(MY) home to animals

[Guest guest]

2007/12/23 - New Straits TImes

 

It's raining cats, dogs and even horses

By : CHAI MEI LING

 

 

 

Around RM600,000 annually is needed to run the shelter, which is home

to more than 700 dogs, 500 cats, horses, birds, reptiles, a monkey and

a goat.

 

 

Pelting rain, lashing storms and rising water levels in Johor have

nothing to do with a 'Noah's Ark' in Pekan Nanas, but a man's love and

respect for animals has. While getting acquainted with the shelter's

furry inhabitants, CHAI MEI LING learns of this man's mission, which

bears the hope of life for more than a thousand rescued and orphaned

animals

 

 

This St Bernard, rescued by Wee from being put down, stays in the

air-conditioned clinic most of the time.

 

 

There are plans to expand the cattery in the shelter and to set up a

cat sanctuary in Muar.

" I BELIEVE you had an overwhelming welcome, " was the first thing

Raymund Wee, who helms the shelter, said to me when I made it to his

office alive on a rainy Sunday.

 

Quite a mean feat, if you ask me, to be in one piece still while

shaking Wee's hand, considering that the Noah's Ark Natural Animal

Shelter is home to more than 700 dogs of all kinds.

 

 

Free roaming and packing the unmistakable " doggy smell " punch, these

canines subject you on arrival to the deadliest of their weapons --

the lick-o-metre test.

 

 

And this attention-seeking lot just won't stop imploring until a pat

lands on the head.

 

 

Oh, those pleading eyes and wagging tails, and you haven't even

stepped into the cat quarters yet to experience the ultimate

heart-melting rendition of Puss-in-Boots.

 

 

Having successfully tiptoed around some sleepy creatures on each rung

of the staircase leading to the first floor of the main building,

where Wee's office is, I sensed mischief.

 

 

Two dogs were deliriously engaged in a chase in the lounge, sending a

couple of cats scurrying for cover and a few volunteers squealing.

 

 

I jumped at Wee's booming voice, but it didn't produce the desired

effect on the rascals, which were then herded down the stairs with a

light smack on their fleshy bum.

 

The 58-year-old Wee looked at me apologetically, with an expression

not unlike that of a frustrated parent.

 

 

" They misbehave each time we have visitors or volunteers, " says Wee.

 

 

" They know I'll get scolded if I beat them, like kids who become

naughty when their grandparents are around. "

 

 

Wee is the founder and president of Noah's Ark, where he oversees,

together with deputy vice-president Mariam Yusof, its management along

with the care of 500 cats, a handful of horses, reptiles, birds, a

monkey and a goat.

 

 

Set up as an independent organisation more than a decade ago in

Singapore, Noah's Ark is dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and

continued care of neglected, abused and needy companion animals.

 

 

Seven years ago, their home took the form of a 4ha sanctuary nestled

in an oil palm plantation in this sleepy town of Pekan Nanas, Johor.

 

 

Today, the registered lodge has an office, clinic, quarantine area,

cattery, stable, kennels, workers' quarters, and ample running space,

including a wooden structure on a pond built as a rest area for the

hounds.

 

 

Asked how harmony is bred, that is preventing the dogs from chasing

the cats and cats from eyeing the birds, Wee says: " Treat them like

animals, which naturally have instincts. "

 

 

Ok, so they are allowed to ruffle a few feathers, but Wee's scolding,

firm in tone, will be a constant reminder that they have to be on

their best behaviour.

 

 

Dog fights are rare because the three main causes -- food, sex and

human interference -- do not evolve into catalysts.

 

 

Ample food is provided throughout the day. All dogs and cats in the

shelter have been sterilised and microchipped. Wee either distracts

the dogs from fighting or just walks away.

 

 

True to the " sanctuary " sense, some parts of the shelter look every

bit the idyllic getaway to nature's paradise, having been done up in a

tasteful Balinese style.

 

 

" Noah's Ark is not and cannot be seen as a budget hotel for dogs, " says Wee.

 

 

The first floor of the main building is decked out in the rustic charm

of an old tree house, while its cosy interior mirrors something out of

a home-design magazine.

 

 

Besides a lounge, an office, bedrooms, and a tiny kitchen, it also

serves as the hangout for a few well-behaved regulars like Susah, the

Jack Russell Terrier.

 

 

Teak finishing with lustrous green backdrop aside, Noah's Ark is

essentially an animal haven, going by the snug expression of the

terrier, which, maximising on the cool weather, decided to snuggle up

on a throw on a bench.

 

 

The same contented look spreads across the faces of two chubby cats

resting nearby, oblivious to the chorus of barking by some 100 dogs

taking shelter from the rain just beneath.

 

 

But sometime back, these very animals had led a different life.

 

 

Some escaped death by a whisker, including the 150 cats and dogs

rescued from the mighty floods that swept Johor last year.

 

 

Each has a gripping story to tell.

 

 

Like that of Towkay, with a massive maggot-infested wound on the neck,

when it was found on a highway a few years ago.

 

 

Diagnosed with immune mediated haemolytic anae-mia, it was given only

weeks to live, but beat the odds as it was nurtured back to health.

 

 

The Ark's inhabitants, abandoned or abused, were brought to the

shelter by volunteers or rescued by Wee who makes his rounds in Johor.

 

 

His is a familiar face around Pontian, Gelang Patah and Muar, where he

captures communal strays, has them sterilised in the shelter, and then

releases them back to the community.

 

 

" People here always call me 'Pak, Pak, Pak Raymund!' They would yell

from the hawker stall.

 

 

" They say, 'Mari, kita belanja', but it turns out that they will have

three cats needing sterilisation.

 

 

" That's part of (running Noah's Ark). Whenever I can, I put in my effort. "

 

 

By right, a fee of RM50 is charged for each spaying or neutering, but

sometimes Wee waives the fees for those who cannot afford it.

 

 

Funds are running low for the shelter, which needs RM600,000 a year to

run, but Wee is adamant that sterilisation be made affordable because

it's the only way to put the stray population under control.

 

 

In a month, the Ark's Animal Birth Control clinic spays and neuters

some 100 animals, whose left ear will be clipped for easy

identification.

 

 

" It's important. If the ear is clipped, the vet will know that a cat

or dog has been done. The spayed animal won't be opened up again.

 

 

" With this identification, pet rescuers can also spot sterilised

animals from a distance. "

 

 

Wee and his group go all out to find homes for their charges, even if

it means forfeiting the adoption fee, and setting up an adoption booth

in the Pontian and Gelang Patah pasar malam.

 

 

" Our booth is the last to set up and the first to close. And it's easy

to get the local kids to help. One Ramly burger and one coke and they

will be very happy to help jaga the cats.

 

 

" Their parents, who run some stalls there, are happy their children

are occupied, too. That's how we do our education, that's how we reach

out to the people.

 

 

" When I don't turn up, they call me, asking, 'Pak Raymund, mana kucing?' "

 

 

Wee, a Singaporean awaiting local permanent residence, has an equally

colourful background to match his character.

 

 

A chief steward with Singapore Airlines at one time, Wee walked away

from his well-paying job at the peak of his 18-year career to start

this project.

 

 

" I left because rabies got into me, " he quips.

 

 

On a more serious note, he says he was tired of work pressure and

stress, and was ready to let go of clinging on to material

possessions.

 

 

He started Noah's Ark with his money, dumping some S$1.5 million (RM3

million) into the project at the start.

 

 

He still has to dig deep into his pockets to cover expenditures when

funds dry up to get the shelter going.

 

 

Wee jests, calling himself " stupid " for committing to such a

responsibility, but it is hardly stupid giving the gift of life to so

many of God's creatures.

 

 

Noah's Ark embarks on community programmes and activities to support

itself, namely the SOS Cats (sterilise-our-street cats) and SOS Dogs

projects, adoption and sponsorship programmes, sales of merchandise

like calendars and membership drive.

 

 

It hopes to raise enough funds to feed and medicate the current batch

in Noah's Ark and to expand the cat quarters.

 

 

There are also plans to set up a cat sanctuary in Muar to care for

felines which fail to find homes.

 

 

As Wee believes education goes a long way in helping arrest the issue

of the stray overpopulation, the society actively conducts sessions in

schools, where children are educated on basic animal care,

sterilisation, and animal cruelty.

 

 

Despite feeling burnt out at times, Wee, while stroking Susah's ears,

says: " Not bad huh, this kind of work? "

 

 

For details, visit www.noahsarkcares.com.