Shari Rodrigues: Born with a passion for four-legged friends

Since she was a child, Shari Rodrigues was always drawn to animals, especially dogs and cats, and so today it is no surprise that she has not only opened her home to some and’responded to those in distress on the streets, but with the help of others, also opened a foster home.

She is also one of the three women who formed Paws for A Cause, an animal rights organisation that not only focuses on responding to the needs of animals, but also educating people about animals’ rights and how to treat them. They have also partnered with the Rosewood Foundation, another animal rights group, as their goals are very similar, and the partnership allows them to share common interests and ideas.

“From baby stage, my parents said, I was always fascinated with animals especially dogs and cats. So, I would actually be leaning from their hands into the dogs and they would actually be licking my face. I have had that chemistry with them from small,” Rodrigues said of her relationship with animals.

So fascinated was she, her parents told her, that she preferred to play with the animals rather than other children and because of her their home always had about 15 dogs at a time and cats as well. She admitted that her entire family loves animals, but for her it was a little more and growing up animals were her best friends. It was not just dogs and cats, there were times when she took lizards to school and could be found in the grass hunting for butterflies.

She never looked forward to taking holidays overseas, because instead of enjoying her time away she missed her animals and was agitated to return.

Her father passed away when she was 18, and Rodrigues she said migrated and was employed with a military charter service, which saw her flying around the world, but she felt lonely as she missed her animals, which were left behind. During that time, her aunt “baby sat” the animals, she said, since her mother had migrated for a few years. Rodrigues provided financial support for the animals and she is eternally grateful that her aunt provided a home for them. “My soul was yearning for them again and I was missing so much, I gave up everything and returned to Guyana,” she said, and it was about that time she “fell into the hands” of well-known animal rights activist Syeada Manbodh, who encouraged her.

As soon as she returned to Guyana, she picked up the animals (about 12 in number) and found some additional ones. With Manbodh as her mentor, she started to foster animals, helped to feed strays and put some up for rescue. Initially, this was not done on a large scale and she felt she was missing something. It was when she went on her first mission with Manbodh to rescue a horse that “the passion stated to wake up in me even more and I said I need to go further with this.”

She joined the Rosewood Foundation and assisted in rescue missions, adoption and fostering, but still she felt she needed to do more as it was if she was falling short.

On an impulse one morning, she started to message other animal lovers asking them to join forces to form an animal welfare group and they were all receptive to her idea and agreed.

Paws for a Cause

Two weeks later, Paws for a Cause was launched by Rodrigues, Marcia Tucker and Steffi De Nobrega; that was last February. Later, four other members joined, and a board was formed.

More members came on board and they assist in providing funding for the rescue missions, food and other needed support. The group now has a Facebook page with over 6,000 followers and persons are always contacting to donate and assist.

The group is assisted by the Guyana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (GSPCA) which helps by spaying or neutering about four animals a week; all fosters are spayed or neutered by the association. And when the animals are put up for adoption, they also spayed or neutered, and Rodrigues noted that this helps to “to clamp down on the stray population on the streets.”

“Basically, our main objective is to control the animal population because we have all these animals, but we don’t have enough kind homes. It is easy for somebody to collect a kitten because they are cute at that stage but when they start to grow up most people look at them as nuisance and they don’t know how to take on that responsibility or are no longer willing to take on that responsibility,” she explained.

When persons are no longer taking on the responsibility, they open their gates and put the animals out, the animals reproduce, and each litter brings forth 5 to 12 puppies or kittens at a time; and a cat can reproduce about 6 times a year.

The group responds to a lot of reports but Rodrigues said they don’t have the capacity to facilitate all rescues; they accomplish about 95% with the help of GSPCA. And while Manbodh is not part of the organisation, she also assists tremendously, as she does with other groups.

‘So hard’

While the work is fulfilling, Rodrigues said, it can be “so hard at times” because people expect them to respond to all calls and if this is not done immediately they get upset and say things “and it is left with you. You are left wondering what I could have done differently. But rightfully, you are human, you cannot assist all the animals in the country. You do your best every day. We are a growing organisation and our goal is to be able rescue all these animals but at this time we cannot…”

She said teamwork is important as there are times when one may feel one has no energy, but with the support of others the work will go on. Family and friends along with the Facebook followers also help to keep the momentum going. A thank you from a random person in the street also goes a long way.

It is Rodrigues’s hope that one day they would have done so much footwork, they would not have to do all the work they are doing now because the awareness would have helped, people would know how to treat animals and there would not be so many cruelty cases.

There are those cases where people make false reports against others, they may have a problem with, and when the members respond they find that the animals are well taken care of. This happens too often, she said sadly.

But she said people are kinder to animals and she believes it is because of the awareness by many. “Everybody is playing their role and helping people love animals,” she said. “And one thing I say… is that you do not have to be an animal lover, you just have to be kind and respect them.”

She cautioned parents not to just have animals because their children like them and because if the children are too young to take care of the animals, they mistreat them, and a vicious cycle will continue as the children will become adults and do the same thing.

Rodrigues is a member of Kindness Ambassadors, which includes Manbodh (the brainchild behind the initiative), someone from GSPCA and Donna Lam of Rosewood Foundation. They visit schools to educate children on how to treat animals. There are times that they intervene when complaints are received from children and most times the parents are receptive. It is hoped that this generation will be changed to end the vicious cycle. The work of her organisation and all other animal welfare organisations and animal activists has been greatly supported by Noreen Gaskin and according to Rodrigues “I don’t know where we would be without her.” She said veterinarians have also been very supportive of the work they do.

Other duties

Rodrigues does all of this while running her own export and real estate businesses. She is working on opening a manufacturing company. She also has a restaurant and runs the largest foster home for animals, which houses about 40 of them at a time.

Rodrigues is married and hopes to one day have children; she also has her own animals at home. And while her husband is not an animal lover, Rodrigues said they have found a compromise. He’ supports her and he allows her 10 animals at home. The dogs are not allowed in the house, except for Storm.

“He loves her and even though he is not an animal lover, she is more connected to him than to me. So hopefully one day she can save him or maybe when kids come along maybe they can change him,” she said laughing.

There is a story behind Storm. Five years ago, five dogs from Rodrigues’s younger days, which were given to her by her father, passed away in quick succession. Because they were part of her connection to her deceased father, their deaths sent her into a terrible depression. Despite her objections, her husband took Storm home and for Rodrigues it was “love at first sight”. Her husband’s love for Storm is because the animal helped bring her around. Rodrigues sees Storm as her daughter.

Her daily work is quite a lot and she admits that there are times she becomes overwhelmed, but she would have it no other way. “Everybody asks me where I get the strength from, but I think it is the passion. I think passion fuels me all the time and, of course, as I said, the support,” she noted.