5% of Grow Something sales will be donating to SOI Dog charity and Toronto local animal shelters.

Sales Proceed to SOI Dog Charity

I've always been an animal lover and had two great fury babies as my companions for 18 years. I remember when I was a little girl growing up in Vietnam, when everyday at a certain time, all the neighbourhood dogs would come chilling around on our property waiting for dinner to be served. My grandfather would feed whoever came.

Here is why I've decided to donate 5% of my sales and 100% of the tips to my favourite animal charity and the local shelters in Toronto.

When I was visiting Thailand in 2018, I found myself calling SOI Dog Charity for their help with a couple of stray dogs. They are an organization dedicated to helping stray dogs/cats and their mission is to end dog meat trade in Asia. I saw so many stray dogs roaming around the streets of Thailand, like raccoons hanging out at night in Toronto alleyways looking for leftovers. They don't have owners and they find their way around, but unfortunately sometimes they get sick, attacked by humans, or injured by vehicles.

Everyday, while I was staying at this resort, I would hoard piles of sausage from breakfast to feed the stray dogs on the beach. There was this black dog suffering from mange that covered his entire body. I wanted to help him, but there was no vet facility on this particular island I was visiting. I did some googling and found SOI Dog. Fortunately, they had people working in the area to help the local animals and they came the next day to drop off medication at the resort. I was able to medicate the pup without a problem, using all the unlimited sausages I had access to at the resort as bate.

 


My second experience happened on the day before my flight home. I found an old blind and weak dog laying in a parking lot beside the hotel I was staying at. I gave him water and food. There was little I could do at that point as my flight was leaving the next day, so I called SOI once again to tell them about this dog, but they didn’t have anyone in Bangkok to help, as they were located in Phuket Island. At the end, they coordinated things with the hotel staff to care for the dog. A few days later back in Canada, I got an email from one of the SOI representatives updating me on the situation of the dog. They took the dog to the groomer and to the vet. I'm glad this dog was able to live out the rest of his remaining life with this organization that could give him the care he needed. I was very heart broken to see helpless animals that I couldn't help.

I was amazed that SOI was very responsive to my calls and I got first hand experience with the service they provided. The vets in Asia don't get paid very well and still are able to provide remarkable care for these animals. They genuinely care for animals and most of their donations go towards helping them and not paying out organization executives.

I believe in and support the work of SOI Dog Charity. I've always been a donor but not consistently until my visit to Thailand. Since then, I made a commitment to donate every month. Some believe that the best gift is giving your time, but if you don't have time you can donate money to help those in need. I'm grateful that I am in a position to give.

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