In the Fires of Adversity, Heroes are born, Warriors are formed and Champions . . . . rise!
OUR VISION: The adversity faced by Eden/Earth and her Creatures have caused the Champion in us to rise. Together we will transform Guyana from animal hellhole, to animal haven!
Animal Welfare Activists of Guyana is a non profit, volunteer led animal Cause, set up with the intention of transforming Guyana from the animal “hellhole” it is in 2017 to an animal safe “haven”, where All animals are treated with compassion, love and mercy.
This Cause was created by myself - Shanti Mathews, upon seeing the hopelessness and despair written on the faces of stray animals everywhere in Guyana. In particular, on a trip back home from England to Guyana in July 2015, I had a personal encounter with a fatally injured abandoned cart horse who came limping slowly and painfully down my road with a broken leg. I got him off the road, gave him water and grass to eat, and made contact with the GSPCA who came the next day and put him down outside our house. The trauma and suffering experienced by this poor abandoned cart horse left me deeply affected and with a new awareness of the complete isolation and neglect faced by working horses & donkeys in Guyana. I gave him the name Prince in my mind and planted a young Flamboyant tree in his memory, which stands there today, marking the spot of his death in July 2015.
Not knowing anything myself about the care of horses, but feeling deeply moved and convicted that I must do whatever is in my power to change their desperate situation, I then spent the next 2 years writing begging letters to international horse and donkey charities Spana, Brooke and others asking for help for Guyana’s equines, sadly to no avail. Although very sympathetic, they said they were not able to offer anything.
Feeling despairing, I turned to the Great Almighty, Creator of Earth/Eden and her Creatures, and prayed for help for Guyana and the world’s animals who are suffering so much today, and on returning to Guyana in July 2017, I had a Vision of Animal Welfare Activists of Guyana and Strategy.
Joining forces with local Animal Rights Activist - Syeada Manbodh who gathered together a group of local Activists at her home in Queenstown, I made a presentation to them about the creation of Animal Welfare Activists of Guyana on the 15th July 2017. The leader of GSPCA - Oliver Insanally was also invited to attend, but he declined. In this presentation the seeds were sown of the very beginnings of Animal Welfare Activists of Guyana. At this point AWAG was dreams in my head and written on paper, yet to be made manifest onto the physical plane.
I did not know how it was all going to work out, I just knew that I had to keep stepping forward each day in faith and hope and trust in my Vision, and have the courage to take risks, break new ground, pioneer new strategies and make it happen. And incredibly it is happening - Animal Welfare Activists of Guyana is a living, evolving, trail blazing Cause which is a mighty divine spark causing dynamic positive change in animal welfare to sweep across the country.
Today Animal Welfare Activists of Guyana is an online and on the ground community of Animal Activists, Animal Lovers, Veterinarians, Conservationists, Zoologists, Animal Artists, and people with an interest in animals based all over Guyana and internationally, with a common goal of wanting to see improvement in anima welfare in Guyana. We volunteers aim to help facilitate improvement in by providing relevant animal information, education and advice to the Nation which helps promote better animal care by all parts and members of our country. We also challenge neglectful and cruel practices when we see it and advise others how to do so too.
My page, Linked Public Groups & Messenger Chat Group are a valueable source of information, enabling Activists to learn of and make contact with each other and connecting those who have resources to help with Activists on the ground. The page is also a platform/foundation for others to build on, inspiring the creation & development of other animal welfare organisations across the country and acts as a FREE online animal interest newspaper/newsletter raising awareness of local issues, providing information on the work of local & international activists and veterinarians, and getting animal welfare laws and animal best care practices known to the Nation. This empowers people and makes positive change happen. The page also helps get animals adopted by offering FREE online advertising and help with how to do your advert to get your animals adopted.
Most powerful of all, myself and online Messenger Group discuss long standing animal issues plaguing the country and generate practical realistic Win Win Solutions to them. These Win Win Solutions are then put into practice on the ground, thereby redirecting the course of destiny for Guyana’s animals and alleviating their suffering. The most obvious example of this is the suffering of the Green Iguanas for sale at roadsides all over Guyana. Myself and Messenger Group discussed what were the needs of iguanas and best care practices, and brainstormed a more humane alternative to keeping them in captivity, than how the traders have them strung up presently with arms and legs tied behind backs. Taking into consideration the needs of the Traders as well, we came up with the idea of a cage which would be humane and would be low cost and easy for Traders to make. I then shared this information with the Nation and posted a “How to create a Humane Iguana cage” video which educates the Nation on the needs of iguanas.
Please note that all Activists of Animal Welfare Activists of Guyana are volunteers. No one is paid a salary, we are all giving our money, labour, time and energy for FREE wherever we are based, to help the animals, simply because we feel compassion for them. We do not receive any monetary help from Government.
We are an Education, Information and Advice service - NOT a Shelter, or emergency call out service. In event of an animal medical emergency please contact your local private Veterinarian or GSPCA.
The work of some Activists of Animal Welfare Activists of Guyana covers the following areas:
- Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation
- Awakening the Churches/Religious organisations of Guyana and the World to the special place animals have in the Heart of God
- God's direct instructions to be Merciful in our treatment of Animals and to Save the Species (See the story of Noah's Ark - Genesis 8 v 15-17 and 9 v 8-16). This story is very relevant to our planet Earth/Eden and her Creatures today.
- Animal Rescue and Adoption
- Good Samaritan Work of Local Guyanese - a Source of Hope & Inspiration
- Raising Awareness of the Plight of Animals
- Reaching out to Governments and Schools to play their part
- Sharing information with the Nation re its Domestic and Wildlife animals and their importance in the Ecosystem
- Sharing information with the Nation about its Livestock animals
- Sowing seeds of Hope in places of darkness and despair.
- Making people think and changing neglectful and ungrateful mindsets
- Application of positive practical Win Win Solutions to the issues of poverty and animal abuse
Shanti Mathews
Founder, Good Samaritan & Animal Advocate
Founded on 15th July 2017
