Paws up for Oscar Lei

Oscar Lei, head of the Philippine Animal Rehabilitation Center (PARC) of the Phil-ippine Animal Wel-fare Society (PAWS) is leaving tomorrow for Canada with his family to start another chapter in their lives.

As a writer for the PetLife, I am saddened by this news because Oscar has always been there for me whenever I needed information or interesting stories about the pet world.

I started writing stories about dogs and other pets when I was working for another newspaper in the mid ‘90s and it was PAWS, under its president Nita Lichauco and Oscar, who would fill me in about pets. They were always so enthusiastic about sharing with me anything they knew or any developments there were in PAWS.

Oscar would always be the first to let me know about the events of PAWS – from their Dr. Dog program to the building of PARC to joining him in rescuing animals who were being abused to the abuse of horses in Chinatown to the need for more people to adopt dogs from PARC.

"PAWS wants to give recognition to animals that have done heroic deeds," Oscar told me once. "I have a few dogs lined up for the award." It was like that with Oscar every time I would bump into him in a pet event (and there are many!) he would always have an idea about how animals could be recognized for the good that they do for society.

Every year, Oscar would remind me about the pet blessing and at which church PAWS would be at. And in the years I have covered the pet blessings I have noticed that more and more pets would come to these well-organized events each year.

I once had the opportunity to join Oscar in a "mission."

"Kathy do you want to join me in a pet rescue?" Oscar asked me. "I am going to Parañaque right now because I got a call about a dog who has been tortured."

I joined Oscar in that rescue. I am glad I did. For Oscar, it was "let’s do it now, there is no time to spare." His sense of urgency is contagious. I am glad I caught some of it.

Whenever I got a call from friends or even strangers about animal abuse I would always refer them to Oscar at PARC. The people I referred to him never called me back, I guess they got the help they needed.

"Oscar began working in PAWS in ’97. He was with an insurance company," says Nita. She tells me that at the start Oscar admitted that he joined PAWS for selfish reasons – he had hoped to sell insurance to the members of PAWS. "But that did not last long. He gave up his job and joined PAWS as a full-time volunteer ," adds Nita. "That is the kind of person Oscar is. He would even give up his job because he wouldn’t be happy if he could not give his all for animal welfare."

I spent several afternoons at PARC in Marikina looking for stories for PetLife. Oscar would sit with me and we would discuss everything pets and strays, too. And although Oscar is a rather calm and composed person, I have seen him angered at injustices done to animals. He would always apologize for his use of cuss words – but he would not take any animal injustice sitting down. He had to act on it – and as quickly as was possible.

PAWS will surely miss Oscar here in Manila. "But I will continue to work with PAWS from Canada," says Oscar.

As for me, I wish Oscar the best and I am happy that he will continue to look after the welfare of the animals – in Canada or wherever else life may take him.

* * *

Oscar shares with us his own memories with PAWS:

I often recall with amusement how I came into PAWS. Back then, it was not so much that I wanted to do something for animal welfare, but more for selfish reasons. I didn’t even know there are people like Tata (Nita Lichauco) fighting for the rights and welfare of animals in this country. I was desperately in search of prospects to sell life insurance to, and thought by joining various groups, I could better my chances of being recognized as a top salesman in Sunlife.

As a boy, I loved animals, and enjoyed taking care of stray cats who wandered into my parents’ restaurant looking for food. Like most people who care about animals, I would cry shamelessly when any of my pets would die. In the early ’80s, I had to smuggle a dead cat into the Chinese cemetery, so I could secretly cremate him. I even burned some of that paper money they use in funerals. I know cats don’t need money in the afterlife, but it gave me comfort doing it; besides, I remembered my mom did it for one of our cats.

I had dreamed of becoming a scientist or an engineer, but never gotten around to pursue that goal, even though I am a graduate of aeronautical engineering and a member of the Astronomical League of the Philippines. The early period of my life was peppered with unrelated jobs here and there; until PAWS came along.

PAWS gave me an opportunity to do things that are both selfless and fulfilling. Instead of insurance, I started selling concepts like pet adoption, spaying/neutering of pets, animal sheltering, responsible pet ownership and, animal-assisted therapy. My interest in fine arts and background in computer programming was good because I used them in designing art works and print materials. The prestige and reputation of PAWS, both locally and internationally, put me in contact with government officials, and accorded with me the chance to help correct some of the cruel practices involving animals.

By the time this sees print, I will be on my way to starting a new life in Toronto, Canada. That country too, has its share of animal cruelty issues. For sure I will be looking into that. I already made a few contacts there. My first priority is to be able to find work so that I can look after the needs of my family. Wouldn’t it be great if I find something along the line of animal welfare, and get it as a paid occupation?