When the country went into lockdown on March 18 to contain the spread of Covid-19, there was a mad rush at supermarkets as people hurriedly stocked up on basic necessities, particularly those with large families.
However, there was another vulnerable group sorely affected by the movement control order (MCO) – the country’s scores of stray animals.
As whole neighbourhoods turned desolate overnight, news began pouring in via social media of hungry animals dying of starvation.
38-year-old Janice Shun, who works as a relationship coach, came across one such heartbreaking post about a cat that tragically died after going for days without a scrap of food.
Unable to get the image of the cat out of her mind, Janice decided to do something about it.
Armed with bags of pet food, she began feeding every stray cat and dog she saw on the streets in the hope that her small gesture would help prevent them from suffering the same fate.
And so it began that Janice would load her car every alternate morning with 15 kg of pet food meant for the strays in neighbourhoods in Taman Desa, Taman OUG, Sri Petaling, Kuchai Lama, Happy Garden and Desa Petaling.
To stay within the confines of the law, Janice obtained a permit from the authorities so she could move freely despite the MCO.
Feeding the stray population in her vicinity was no easy task, mind you, taking up to three hours every time she ventured out. Needless to say, she was worn out by the day’s end.
She began making a diary of her daily feeding visits, and posting it on Facebook. It quickly caught the attention of her social media friends, who, touched by her kindness, pooled their money for the purchase of more kibbles.
“I believe I fed over 200 dogs and cats throughout the entire MCO period,” Janice says.
Once shops and restaurants were given the green light to reopen, Janice secured a volunteer to take over her feeding duties. She admits that at that point, she had become too exhausted to continue.
“It was easier for her (volunteer) because she travelled by motorcycle, and it was therefore easier to stop and scoop food for the strays.
“I also quickly noticed that once the shops had reopened, the shop owners resumed feeding the strays,” she says, adding that she was then able to tick-off locations that no longer required visits.
She says that once when on her feeding route, she noticed a junkyard with over 30 hungry stray dogs. Heartbroken by their plight, she quickly added them to her feeding route.
However, like most stray populations, within months, the number of dogs at the junkyard had increased to over 50.
“Those 50 strays? I just counted the ones I had been feeding on the left side of the junkyard. Recently, an employee who works on the right side of the junkyard told me there were another 20 dogs there.”
So, she embarked on a trap-neuter-release exercise. With the employee’s help, Janice caught a few of the dogs and sent them packing to the vet.
“If the two dogs that started this big family were neutered in the first place, we wouldn’t be having 50 over hungry strays today,” Janice said, adding that some of the puppies were re-homed although there were no takers for the adult dogs.
She said neutering was the only humane option to help control their numbers.
There was also the worry that once the neighbours complained about the growing number of strays on their streets, these harmless creatures may be hauled off by the authorities.
To fund the neutering operation, Janice embarked on a fundraising project and through a number of generous neighbours, raised enough to neuter four dogs.
However, with the coffers all dried up now, she is unable to neuter the rest.
According to Janice, it costs RM400 to neuter just one dog. This includes surgery, 12 days boarding for post-op care, deworming, vaccinations and transportation fees to the vet and back.
Although the task has been uphill so far, Janice is still hoping against hope that she will raise enough funds through donations to neuter all the dogs at the junkyard.
Her ultimate dream is to be able to operate a neutering service, with a dedicated team who can travel around Malaysia and neuter dogs at a lower cost.
“I’ve even thought of a neuter mobile truck! I’ve sat down and done the calculations a million times but unfortunately, there is no way I will be able to make a living through this.
“But, if more and more people are willing to make a donation to my neutering junkyard dogs project, I would definitely be able to,” says Janice with a hopeful tone.
“I’ve had a strong love for dogs since I was a kid. Since I am the youngest of my siblings and there is a big age difference, I would play pretend cooking games with my dog and have afternoon naps on the porch with him.
“I even stole some of my mum’s rice and meat to feed the stray dogs as a kid!” she laughs.
To support Janice’s trap-neuter-release project, you can donate to:
Maybank
Janice Shun Pei Ern
114721023543
To get updates on Janice’s work with strays, head over to her Facebook page or check out her MCO stray animals feeding journal.