PPAWS

Phnom Penh Animal Welfare Society (PPAWS) was Cambodia’s first animal welfare group in 2011. The stray dog and cat problem is rampant in the country, with most either caught and traded into the Dog Meat Trade, hit by cars/scooters, or physically beaten in the streets.  PPAWS is not only a rescue, taking in dogs, rehabilitating them, and then adopting them; they also have two full-service vet clinics, one in Phnom Penh and the other in Kampot, where they are open to the public.

WUFAW sponsors monthly community outreach missions done by their team of vets and volunteers. They travel to poverty-stricken areas in the countryside and along the coast to sterilize, vaccinate, and treat residents’ pets and strays. The team spends 3-5 days seeing as many dogs and cats as possible. We also sponsor several 1-day missions each month to local pagodas to medically treat the abandoned animals being cared for by the Monks. 

Part of PPAWS’s mission is to educate the locals on the proper treatment of animals, including programs taught at schools and in the surrounding pagodas where many dogs and cats are dumped and abandoned. PPAWS regularly welcomes vet students, techs, and vet surgeons who visit for several weeks, volunteering their skills.

Our partnership started with PPAWS when they first asked for help with some of their rescue dogs, specifically a paralyzed puppy named Angela. They were desperate to get her out of Cambodia so she could see an orthopedic surgeon in the US because they believed she had a chance to walk again but were not equipped to care for her. 

In Dec of 2018, after an exhaustive search, we flew Angela from Phnom Penh to Calgary, Canada, to a wonderful foster home with experience in rehabilitation. Her foster mom eventually adopted her and renamed her Ella. Watch the video below to see her miraculous journey.