Help Andrew create the first animal shelter in El Nido, Philippines

Please help Andrew raise the funds to build the first animal shelter in El Nido, Philippines and make it a nicer place for animals to live.

Andrew, a science teacher in El Nido who has close to 20 cats and several dogs, dreams of creating the first animal shelter in El Nido where cats and dogs that roam the town in terrible conditions can be safe.

Currently, Andrew lives with all his animals in a small 3x3 meters (10x10 foot) room trying to make ends meet but with his teacher salary it's not an easy job.

With the money raised he could acquire a small piece of land, fence it, have a roof where to live with all the animals, get vaccines, regular check-ups and food. He could also take in and tend for more animals that roam the streets.

We want to help him, this is our testimony:

On February this year (2019) we went on vacations to El Nido expecting to have the time of our lives in one of the most beautiful places on Earth only to find out that El Nido might be a paradise regarding nature but it was a living hell for animals.

Stray dogs in the streets, in the route, in the beach, everywhere, and in really bad conditions. Some had scabies, others had an eye missing, most females were pregnant, all starving and begging for some food. It was horrendous. Cat conditions were even worse, some even had their hair missing as a result of someone throwing boiling water on them, eyes missing and so on. They are regarded as plague.

We come from South America, it's not heaven for animals but in comparison to what we saw there, it is.

While we were in El Nido we fell in love with a small female stray cat, "Garfina" from garfio (hook) in Spanish. People at the hostel told us she had lost half of one of her paws in a trap. When we met her she was a small starving little thing craving for food and love, pregnant and with nobody to take care of her. Those few days we were at the hostel she would sleep with us, her body against mine looking for affection. She loved tuna and was happy while we were there. Leaving her was awful for us, in 4 years I have never seen my boyfriend cry until that moment. But we had a plane to the other side of the world to catch.


Once we arrived in Manila, with internet again, we started looking for shelters and people who could take care of her. It was no surprise to see we could only find two places, one was Andrew's. We wrote him and he inmediately kindly answered us. He gave us hope. He went to Sibaltan (where our hostel was), one hour away from El Nido by one of the public vans, searched for her and brought her back to El Nido. He sent us pictures afterwards, but more important than anything, he gave her shelter, food and love in exchange for nothing, it was his love for animals.

There are no vets in El Nido, a vet from Puerto Princesa visits if there's a strong enough demand or if someone hires him to travel all the way. So there isn't really one you can rely on all the time to be there. That month luckily a vet was visiting and Andrew took her to him so that she could be treated: dewormed, spayed, given the anti-rabies vaccine, etc.. Since then we have tried to help Andrew achieve his dream of building the first animal shelter and cat sanctuary in El Nido.

Could you help him to achieve this wonderful dream? Make El Nido a nicer place for animals?

Thanks for your help

Martin & Veronica, Uruguay

Andrew's Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/elnidocatsanctuary

Email: [email protected]