As some of you may know, My Paws and Me is a non-profit rescue and education foundation that focuses on stopping the mistreatment of animals and helping people understand the importance of giving animals a chance to have a great life. Last Wednesday, founders Sue Wang and Denise Sepahi came to AISG to educate the Roots and Shoots Animals group more about what My Paws and Me does. This is because Roots and Shoots chose My Paws and Me as the local group to which they would donate the money they have raised throughout the school year to.
During the presentation, Ms. Sepahi talked in detail about what they have accomplished and the vast amount of change that has been made in the two short years since the creation of the group. They have managed to keep as many as 30 dogs in their shelter. All these dogs seem overjoyed to be there, and they have recovered from the diseases or the injuries that they had when they arrived.
Ms. Wang talked about the group’s goals for the future, the main one being sustainability. They want what they are trying to accomplish with animals to become long term. This is extremely difficult in a country where there are not any laws against animal maltreatment. Their dream is to create an app called SSARP (Sutopia Sustainable Animal Rescue Platform), which could be used any place around the world. Using the GPS function of mobile phones, it would enable people to create a location signal wherever they found a stray dog and then, people nearby could go rescue it. The app would also be used as a way for people all around the world to see that specific stray dog’s progress. It would also allow people to make donations.
My Paws and Me ended their presentation by showing pictures of the dogs from when they first rescued them and current photos. Many of them showed an immense change. Many of the dogs have been adopted and are living the high life in comparison to their previous status. They are living in places from Dongguan to California, and from London to Dubai. Sushi is the dog pictured below; he was rescued and cured by My Paws and Me and is soon going to be adopted.
This presentation has truly helped the Roots and Shoots Animals group understand the things they are helping to accomplish and has helped them become more aware of the actions that still need to be done. The audience was rapt with interest and they came to understand the importance of truly rescuing animals and educating people about the right way to treat their four-legged friends.