare law or provisions, our work to protect these vulnerable animals is extremely difficult. The condition of stray animals is pitiful as animal abuse is rife with dogs being routinely starved, shot, and poisoned. Dogs such as Icarus who lost a leg after being shot
We at TWS are trying to save these animals in a society where these animals are considered unclean or a nuisance, not worthy of life. These animals have no one to turn to but we try to help as many as possible by providing them with shelter, medical treatment, rehabilitation, and searching for forever homes.
Last year we ran a fundraiser to help secure funds for a bigger and better sanctuary. Our current sanctuary is too small and due to lack of space, we are not able to help as many rescues as we want to. We were over the moon when the target was achieved but we have since then met a major obstacle. As mentioned in our first fundraiser, we were hoping to build a completely separate donkey sanctuary the very first in Lahore but when drawing up the plans it has become obvious that we will need more space than originally planned for. We need to buy at least one acre with half for the donkey sanctuary and the other half for cats and dogs. We just cannot ignore the plight of these beasts of burden who make up large parts of the working community in Pakistan, and whose condition is extremely pitiful.
The lifespan of a healthy and well-looked-after donkey is 25 – 30 years but that is not the case in Pakistan where the life span of a working donkey is 10 – 12 years. They work day and night, without proper access to food, water, or medical treatment. And after all these years of hard service once too sick or injured they will be discarded like rubbish and left to die.
What makes it even more cruel and sadistic is that when dumped many have their legs tied up, making it impossible for them to get up and perhaps seek food and refuge from the harsh elements. Crystal was one such case reported to us as having been thrown into the local canal. Sadly, when the rescue team arrived Crystal had passed away and all we could do is give her a name and bury her as she deserved the respect denied to her all her life.
One of the most heart-breaking cases ever was that of April.
We usually find adult donkeys dumped and left to die but April was just a baby. Tiny and weak she had several open wounds on her body and was suffering from rectal prolapse. Her chances of survival were low but we felt she deserved a chance. Sadly, April did not make it but she made us realise that we have to do more for these poor creatures. Life had not been kind to April but we have to help all the others like her suffering daily. It is in honour of April that we will be naming the donkey sanctuary April’s Safe Home for Donkeys.
Our kind supporters will know that we recently launched TNVR with a housing society. This has shown us how desperately we need a separate TNVR facility with kennels, a clinic, an operating theatre, and post-op kennels. A separate TNVR facility will mean that we can spay and neuter as many street dogs as possible to reduce the population humanely and protect them from being culled. Something which is just currently impossible with our current facilities.
We need to build more dog kennels and larger cat enclosures to accommodate more rescues. We desperately need bigger and better quarantine facilities to avoid the risk of cross-contamination as these animals often carry contagious diseases.
We also have no post-op areas for dogs to allow them to recover fully and without mixing. We need a separate area exclusively for puppies. Sadly, a common occurrence in our work is having to rescue orphan puppies, tiny babies who have lost their mother to dog culling.
As mentioned last year the current sanctuary is also costing us too much to maintain. The land is gradually sinking and even though we have tried to rectify the situation many times over the years, the problem is still reoccurring. The boundary walls are sinking, leaving large cracks meaning that large areas of the sanctuary and some kennels are out of bounds to the rescues. Our sanctuary has helped us to save so many precious lives but it’s now time to upgrade our facilities. We envision a state-of-the-art shelter to help those coming through our doors.
The cost of 1 acre of land is coming to approximately £105,000. We raised £35,000 last year and are now hoping to raise £50,000. Any shortfall we plan to request a loan from the bank. Please note that we have taken into account that whilst we cannot build within the city, we don’t want it to be too remote as it should have easy access plus, we have to take security into account as we have staff working 24/7.
We are also in search of cheaper land that will meet our needs. If purchased then any funds left over from this fundraiser will go towards the actual build of the sanctuary. We will keep all our donors in the loop.
Once the land is purchased, we will immediately start to build the boundary walls and the donkey sanctuary, so that we can start to help these wretched creatures as soon as possible.
Once the land is purchased, we will immediately start to build the boundary walls and the donkey sanctuary, so that we can start to help these wretched creatures as soon as possible.
Please help us to reach our target as we are ever so desperate to save lives. Please note all donations will go towards the sanctuary as we all work on a purely voluntary basis.
For those of you new to our work, we also have a close and special relationship with Dogbus Transporting Lives, Saving Lives a UK based charity that helps transport and rescue animals across the UK and those in Romania, China, and Pakistan
Dogbus has helped find forever homes for our dogs, dogs such as Iris who would never have found a home in Pakistan.
Please watch the story of Sandy, a dog that was in danger of being culled and now lives safe and sound in the UK
You can follow Dogbus and the journey of our dogs on socials @dogbus999 and Facebook.com/dogbus999
I am the Vice-Chair of TWS but am based in the U.K. I joined TWS as the state of street animals in the city of Lahore where I grew up saddened me and I wanted to help these poor wretched creatures. My role is to run our Twitter page and fundraise for TWS outside of Pakistan so that as many animals as possible can be saved. Once the funds are raised, I forward them to our finance team. Please note that we are officially audited and our financial statements will be available online on our website or by request.
We receive absolutely no government funding whatsoever and rely 100% upon donations from our kind and generous supporters.
Please do subscribe to our YouTube channel where you will get to see the work we do
You can follow us on our social pages
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TWSPakistan/
Twitter: @tws_pk (old account)
Twitter: @tws_pk2
Twitter: @tws_pk2
Instagram: tws.pk
Website: www.toddswelfaresociety.pk
Organizer
Romana Bhatti
Organizer
England