A local shelter for strays in Bulacan will soon be closed down.
The Pawssion Project, an organization that runs shelters for strays, announced on Facebook that the space it is renting out in the province will be put up for sale by the owner in less than two months.
In the post, which was uploaded on June 27, the org said that it received a notice informing the shelter that it will soon lose its space. The Bulacan facility has been the home for rescued animals for four years.
“Yesterday, we just got the most heartbreaking news that the property is now under negotiation for sale….and we may have to move in a month or two. We’ve always known this day would come but we just did not expect to be blindsided like this,” the org’s post read.
“Four years of building this home for the rescues and now we have to figure out how we could find a home for them soon. We are already posting now with high hopes that new doors will open for us and the rescues,” it added.
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The organization also accompanied its post with photos of the dogs and cats inside its facilities.
In the comments section, some concerned Filipinos asked if the org could purchase the land.
A representative of Pawssion replied that it could not afford it because it costs P70 million.
“If we want to buy it, we have to acquire the whole property, not just the area we are currently using. Their asking price is P70 million,” one of the group’s replies reads.
Others, meanwhile, poured out prayers of support for the org to find its new home soon.
Call for help
Pawssion also asked for the public’s help on leads for permanent land to build the shelter.
“For leads on permanent land we can acquire, you can also email us at: info@pawssionproject.org,” it said in the post.
In a separate Instagram post, a Pawssion member named Elena Cruz-Bantigue also called for a donation of land to house 300 plus of their rescued animals.
“We are in need of land for our 300 plus rescues at the Bulacan shelter. Ideally fenced, at least 3,000 square meters with no neighbors or far apart and within 1 hour travel time from Manila,” Bantigue said.
“We’re praying for donated land, (as we cannot afford property in Luzon and do not have enough time to raise funds), or partial donation/payment terms. We only have a month or two to vacate,” she added.
“Please pray for our rescues,” she further said.
Interested Filipinos can read more about this organization through its website: FAQs | Pawssion Project.
Postponed operations
The Pawssion earlier recalled that this shelter was created to help the over 100 dogs they found on death row at a pound in Bulacan on June 27, 2019.
Since then, volunteers and members have been rescuing dogs and cats in distress in communities near their shelters in Bulacan and Bacolod City.
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“As you all know, we have been renting the space which used to be an abandoned property…and it has been the home of hundreds of rescues whose lives were changed for the better. Hundreds found a home after they took shelter at our Bulacan space and we could not be thankful enough that we have been sustained all these years,” it said.
With the pending closure, however, the org said that it would put its rescue operations on hold indefinitely.