Nena Hernandez and Barqs
My group or shall I call team because we are only few in number, were able to have a personal talk with the “Pit bull Mama of the Philippines”, Atty. Nena Hernandez. Tita Nena as she is fondly called by her peers and friends visited Bacolod City last March 21, 2014 to attend the 1st RKCP Conformation Show held at SM City Bacolod on March 22, 2014. The Island Rescue Organization (IRO) is the beneficiary of the said dog-show event wherein Tita Nena is the Executive of the Board. RKCP is one of the supporters of IRO.
Our team decided to met up with Tita Nena on the eve of March 21 to discuss possibilities of creating a chapter of IRO here in Bacolod City. We were all so excited to met her that night knowing of her strong personality and dedicated works in rescuing abandoned and abused dogs, especially the pit bulls. She shared to us her experiences until the time she founded IRO in Cebu with the help of local animal lovers on February 2010.
She describes the works of the rescuers as a “self-destruction” one while saving the lives of the hapless and helpless dogs. Our foremost concern when our team was created is to rescue and help the local breed called “Aspin”. We initiated this advocacy to help the abandoned and stray dogs found new homes. In our desire and dedication to save the lives of these stray dogs, we encountered some ups and downs as well as hardships. We were compelled to shelved out our personal money for the expenses to sustain the needs of these dogs, especially their foods, medications and checkups to the veterinarian. The right time came to test our dedication when we saw the plight of the poor furry ones at the local dog pound when we tried to rescue and help one stray dog being impounded. We knew later that these unclaimed dogs will not stay long at the pound to minimize overcrowding. They are all subjected for euthanasia. The idea of rescuing the dogs by adoption came up because we are not allowed to claim them all unless you are the owner. For a starter team like ours that is infused with enthusiasm and dedication, it is really a tough job finding for a qualified adopter or foster owner. We can’t adopt all the dogs because we don’t have any fundings yet to support their needs and a local shelter to house them.
I happened to know Charmaine through Facebook. She’s one of the supporters of advocacies for the dogs’ rights and welfare. She invited me to meet and to talk matters with regards to the sustainability of our team. Since I could not make it meeting with her on the said scheduled date, I asked favor from a co-member to meet her on my behalf. The rest is history.
It was indeed the best moved we did in meeting Tita Nena. She inspired us so much but advised us that in joining advocacies like this, put family first among the top priority. The possibilities are broad and our team now look things ahead in a positive aspect. In due time, we can be a part of that big group if the Board of Trustees will approve our intention. We owe a lot to Charmaine for giving us the opportunity to met Tita Nena, and the later of course for giving us a warm acceptance during our short meeting with her.
More power to the IRO group!
Ido Naton 