Who are we?

Welcome to Taichung PAWS.  We are a group of concerned people from various countries who have joined together to care for homeless animals in the Taichung area.  Each of us has different motivations and ideas about homeless animals in Taiwan, but we have one thing in common:  that we all care deeply about animals.  We want to see some changes in our local society.  We hope that there will no more homeless animals in Taiwan.  We hope that more people will adopt and care for animals.  We hope that people will stop killing animals and choose TNR (trap/neuter/release) to control homeless animal populations.  We hope that the next generation of Taiwanese will be more educated about animals and that they will have concern for animals as we do.  We hope to solve the problems of homeless animals in the Taichung area through Adoption/fostering, TNR, and education.  

What can you do to help us and the homeless animals in Taichung?

Adoption

If you have space in your heart and home for a pet, please choose to adopt a homeless animal as a pet.  Homeless kittens and puppies will make great pets for single people and families alike.  Pets in homes will give companionship to single people.  The pet will greet you when you come through the door and make your house into a home.  Pets in families teach children to develop responsibility towards the earth and society.  If children are given some responsibility for pets, they will develop social skills and responsible behavior.  They will also have the companionship and love that pets provide.  We have set up an adoption support network if you have any questions or need some help.  This network will also include information about where to get food, supplies and good medical care.

Rescue

If you see a homeless or injured animal and wish to take on the responsibility abandoned by other members of society, you can rescue the animal.  Although we do have so much space, we will assist anyone who wishes to rescue a homeless animal and take responsibility for that animal.  We have some volunteers who foster animals and will try to help in finding a home.  We also have some people who are willing to support the medical bills of rescued animals.  If you choose to do this, you must be willing to take responsibility for the animal.  We will help in any way we can.  We also have adoption support networks if you choose to permanently adopt the rescued animal.  Sometimes adult animals are unable to be domesticated and the TNR option should be considered.

Foster

If you have space in your heart and home for a pet, but are unable to make a permanent commitment to the animal, you can choose to temporarily foster animals.  This would mean taking care of the animal in your home, teaching the animal some basic domestic skills such as litter box or bathroom etiquette, feeding and nurturing the animal until it can be adopted, and helping to search for a permanent home for the animal.  This is a great way for students or temporary residents to help out and also have the companionship of a pet.  Small groups can also agree to share this fostering experience.  

Support financially

If you don’t have space in your home to adopt or foster an animal, you can help out with monetary donations.  We need money to take care of basic medical costs, food, and supplies for our fostering program.  We also need some money for our education programs.  Although all of our members are volunteer and will not receive any financial remuneration for our time, we need to have some equipment and supplies for our fostering and education network.  A complete financial accounting of all expenses and income is available at any time.

Volunteer time

If you care about animals and believe as we do that we can make a change for the better, please spend some time with us.  There are various ways you can volunteer time.  Besides fostering animals, there are lots of things to do.  We have some education programs that will require people to go schools or organizations and talk about our program and animals in general.  We will also have some activities and meetings to exchange information and recruit new members.  If you have some time to spend helping us out, it would be greatly appreciated.

Volunteer services or skills

If you have a special skill or service that you can provide for us free of charge, it would be greatly appreciated.  If you are a veterinarian or have some special skills in training or caring for animals, you can donate some time by taking care of animals for us free of charge or set up a free clinic time for homeless animals.  We could also use some help with our website and forums by skillful people with some computer or design experience.  If you have a café or a business, you can post information regarding animal events and adoptions, and host some events in your business.  Some neighborhood businesses also help out by feeding homeless animals in your neighborhood and coordinating with our TNR program.  If you are a teacher, you can pass on some of our information to your students and their families, or help us out by going to other schools and giving short presentations about our organization.  If you have sewing or cooking skills, we could use some help with our fund-raising events in which we make pet toys and snacks to sell.  If you have a printing or publishing company, you can help out with our information distribution.  If you have a small business which makes or sells products, you can donate some profits from specific products to our programs.  

Education programs

If you are interested in helping out design and implement some educational programs, please let us know.  We have had some requests for guests speakers at several different levels of education, from kindergarten to university.  We need to develop and implement some simple educational programs that give young people an introduction to various animals, teach them how to care for animals, instill some good values and responsibility towards animals, and give some hands-on experience with animals.  There are at least two different styles we would like to focus on in our educational programs.  First, we would like to have some English-language presentations and discussions.  This is a fun and useful way to use English in order to attract schools.  On the other hand, some strong Chinese-language educational program will be useful because they will give more information directly to the students.  In any case, educational programs should be fun, interesting, unique and enlightening.  If you are interested in helping us design some programs or implementing them in schools, please let us know.  If you are a teacher and would like some information to give to your class, please let us know.