Volunteering at PAWS Animal Shelter

In Kuala Lumpur, you don’t have to get bored. You can visit a different shopping center every day, visit all the tourist attractions and do voluntary work. The latter also gives you plenty of opportunities. On Friday I visited PAWS Animal Shelter.

Expats

We’d already heard that in Kuala Lumpur you can find a lot of stray dogs and cats. Many Malaysians see a dog as an unclean animal, so it’s mainly the expatriates who take a pet. But what do you do with your dog or cat when you go on holiday or move again? Many dogs are put out on the street and have to survive on their own.

PAWS

I took the Grab to PAWS where you can do anything as a volunteer. From cleaning poop and washing dogs to walking dogs and keeping the social media up to date. Right next to the highway you will find the shelter where more than 200 dogs are already barking at you. The raging cars, the barking and the smell of wet dog and poop ensure a pleasant welcome.

Puppies

PAWS is visited a lot by volunteers, but not so much by potential owners. But once every two to three weeks a dog is adopted. In this shelter, all dogs are first put in quarantine, before they can go to the other dogs. These are mainly puppies, I ran almost immediately to them until I saw the ‘No entry’ sign, because they still need to be vaccinated.

Sheila

My second dog was doing a lot better by the way. Is this a male or a female? The woman had no idea. She didn’t know if the animal had a name either. I called her Sheila, the dog I mean, not the woman. I had almost adopted Sheila myself until the animal was suddenly taken away from me by visitors who bombarded me with questions. How old is she? I have made some beautiful things out of it in the hope that the animal could go home with them.

Volunteers

The shelter consists mainly of donations and a lot of volunteers. I have walked around for about an hour and have seen at least ten other people who walked dogs. It is very nice that all these animals are taken care of and fed. On the other hand, sadly, so many animals are locked in a cage. More than 30 dogs in a cage who are waiting all day in each other’s shit for someone to give them attention.

Highway

So I came by to walk some dogs. When the dogs see an employee grabbing a leash, they go crazy. A bark of 100 dogs that scream to be allowed to go outside for a while. I wanted to take ten dogs at once, but that was not possible. Then you get a poop bag and can go ‘outside’. This means that you walk next to the highway with a terrified dog on your belt.

Diarrhea

Unbelievable but true, my dog had diarrhea. At his first stop I immediately jumped at him and with my hand through the bag I picked up the mess. I was happy because I thought that was it. No, we had to stop every five meters and had to do it all over again. As I didn’t have any more bags, the dog and I turned a blind eye. The dog was blind to one eye.

Volunteering at PAWS Animal Shelter

In Kuala Lumpur, you don’t have to get bored. You can visit a different shopping center every day, visit all the tourist attractions and do voluntary work. The latter also gives you plenty of opportunities. On Friday I visited PAWS Animal Shelter.

Expats

We’d already heard that in Kuala Lumpur you can find a lot of stray dogs and cats. Many Malaysians see a dog as an unclean animal, so it’s mainly the expatriates who take a pet. But what do you do with your dog or cat when you go on holiday or move again? Many dogs are put out on the street and have to survive on their own.

PAWS

I took the Grab to PAWS where you can do anything as a volunteer. From cleaning poop and washing dogs to walking dogs and keeping the social media up to date. Right next to the highway you will find the shelter where more than 200 dogs are already barking at you. The raging cars, the barking and the smell of wet dog and poop ensure a pleasant welcome.

Volunteers

The shelter consists mainly of donations and a lot of volunteers. I have walked around for about an hour and have seen at least ten other people who walked dogs. It is very nice that all these animals are taken care of and fed. On the other hand, sadly, so many animals are locked in a cage. More than 30 dogs in a cage who are waiting all day in each other’s shit for someone to give them attention.

Highway

So I came by to walk some dogs. When the dogs see an employee grabbing a leash, they go crazy. A bark of 100 dogs that scream to be allowed to go outside for a while. I wanted to take ten dogs at once, but that was not possible. Then you get a poop bag and can go ‘outside’. This means that you walk next to the highway with a terrified dog on your belt.

Diarrhea

Unbelievable but true, my dog had diarrhea. At his first stop I immediately jumped at him and with my hand through the bag I picked up the mess. I was happy because I thought that was it. No, we had to stop every five meters and had to do it all over again. As I didn’t have any more bags, the dog and I turned a blind eye. The dog was blind to one eye.

Puppies

PAWS is visited a lot by volunteers, but not so much by potential owners. But once every two to three weeks a dog is adopted. In this shelter, all dogs are first put in quarantine, before they can go to the other dogs. These are mainly puppies, I ran almost immediately to them until I saw the ‘No entry’ sign, because they still need to be vaccinated.

Sheila

My second dog was doing a lot better by the way. Is this a male or a female? The woman had no idea. She didn’t know if the animal had a name either. I called her Sheila, the dog I mean, not the woman. I had almost adopted Sheila myself until the animal was suddenly taken away from me by visitors who bombarded me with questions. How old is she? I have made some beautiful things out of it in the hope that the animal could go home with them.