“Whoever said that diamonds are a girl’s best friend never owned a dog.”
– Unknown (but might as well be me)
The Care for Paws service group is the only service group in OSC that is actively involved in animal welfare. Our primary goal as a service is to raise awareness in our community about the overpopulation issue with the street animals in Sri Lanka and try to improve the conditions around this issue by working in cooperation with Vets for Future, an association of Veterinarians for Humane Management of Animal Population.
On March 10th 2019, Care for Paws joined forces with Vets for Future and Adopt-A-Dog, Sri Lanka, to hold a sterilization and immunization camp for the community cats and dogs inside the massive Tri Force Army camp construction site in Akuregoda. OSC’s service groups encourage students to find opportunities to contribute to their communities. Being the second consecutive year hosting such an event, Care for Paws was the first organization in Sri Lanka to host a sterilization and immunization camp inside the Tri Force Army camp for 2019. The members demonstrated their passion and dedication to better the lives of these street animals.
A total of 45 community cats and dogs were sterilized with a total of 50 treatments. The camp commenced at 8 in the morning and went on till 3 in the evening. The group, led by Disara Samayawardhena and I, planned for months in advance to make the event the success that it was. To have treated such a large population of stray animals, several fundraisers had to be held prior to this event. According to group advisor Elissa Francemone, “Being able to help the dogs inside the camp made this event that much more remarkable, we know we really made a difference. I am really proud of our kids.”
It was an honor to even end up in the daily newspaper, The Sunday Times, and many new experiences and memories were made during this event. The planning process was carried out over the course of the last few months, with our fundraisers aimed at raising money for organizing this event. The approvals were much easier to get this time, given how we already had experience from last time as to who to contact and what needed to be done. We also had a good idea about what kinds of resources were needed: from water to tents to gloves, we had them all prepared. We also knew what was expected of us on the day itself and we had informed our new members thoroughly on what was expected of them.
During the sterilization camp, I was in charge of all the logistics and vaccination book filling, as I had experience of both from the last camp, and also helped the other students with caring for the dogs and cats, post-sterilization. As a service, we all contributed in the after care process, making sure all the animals were hydrated, calming them down, making sure they don’t disturb the other animals, ensuring they don’t choke on their own vomit, cleaning up their droppings and vomit, and even waking them up if they were being unresponsive for long periods of time. The army personnel treated the students with great hospitality, making the process much smoother. Care for Paws is grateful for their support and for providing them with tea and lunch. Their constant engagement with the event made it all the more successful!
I consistently demonstrated how to initiate and plan a CAS experience through this sterilization camp as the core logistics were handled solely by me. most of the communication aspect was handled by Disara and we both spent hours and hours planning ahead since the beginning of this school year in order to work our way towards this event. Given how successful it was, I would say we organized it effectively.
There was not a single moment where any of our members showed a lack of commitment to and perseverance in planning and organizing this camp. We were all actively engaged in more than one part of the process, with Disara and I being involved in every section, making sure all deadlines are being met and all funds are being raised. Even on the day, the after-care procedure is not a simple task and it takes a lot out of you as an individual to step out of your comfort zone and care for these animals. We not only made sure there were no complications post-surgery, we also treated them for mange and took off ticks from their coats. It made me proud to see that none of our members, despite being so young, being so mature about the whole process without complaining they would do as they were asked.
I recognized the benefit of working collaboratively as I couldn’t have done this without my service, especially my co-service leader, Disara. We both had our roles divided for each of us and we made sure to keep each other on track. Given how this is an issue of global significance, affecting many parts of the world, especially in LEDCs, we addressed this issue and made an impact in our society, making it a success to be proud of. However, I also recognized and considered the ethics of choices and actions when doing this camp, given how it is considered unethical, even according to my own religion, Buddhism, to take away the right anyone has to giving birth. For me, eventually it is a necessary evil, given how we caused this overpopulation issue to begin with and if action isn’t taken to solve this issue, the government will only find other, more harmful ways of disposing these innocent animals. At least this way, we are giving them proper treatment, proper after-care and the right vaccinations, while ensuring that the problem doesn’t aggravate in the future.
Click Here to see our sterilization and vaccination camp 2019!