My name is Walter Guillioli and I am the founder, director
and main volunteer of www.facebook.com/peoplesavinganimals. Growing up in Guatemala I unfortunately saw the ugly as it
relates to animal care and respect… especially for dogs. To many people, dogs that are not pure breed
are worthless. Seeing homeless dogs on the streets is an everyday thing and
considered “normal”. It is even normal that they are run over by cars and left
for dead. To some, dogs roaming the streets are just annoying and they will
even run them over on purpose. If the dog is a pure breed worth a $1,000, well
that is another story…
Writing the text above makes me sick. Growing up in a
country like that made me sick my whole life. Seeing how even today some of my
old acquaintances and relatives act towards this make me sick. Thinking of all
the years that I did not do anything makes me sick…
Today, I try to ignore that and focus on the present. I now
run a small nonprofit focused 100% on helping the incredibly courageous people
from the rescue groups in Central America with fund raising (all this in big
part to Bilyana at Animal Aid International that opened my eyes and taught me
how I could help from my home in Seattle in my ‘free time’). Every day I get
angry at the world for seeing how cruel and ignorant they can be towards
animals. Every day I am afraid to look at my email for the next horrible case
in great need or to get the next accusation in Facebook that I am exploiting
animals and stealing money. But then I think of the animals I am helping, I
think of the amazing people that trust in me (without knowing me) and donate
their money and I get strength to continue.
Pretty much every day when I am tired, when there are no
donations, when I see animals suffering by the thousands and I think that I
might be able to help hundreds in a year (if lucky); I wonder... Is it worth
it? Why bother? If I won’t change anything in the world, why even try? But then
I see the ones I have helped and I can say it’s worth it (see some pictures
below).
Sometimes it feels ‘weird’ to say to people that I do
nonprofit work to help homeless animals… especially to people in Guatemala. I
know they don’t understand it. I know they wonder “is he crazy?”. It makes me
sad and angry that they don’t get it. If people would only open their eyes and
see how much better we can be as humans if we learn from animals, how much fun
they are, how much love they give. It would be a different story.
Doing animal rescue work is the proudest effort I have done
in my life. It’s not easy and I cry and curse often… but looking back I am
happy I got tired to “look the other way” when I saw animals in great need. I
won’t change the world, but I will change the world for many… one at a time!
Celeste from Costa Rica is one of those who stole my heart and makes me happy to see and know I helped change her world
Leon Terry from Guatemala also stole my heart. He had a fractured jaw when rescued and was a mess.
We picked up Chepito from a shoulder in a highway in Guatemala when doing volunteer work. He was a mess and now he is spoiled and loved by an amazing couple in Alaska. He stole my heart and gives me strength every day! He made me act and not "look the other way"
No comments:
Post a Comment