Loving aspins

I feel gloomy today. The weather makes me sad; I just despise rainy days :| it brings back a melancholic memory to me-- one very depressing day that I can't even bury into oblivion until now.

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I love dogs. In particular, I am a proud owner of four adorable aspins. They are our little babies in the family. Now how do I relate this to the sad rainy day experience that I mentioned earlier? Here goes the story:

It was raining badly one Thursday afternoon and I was on my way to my archery class. When all of a sudden, I saw something furry lying in the gutter near UPLB gate; it was a stray dog trying to find a shelter to ease the cold. To my surprise, there were students taking pictures of the dog; I was agitated. But I guess I am more furious to myself than to those people. I should have done something to help the dog. Instead, I froze into the jeepney seat and I wasn't able to move or say "manong para po!". I wasn't able to do anything to help the dog. After my class, I wandered endlessly around the campus to find the him and see if there's still something that I can do. I went to the place where I saw him-- along a gutter-- but he's gone. I thought that perhaps there were good samaritans/ students who took care of the dog since there are veterinary medicine students in UPLB; therefore they could have brought the dog to their clinic. So I decided to just go home.

But for some strange reason, I was still agitated; I can't help but think about the dog. It was 8:30 pm already. I couldn't help it anymore. I told my parents that I had to go back to the campus since I forgot to photocopy something needed for my class the next day. It was still raining. Again, I searched and wandered around the campus for the dog. Around 9:30 pm, I was losing my hope of seeing the dog again. Then as I was about to go home, I saw him again. Lying in an open space near a bakeshop. The first thing that I did was to buy food for him-- I brought bread and crumbled them so that he can easily eat it. He was too hungry. And sadly, that's the only thing I was able to do for him. Until now, I'm still regretting it; that all I did was to feed him.

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So I don't really like rainy days. It reminds me that there are a lot of aspins out there, waiting to be loved and rescued; to have a shelter. I talked about this with my brother and you know what, we came up with a plan: we will open an animal shelter once we have work and money to support it. Our vision is to have at least one animal shelter per region in the country-- and with God nothing is impossible. I just hope and pray that more people will appreciate and value dogs, especially our aspins who are just as adorable and lovable as the expensive breeds. But for now, perhaps what we can do is to disseminate information on how more people can help in providing shelter for these animals. Actually, what we also want is for current aspin owners to realize how valuable these dogs are; that they should be treated well and be loved. Even a single act of providing drinking water for the dog makes a difference. Trust me, the love and comfort that they bring is more than what you could expect.

Please let us support:

www.caraphil.org
www.paws.org.ph
www.animalkingdomfoundation.org

and other kind-hearted organizations who continue to help animals. These organizations take care of dogs and cats who are homeless and abused. Let us give them a home; adopt a pet be it a dog or a cat. They will surely double the love that you will give them. Please, let us treat our native dogs and cats with care.  Just like what PAWS says "see the beauty beyond the breed" and you'll be overwhelmed with love.

P.S. here are some of our beloved aspins (potchi and bimby) ♥ ♥:

And yes, I am a very proud aspin owner.