However, having a full-time job meant that she could only do this after work, though it never diminished her wish to help these hungry and homeless animals.
Besides feeding them, she would often rescue them, have them spayed or neutered, and do her best to rehome them.
Sometimes it can be a thankless job, she told FMT, recounting how she was once sprayed with water by an irate resident, who claimed she was messing up the neighbourhood every time she fed the stray dogs there.
It was also then that she met other independent rescuers like herself and became firm friends with them.
“There was this time where I had to watch one of the puppies rescued be put down because it fell sick, and I fell into a bout of depression for a while,” the 50-year-old said.
Then the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Still eager to help the strays in any way she could, she started selling the sourdough bread she baked in order to help pay for their food.
She soon discovered that there was not much money to be made for the amount of time and money she invested in the bread, and an alternative had to be found as there was no telling how long the pandemic would drag on for.
“I was trying to find animal-themed fabric face masks as the disposable ones cause me to break out, but they were so expensive that I started researching how to make them myself,” Lim said.
The stars soon aligned for her when some of her friends spotted her masks on social media and before long, orders started streaming in. Hence, Stray Inc was founded.
With the success of the face masks, Lim decided to broaden her range of product offerings.
Being an avid cyclist, she discovered that the cycling caps in the market, like the face masks before, were often quite pricey.
So, she browsed Pinterest for inspiration and started frequenting handicraft shops in the hunt for the right materials to make them herself.
When a friend gifted her some imported Japanese fabric, she got down to work immediately and sewed cycling caps for his entire family, much to their delight.
Her signature batik-themed caps however came into existence when a woman contacted her online about her caps, saying she was being posted to Ireland soon on work and would like to order some. To give her something to remember Malaysia by, Lim sewed her a batch of denim and batik caps, which she loved.
Word soon spread of Lim’s batik-patterned handmade crafts, and one day she was offered a space for a stall at Pedal Malaya’s bicycle-themed flea market.
Turning up with her turquoise Volkswagen Kombi, the stall was a hit, which gave Lim the idea to man her own stalls in arts and flea markets around the Klang Valley.
She now sells an array of cadet caps and reversible bucket hats with whimsical and cute prints, even customisable tote bags with images of customers’ pets on them
“Pets aren’t allowed in a lot of places, so I figured I can paint people’s pets on the totes and when they carry it around, it’s like their pet is with them too.”
These days, Lim mostly donates her proceeds to local animal shelter MEEFAH.
As for what is on the horizon for Stray Inc, Lim said she hopes that she can offer new varieties for her brand, including t-shirts, the most requested order by her regular customers.
She also hopes to set up stalls in more flea markets around the country and visit animal shelters in every state.
“People who don’t like animals won’t see the point of what I’m doing. Usually they will just ask: ‘does this make money?’, but I’m not in this for profit. I’m just focused on raising awareness to the strays’ plight,” Lim said with a smile.
Follow Stray Inc on Facebook and Instagram; follow animal shelter MEEFAH here.