She is also a breast cancer survivor.

Her life as a saviour of desperate animals began in 2019 when she gave a stray kitten a home. When she saw how much joy it brought her family, she went on to rescue more cats.

It wasn’t until the following year that she rescued her first dog. To date, Shima, 43, has rescued more than 200 dogs and scores of cats.

Recounting the rescue of her first dog, she told FMT: “I saw this little black puppy with a hole in the head. I thought he was not going to make it, but I told myself that maybe tomorrow or a few days later, someone will rescue it.”

No one did. So, Shima put her fear of dogs aside and got a friend to help her with the rescue. Today, the pup has grown into a happy pooch named Bond.

Another rescue is Cera, whom she referred to as her “special dog”.

Cera’s story began when Shima received a call in the middle of the night about a pup that needed help. “The first time I saw her, it was heartbreaking,” she said. “She was a tiny little puppy, weak, both legs broken. She had been beaten repeatedly and was terrified of humans.”

Shima rushed her to a veterinary clinic and a surgical procedure was carried out that included implanting a metal plate in one of her limbs. “Look at her now,” Shima said. “She’s thriving. She’s a fighter.”

There was a CCTV recording of the abuse and the perpetrator was taken to court and found guilty.

And then there is Titan, who lost one of his legs after a pickup truck ran over him. And Beau, a paralysed dog who was wandering the streets. And Miracle, a canine who is blind because someone poured acid on her face.

And then a new tragedy struck. In June 2021, a physician told Shima she had been diagnosed with Stage Two breast cancer. She was crushed.

But as she was undergoing chemotherapy treatments, she was informed by a shelter that one of the dogs she had rescued, which had a tumour, had died.

“That’s it. I decided to just stop being down, to stop thinking about myself.”

She amped up her rescue efforts and has been in remission since last May. Her most recent rescue took place last month and it involved a litter of nine puppies.

According to Shima, she tries her best to get all the animals adopted. “That is quite a challenge,” she said. “There are not many people who choose to adopt. If I think they can’t live in a home environment, I’ll put them in a shelter.”

Until they find a home, the animals are placed at fosterers and boarding facilities. She covers the expenses of having them there.

It was heartwarming to see how some of the animals interacted with her. Some dogs raised their heads for pats and some lay down on their backs for belly rubs, but all were happy in the company of the woman who gave them a second chance at life.

Shima is thankful for the support of friends and Instagram followers who have helped with some of the expenses.

She said most of the donations for her dog rescue cases came from Malays and she attributed this to the Quranic injunction to believers to be good to all living creatures.

She said she was aware that dogs were regarded as “najis mughallazah” or heavily impure in some schools of Islamic jurisprudence but that this did not mean you could not be kind to them.

“There are ways for you to purify yourself,” she said. “I believe that to be a good Muslim, you need to study the Quran and gain a good understanding of it.”

Send Shima Aris an Instagram message if you’d like more information about the animals up for adoption or if you wish to make a donation.