Fundraiser for Philippines - they need your help!

A great fundraiser for dogs and cats in the Philippines.

Would you say it's far away? Well, far. And even further than you think. 16 hours by plane isn't everything. It's further away because of the culture. It's a different world. A world in which very little of what you know matters. Before you read on - put yourself in the role of an observer and don't judge. Because the measure of our world simply does not fit here.

Our Janice, who worked with us for a very long time here in Poland at Centaurus and took care of our animals by pouring a lot of love into them - had to return to the Philippines, to her island of Palawan, for family reasons.

While she was still in Poland, she talked a lot about her country - arousing our fascination, but also a kind of fear - because the world she talked about seemed to live according to different rules.

These rules also apply to animals. Or rather, the lack of rules.

The Philippines is a country that is associated with restaurants serving dog meat. Since 2007, the trade in dog meat has been illegal, but our Kelly, who came to us from the Philippines, says that in her Baguio City, hidden behind the hotels, numerous secret bars offering an extensive dog meat menu stretch out along the narrow streets. They are popular among tourists from Japan, Myanmar and Korea.

Where our John, who has been with us for a very long time and manages one of the Centaurus centres - in San Fabian - lives, dogs are the main means of payment. Dogs are used to pay for services or exchange for other goods.

It is estimated that in the 1980s around one million dogs were killed each year - on the islands alone. Nowadays it's a black market, but there are still around 300,000 dogs giving their lives in the kitchen.

Thousands of dogs crowded in small cages, or crammed into the double bottoms of mini-Vans, without water or food. Traffickers often use old, rusty tins as muzzles, break the dogs' arm bones and tie them to make them ride in silence. Dogs that survive transport have their skulls smashed with a piece of wood or their throats slit, says Louis Buenaflor of Animal Kingdom.

Therefore, before I go on, I wanted to emphasise that you are entering another world.

Mary Carina has been running her shelter for a long time. She has dedicated her entire life to dogs living in the Philippines. Hurricane Odette barreled into Palawan in December 2021 and wreaked havoc. It took away everything these dogs and cats had. Odette took the shelter. There was nothing to go back to.

Mary and the animals hid in the mountains - that's where the water doesn't reach. A tiny area lent for a while - they built what they could with what they could find. At first, we were shocked that the dogs were covered with boxes for feeding. And they simply have no way to feed them so that they don't bite while eating. To say that there is a shortage of everything - is like saying nothing at all. There is a shortage of food for the animals - Mary cooks what she has, but in the rainy season the food immediately goes sour. And it happens for half the time. They can't afford specialised food. Hardly any from the shop, anyway. The dogs are chained, but not for lack of love. Love is probably the only thing they don't lack here. Their pens were swallowed up by the hurricane. Almost nothing has been rebuilt. Mary says the chains are so they don't run around. They might not survive that.

Our Janice has already made several trips to the shelter. We want to arrange medical transport for them to a private clinic that will diagnose the dogs. We want to provide them with medical treatment. We have already sent €1,000 for the immediate needs of the shelter and €500 to buy wet food for the old dogs. For them to eat anything better than they used to. Transport has been non-existent for a long time - it's extremely expensive in the Philippines, especially as the shelter is now located in mountainous areas and it's difficult to get there at all.

As I write to you today about all this, our Janice cannot get in touch with Mary. She is taking screenshots for me - Cyclone Jenny has approached the islands. There is hardly any internet anywhere. No one knows what is happening with the shelter and the animals. It's the rainy season. That's what often happens. People there say you don't know the day or the hour. We can't stay on the phone. Janice stops to write back.

She promised to get to the shelter tomorrow with food for the dogs for that €500, but what will that change? For them, a new shelter needs to be built. Conditions for living. Treatment needs to be provided. And maybe look for Europe adoptions.

We are watching more footage that Janice has made. With most of them I don't know if there are enough tears at all. A different world. And no one there to help. These animals really have no one. They are a bit like being in the lion's mouth, and with them Mary Carina and her immense will to fight.

Mary, as we have long recognised in video and photos, is in a wheelchair. We didn't want to be nosy. They have enough problems. But Janice told the story herself. Mary was in a car accident. A wheelchair is now her only means of mobility. Despite this, her dogs have not left her. In the video you see, that she picks moringa for them, and throws it in the pot. There is so much she can do.

The place where they are now could disappear at any moment - because it is not theirs. They are afraid that the owner will throw them out - and they have nowhere else to go.

Mary has her own piece of land, several hectares. She wants to take the dogs and cats there. They only have her. Well, only they don't really have anyone else to go to. Nor for what? And how to live on at all…

What am I asking you for? Anything. I'm asking you to tell someone about it. I'm asking you to do whatever you can. I am asking you to donate a penny or two to this fundraiser. After all, this other world is under the same sky.

We are raising money here firstly for a supply of wet food. And for transporting the dogs to the clinic. Their examination, and treatment. And if it's possible we will also try to organise the adoption of these dogs to Europe. Further down the line, we want to raise funds to rebuild a place where these dogs won't have to be covered in feeding boxes or stand chained. Paddocks, kennels, pens. A quarantine area would also be useful. But right now it seems like the realm of dreams...

We also want to gather vets to fly out there pro bono to sterilise, spay and treat the animals.

Lots of dreaming here. In this other world. But I look at these videos and I simply cannot fall asleep. This world is already intertwined with mine and that's not going to change. Every now and then I glance at my phone to see if Janice has written anything back. She is silent. Maybe it's because it's the middle of the night. Or maybe the hurricane is taking away the hopes of others who live there.

What can I add at the end - that it won't work without you? After all, you know that...