Animal-Mama has such a special place in my heart. First of all, Bullet loves staying there for boarding. It is the only place I considered leaving him during my two week trip home to the States this summer for my brother’s wedding. Animal-Mama is a passion project that aims to provide unique, holistic, healthy, affordable and personalized pet services to animal lovers in Cambodia. As Veterinary Hospital & Animal Welfare Center it offer medical veterinary services, pet boarding, animal daycare, socialization, hydrotherapy, doggy pool & homemade holistic food and treats. Founded by the animal lover, long-time animal welfare activist and a businesswoman, Yulia Khouri, the proceeds from this project fund the on-going rescue/adoptions/health services for the street animals as well as the country-wide education about animal welfare to public.
As a social enterprise, the profits from this business are used to help street animals who are in dire situations because of sickness and injury. As well as the country-wide education about animal welfare to the public, our community projects focus on Spay/Neuter Programs, Street Rescues & Adoptions, and Long-Term Special Needs Care.
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- There are fifty Pagodas in Central Phnom Penh, each with approximately forty cats and dogs. Most of these animals are abandoned and homeless, and live as best they can with rice and scraps given by the monks and local residents. They suffer from terrible illness and injury and are constantly breeding which adds to the Pagoda Problem.
- Almost every day, sick and injured street animals are brought to Animal Mama. Many of these come from the Street Meat Markets. (Yes, they eat dog here in Cambodia). They use the profits from their Social Enterprise to pay for their treatments and care, but Animal-Mama can’t cover the costs of all the animals who need help on their own.
- Cambodia has one of the highest reported fatalities of the Rabies disease in Asia, second only to Myanmar. Capture, Neuter, Vaccinate and Release (CNVR) programs are effective in eliminating rabies, so Animal-Mama goes out into the community to vaccinate the cats and dogs. They microchip them and store the data on the PassPet database.
- Home of Heroes is the first retirement home in the world for de-mining dogs who have become too old to work in the field. These dogs are some of Bullet’s closest friends in Cambodia! The center will also take in the young dogs who don’t pass the very rigorous training. These Belgian Malinoise dogs have given the greatest service to humanity and Animal-Mama believes that they deserve the very best we can give them in return. The dogs are deployed to countries all around the world and have cleared thousands of acres of land sniffing out land mines, improvised explosive devices, and un-exploded ordinance like the awful cluster bombs that have remained buried for decades. In the past, the dogs would be euthanized when they became too old to work the long and demanding hours out in the field. The younger dogs who didn’t pass the training would be given away and they would often meet a gruesome end. But not any more! Animal Mama and Home of Heroes have signed MOU’s with both the Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) and Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) to make sure every dog is saved.
Recently, Bullet has had a little bit of a health scare, including an eye infection and an insect bite to the face. So far we have visited Animal-Mama three times to make sure he is getting the best care and recovery. The amount of care and love they have shown Bullet and me and been such a great experience. They take the time to check him out throughly, ask clear questions and calmly explain what course of action and things to look for specific to Cambodia. It’s great to know that part of Bullet’s care is going to support all these other programs as well as his friends who live at the House of the Heroes. (Also, Bullet gets to stay at the House of the Heroes when he stays at Animal-Mama, he’s such a lucky boy!)
Know another great animal support program in Cambodia? Or anywhere else in the world?
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