The NGO driving awareness about animal welfare and protection

Jul 11, 2021 News

Tails of Hope…

By Rehanna Ramsay

Kaieteur News – Tails of Hope, a local animal welfare not-for-profit organisation, is becoming increasingly popular for ‘its pop-up shop’ vaccination drives across various communities.

Animal rights activist and Vice President of Tails of Hope, Melissa Ramdeen.

Tails of Hope has led the activities to offer pet owners a space to address the health and safety concerns of their animals as well as raise awareness about the importance of caring for our furry and feathered companions.
A quick look at the group’s social media page (Tails of Hope) and it is evident that their awareness and protection activities are paramount.
Melissa Ramdeen, Vice President of the organisation, which was once known as the Animal Rescue Adoption and Protection Society (ARAPS), explained the concept behind the operation.
According to Ramdeen, Tails of Hope is the brainchild of a few young women, who saw and felt the need to start an organisation to protect the health, safety and welfare of all animals.
She noted the not-for-profit organisation, which started in November 2019 emerged out of a pursuit to protect and support all animals and a burning desire for the actions of those involved, to speak louder than their words.
“We are an organisation driven by progressive ideas, bold actions, and a strong foundation of support for all animals,” Ramdeen said.
She added, “Our vision focuses on community involvement. We involve the community through education and public awareness on the importance of respecting all animals. We also involve as many persons as possible in ‘spay and neuter ‘campaigns and we encourage adoption of animals rather than purchasing.”
Adoption is where pets are taken from shelter or home while purchase is a money transaction where the owners may be involved in the process of breeding the animals.

Ms. Shari Rodrigues, President of Tails of Hope, (at right) during a horse rescue by the animal rights groups.

According to Ramdeen, the mission is to advocate for and advance the values and benefits of good animal welfare in Guyana.
She stressed that the intention of the organisation is to expand and scale up its activities to reach across the entire country. Another focus of the organisation, she said, is on housing conditions, abuse inclusive of neglect and abandonment and the implementation of legislation as it relates to animals.
Ramdeen said, “[We] strive to deal with these issues, we have adopted the most common and internationally recognised standards – the five freedoms of animal welfare which are a set of standards that animal advocates, shelters, fosters, pet owners, and careers are guided by.”
She added that while people rely on animals for food, fibre, companionship, assistance and other reasons, it is important to recognise that animals also rely on humans to treat them well and provide for their needs appropriately.
The Tails of Hope Vice President noted too that the way animals are treated reflects on Guyana’s national and international reputation, including tourism.
“We at Tails of Hope are guided by the five freedoms of animal welfare that are globally recognised as the gold standard in animal welfare, encompassing both the mental and physical well-being of animals; they include: freedom from hunger and thirst; freedom from discomfort; freedom from pain, injury and disease; freedom to express normal and natural behaviour and freedom from fear and distress.”
Further, the animal welfare advocate noted that the organisation is behind an aggressive social media campaign to tackle animal cruelty through education.
“The need to respect that animals such as birds, monkeys and other forms of wildlife must be left alone in their habitat is an issue we try to highlight. We share our experiences hoping to spread awareness on the importance of respecting and caring for animals by instilling a sense of responsibility for all life forms,” Ramdeen said. She noted too that the group has been using its Facebook page to not only educate but to help others understand the importance of being responsible animal owners.

An animal benefits from a recent vaccine drive by Tails of Hope.

Touching a bit on her personal journey into animal rights activism, Ramdeen said that her views on animal activism were shaped by well-known activist, Ms. Syeada Manbodh.
“I met Syeada at a very critical time in my life and she pointed to the ray of sunshine that led me to become an animal activist. She encouraged me to join other animal groups so that I can start making a difference.”
Ramdeen said that that is when she met Ms. Shari Rodrigues, President of Tails of Hope, the woman who helped to shape and catapult her to become the activist she is today. She noted too that Rodrigues is one of the key influencers behind the accomplishments of the group.
To this end, Ramdeen noted that Tails of Hope is the only animal welfare organisation with large shelter homes.
The Vice President explained that at present, Tails of Hope has a staff that cooks, feeds, and cares for the animals in its care. The organisation also caters to the medical needs of the many cases of sick or injured animals that it took in.
At the moment, Ramdeen noted that Tails of Hope conducts vaccination drives on a fort-nightly basis.
The vaccination drives are a collaborative effort between the Guyana GSPCA and Rosewood Foundation and it is sponsored by the International Humane Society.
The group also has an ongoing Spay and Neuter Campaign – which is dependent on donations given that cost approximately G$9,000 –for one animal depending on sex or treatment for other conditions if needed.
She explained that it is a process that is helpful in that it reduces the animals’ risk to various types of diseases including cancer. In addition, it helps to reduce the burden of pet owners, whose animal breeding cycling may lead to them having unwanted litters of pups or kittens.
“We have been encouraging persons, especially those that own cats, to get their animals spayed or neutered, because cats have heat cycles that causes them to birth at least three times a year and their litter will get dumped or abandoned which is something we don’t want to happen,” she said.
In terms of its advocacy efforts, Ramdeen said that Tails of Hope has had discussions with the Minister of Agriculture, in relation to strengthening the animal protection laws of Guyana.
So far, she noted that efforts have been made to set up a special committee with representatives from groups and other relevant animal rights stakeholders to hold consultations on the matter.