9-Year-Old Opens His Own Animal Shelter

[Catty1]

• by Kevin Mathews
• May 23, 2014
• 7:00 am

Even a child can see that animals in need could use some compassion… in fact, children might be more in tune to the obligation to care for defenseless animals than adults. Take Ken, a nine-year-old child from the Philippines, as an example. Ken’s love for helping dogs motivated him to operate an animal shelter out of his own garage.
A few months ago, after routinely encountering neglected dogs and cats on the streets, Ken asked his father if he could open up an animal shelter to take care of them. While Ken’s father didn’t discourage him entirely, he told his son that he would need to be much older and have a lot of money to pull off an endeavor like that.

Ken was not the type to take “no” for an answer, however, so he did his part to feed stray dogs on a limited budget. When a photo of Ken giving food to some puppies on the street went semi-viral, Ken started receiving donations from around the world to allow him to care for the animals on a permanent basis.
Naming the dogs after their respective colors (“Blackie,” “Brownie,” and “White Puppy”), Ken housed his first three dogs in his garage and provided them with healthy dog food and trips to the vet. Over time, the dogs’ sores went away, fur grew back and weight increased to a normal level. Ken called his burgeoning shelter the “Happy Animals Club.”

Now that his first shelter residents have been nursed back to health, Ken plans to put them up for adoption in another month and start looking after new animals. His goal is to reach out to local pounds and take in the un-adopted animals that are about to be euthanized to spare their lives.
Already, however, neighbors have approached him with animals that are in need of care. On Tuesday, Ken received Dipper, a sickly puppy battling ticks, infections and worms. Although Dipper is not from the pound, Ken couldn’t turn his back on a dog in need.

Most likely, Dipper will stay in the 10,000 square feet lot that Ken has recently leased for $1,500 a year. Ken was able to pay for the area with donations, but he will still need to collect more money in order to have the resources to care for as many dogs as the space will fit. Given how far he’s come already, though, it’s hard not to see this plan working out successfully.



Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/9-year-o...#ixzz32eOKTs57

WEBSITE: http://www.happyanimalsclub.org/