Your donations to Animal-Kind International support Liberia Animal Welfare & Conservation Society's Humane Ed Program and Community Animal Health Care Program, and because LAWCS can use our funds for their priority needs, your donations also provide support for LAWCS staff salaries, office rent, motorbike fuel and maintenance. Without this support, LAWCS wouldn't be able to do all they do for animals and the children and adults who care for them, and they wouldn't be able to change the hearts and minds of young and old.
So far, during 2018, your donations to AKI covered:
Stipends for 4 LAWCS volunteers for March, April, May, June, and July at US$50/volunteer/month
Office rent from July through December 2018 ($35/month for 6 months, a total of US$210)
Fuel and maintenance for 2 LAWCS motorbikes from April through July (US$70/month x 2 bikes)
Together, we supported LAWCS's teacher training for 25 Humane Education teachers. This training is so important for keeping the teachers' skills up to date and fresh and for ensuring the teachers remain motivated. During this April training, 4 LAWCS staff and the District Education Officer also participated in the training program. Our funding was used to cover printing of the Humane Education manual for teachers, to transport the teachers to the training location, and for meals during the training session.
Obviously, the teachers enjoyed the training program!
We also supported LAWCS Community Humane Education and Basic Animal Health Care Program. As part of this program, Abraham travels to communities, where he meets with all members to discuss animal care and welfare. Then, Abie goes door to door to check on the animals at each household and provides basic care, such as eye, ear, and skin treatments, flea and tick control, basic wound care. This is the only health care available for pets in these communities-the closest and only vet is in Monrovia, about 6 hours away in the dry season, about 9 hours to 2 days in the rainy season!
LAWCS brings cat and dog food along with them during the community health care program so that all pets get a nutritious meal and to demonstrate to owners how to provide good, easy meals to their pets.
AKI donors supported the Community Animal Health Care Program (in addition to Abie's salary and motorbike maintenance) by providing funds to purchase food for community animals and medicines and supplies, including:
Multivitamin
Alcohol-base hand sanitizer
Mebendazole
Vitamin B Complex
Flea and Tick Repellent
Gloves
A Medication Box
Some other recent LAWCS activities are:
Outreach Education and Sticker Distribution Program The aim of this program is to ensure that LAWCS`s messages on kindness, respect, care, and compassion for animals and people travel all over the country, to areas where LAWCS is unable to reach. The children visit car and motorbike parks and educate drivers about kindness, respect, care, and compassion for animals and people, and place stickers on their cars and bikes. These drivers serve as ambassadors, disseminating the messages to places they travel daily.
In-School and Community Humane Education LAWCS HE Program empowers students with knowledge about animal welfare and motivates them to speak up for animals. As part of LAWCS HE Program, students are encouraged to reach out to their friends, families, and communities and inspire them to be kind to animals and people.
Does Humane Education work? YES! Here's an example.
Alex's family never liked dogs, so Alex was brought up without a dog and with no interest in animals--and worse, she learned to be afraid of dogs and uncaring toward them. After participating in the LAWCS Humane Ed Program, Alex decided she wanted a dog, and her family let her get one (2 pictures below). Now, not only does Alex love her dog, her whole family loves her dog-and beyond that, the family has totally turned around and likes dogs and cats in general!
