PAWS



What to do with rescues and stray emergencies




Scenario: You spot an injured dog/cat while on the road. Instead of just calling/reporting to an NGO who also has to rely on the availability of their volunteers, you want to help in a concrete way but don't know what to do.

What you can do:

Not all animals in distress can be rescued immediately due to volunteer and transportation availability. In addition, not all animals in distress can be taken in at a given time due to the limited space & number of caretakers in the PAWS shelter and due to our strict quarantine protocols. That’s why we ask our volunteers to foster rescued animals and wait until there’s space in our canine and/or feline quarantine areas.

PAWS' guidelines for volunteers and ordinary citizens who come upon situations where there is an injured animal is to immediately coordinate with people in the area - even cigarette vendors, MMDA or traffic cops - to try to move an animal to a place where it will not be hit by another vehicle.

We advise that injured animals not be touched directly unless one is able to cover its head with a towel or cloth to keep it from biting. An option is to slide a huge piece of cardboard under the injured animal so that you can just pull it to an area where it would be out of harm's way.

If one is on his way to work or an appointment, it is important to get the mobile numbers of people in the area (ie. the cigarette or sidewalk vendors - all have cellphones now, in this age and time) and tell them that you are seeking help from

PAWS, the local pound or the city veterinarian, and that could they watch the dog for the meantime and text you for any developments.

PAWS will contact volunteers who may be near the area - more often than not, to seek permission from their employers to get off work momentarily - and respond to these cases. Depending on the availability of PAWS volunteers or PAWS' contacts, the rescue may take as quick as 10 to 20 minutes or for as long as several hours.

You can also bring the animal to the nearest veterinary clinic to give the animal a better chance at surviving. Please be sure to explain to the vet about the circumstances of the rescue so that the vet can treat it as a "charity case".

You can coordinate with PAWS (call 475-1688) so that we can appeal for the vet to render charity work or make arrangements for PAWS to pay the fees connected with either euthanasia or treatment (depending on what the vet's assessment is).

If your question is if you can just call in the incident and not bring the animal to the vet, there are no agencies you can call except volunteer organizations like PAWS - who will, in turn, try to contact volunteers such as yourself to pick up the animal if you are unable to bring the cat or dog to the vet.

The important thing is to make sure that the animal is out of harm's way (will not be run over by other vehicles) and that you can give PAWS the name and cellphone number of a vendor/guard/ traffic officer who can keep watch over the animal while we are contacting other volunteers.

We urge good Samaritans to always do something at their level even by just coordinating and initially getting the animal out of harm's way -and not just call it in to PAWS or any other volunteer-based group - as it may take some time before these volunteer-rescuers can come in and help them.

Witnesses to the accident are the ones in the immediate area who can find quick relief for an animal. In the case of injured animals, quick action often determines whether an animal will live or suffer a long, painful death.

It really is better if you can bring the animal to the nearest veterinary clinic right away. For assistance in asking the vet clinic for charity rates, kindly provide PAWS the name and number of the vet.

If you are witnessing people being cruel to the animals (i.e., torturing, in the act of slaughtering or eating them), please call 117 asap. Take down the name of the one receiving your call.

From our experience at PAWS, all "117 officers" treat these reports seriously and send a mobile patrol right away (but it would be good to take down the name in case you end up with an uncooperative call-taker).

Thank you.

The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS)
Landline: 475-1688
Email: philpaws@yahoo.com

The PAWS shelter or PARC is open from 10:00am - 5:00pm Mondays to Saturdays, and operates primarily through volunteers.

PS:
  • Sadly, PAWS cannot solve all problems regarding stray dogs and cannot take in all strays. At present, the shelter is at full capacity. As an NGO volunteer group, PAWS has limited resources and is grossly undermanned, relying on the donations, help and compassion of fellow animal lovers and volunteers. Click here to find out ways you can volunteer.
  • PAWS also cannot take in dogs and cats who pet owners wish to give up or abandon for whatever reason. What PAWS can do is offer behavior training (for those who wish to give up their dogs due to their pets' behavior issues) and low-cost spay/neuter services, and can assist in rehoming. Please refer to this link.


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