Lanta Animal Welfare was founded by Junie Kovacs in 2005. Her mission was to end the suffering of the hundreds of homeless, abused and injured animals on Koh Lanta. To date, they have sterilised and treated over 15,000 animals, and with your support they continue to grow helping more and more animals each year.
We asked Junie the founder of Lanta Animal Welfare a few questions about the challenges they face and their hopes for the future.
What inspired you to start your organisation?
I have always been a huge animal lover. I did what I could to help in Norway, by doing graphic design jobs for free for several animal-welfare organisations. When I started to travel, I saw the need for more organisations. Helping those who can’t speak i.e. animals became a passion.
When starting up Time For Lime on Koh Lanta, Thailand it was so sad to see what the stray animals were going through here. I couldn’t just stand by – I needed to take action. It all started with baby steps.
What are the challenges you face?
– not enough hours in the day
– not enough helpers, volunteers, good staff, money.
– envy, and selfish people, incorrect information, superstition, cultural differences, uneducated people in higher positions.
What does a typical day look like for visitors and volunteers?
That’s really 2 different things, and will take a lot of time to answer.
What animals are you caring for right now?
It changes every day, as of today: 38 dogs and 50 cats.
In what state would you like the organisation to be in, in 10 years time?
Self running, and set up in more places around Thailand.
What has been your most rewarding outcome since starting?
Seeing that what I’ve done has changed not only many, many thousands of animal lives to the better, but also seeing “our” Island change. Locals both adults and children, having more respect of other living beings and understanding that animals feel pain, hunger, and fear just like us.
Thank you Junie, keep up the great work.
As you can see Lanta Animal Welfare is a very special place, it has people from all over the world working together to make a better life for the street dogs and cats of Ko Lanta. In these cynical times, places like this need all the help they can get.
To find out more about Lanta Animal Welfare and how you can volunteer with them please visit their website: Volunteer on Ko Lanta
If you would like to see more volunteering opportunities in Thailand then please click here: Volunteering in Thailand
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