Ali had visited the Asian island nation a couple of months earlier on her honeymoon – however was left devastated by the struggling she noticed within the native dogs residing on the streets.
Alongside Ali, Tereza, from Whiteley, has since turn out to be a trustee of their very own charity Lucas Helps Dogs, to help the estimated six million avenue dogs in Sri Lanka.
They organise vet clinics within the poverty-stricken nation – funding spay and neuter clinics, rabies vaccinations, emergency remedies and intention to teach locals in animal welfare.
Last yr yr Tereza, who’s a chef at Wagamama in Whiteley, travelled to supervise a vet clinic in a distant space the place some 150 dogs had been spayed, neutered and rabies vaccinated. And since returning home she has been working to organise weekly clinics on the island’s south coast.
The 37-year-old says: “Sri Lanka is such a beautiful country but every time I visit I am devastated by the number of street dogs living in horrendous conditions.
“Every day dogs are born into a life of misery on the dangerous roads, where drivers aim for them, disease is rife, and food and water is scarce.
“That’s why our work to reduce the street dog population and care for those already on the streets is so important.”
Last yr, Tereza with Ali, and their third trustee Laura Kearns, organized and funded the sterilisation and rabies vaccination of practically 400 dogs and cats. Some 10 animals have acquired emergency remedies, 15 handled for cancers, and 100 dogs have been handled for pores and skin situations which regularly depart their pores and skin hairless and dry.
The charity has additionally rehomed a number of dogs in Sri Lanka, and located houses for some animals within the UK – together with one with a colleague at Tereza’s Wagamama department.
Ali, whose honeymoon proved to be the catalyst for the charity’s creation recollects: “I have been really lucky in my life to have travelled a lot, but I have never seen such a dire situation like I encountered in Sri Lanka. To be honest, I spent half of my honeymoon crying because it was so heartbreaking.
“I am an animal lover and what I saw there was just terrible. Before we left I said to my husband, I can’t do nothing. I can’t pretend I didn’t see it.”
When Tereza and Ali made their first five-week trip together in 2019, they volunteered with another animal charity which gave them some ideas of their own about what they did and didn’t want to do.
“It was a wonderful experience,” says Ali. “We learned a lot but it also showed me that it wasn’t how I wanted to do it – I didn’t want a shelter piled up with dogs. I realised the only way to improve things is to lower the dog population, so that’s how it all started.
“I still didn’t know how to go about it, but while I was there I learned that the locals who had dogs didn’t know how to care for them –I saw a dog with barbed wire around its neck.”
Fundraising
The three girls repeatedly maintain fundraising occasions and run stalls at craft markets in a bid to boost money. They make handmade collars, leads, bracelets and promote clothes with the charity brand. Chef Tereza additionally makes canine treats to promote on the charity’s stall.
But they’re calling for donations, because the variety of dogs at present on the surgical procedure waitlist is nearing 100, which they don’t have the money to cowl.
Tereza says: “The charity is like a second full-time job for each of us alongside our jobs, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. These dogs have such a hard life on the streets and we desperately want to reduce the number who face such hardships on the busy roads.
“It’s a real struggle to raise enough money especially currently with the cost-of-living crisis, and we have a waiting list which is forever growing full of strays and dogs which need treatments.
“We do what we can but ultimately we need people’s support to really make a big impact.”
“Last year was really tough financially,” provides Ali, from Dorset. “Our income from the markets was down quite a lot – people are just being very careful with their money right now. It is understandable, but it’s not the best for a small charity like us.
“We all work full-time and our travels are self-funded – it’s not like we’re going to Sri Lanka on a holiday. We put a lot of our own funds into the charity as well, so everything we raise can go directly to the cats and dogs.”
The charity is called after Ali’s rescue canine.
“I adopted him when he was 18 months old and already completely blind.
“He was the biggest fighter I knew. in 2018 he was diagnosed with pituitary brain tumor, and was given six month to live. He was fighting strong by my side for over two-and-a-half years. He overcame so many other health issues, but he was a happy dog, he loved to eat, sleep and cuddle.
“He was so resilient and he inspired me every day. He showed me that everything is possible and if you want to, you can overcome anything in life.
“This charity is dedicated to Lucas to keep his memory alive.”
How their first Sri Lankan worker is making a distinction
Lucas Helps Dogs is aiming to develop its operation in order that it might probably assist extra cats and dogs in Sri Lanka.
It had beforehand solely been in a position to run pop-up clinics once they had been within the nation. However, a lucky assembly on the final journey has modified that.
“We met a neighborhood girl who had been working for an additional worldwide charity,” says Ali Warburton, “but had to stop due to lack of funds. We asked her if she wanted to work with us instead, so she became our very first employee, which is absolutely wonderful because women in Sri Lanka are struggling to find jobs – the opportunities are not there, and if they are it’s usually something like housekeeper or cook.
“So employing somebody local and giving her the opportunity it’s changed the way we do things because we can now hold a twice-a-month spaying and neutering clinic in Hikkaduwa, which is in the south. Before we could only do it if we were there as we didn’t have anyone to run it in our absence.
“It makes me so happy – she sends us photos and does outreach on an almost daily basis to look for dogs who need to be treated. It’s really changed the way we do things, and now it’s much more efficient and we can help so much more.”
The trustees are planning their subsequent go to to the nation in April when they are going to be holding further pop-up clinics the place they will deal with 50-60 animals a day. And they are going to be educating pet house owners about animal welfare.
They would additionally wish to develop their spay and neutering programme into elements of Sri Lanka the place different charities don’t at present function and can use the journey to analysis methods to make this attainable.
