Noah's Ark Natural Animal Shelter

What? A Trip To Noah's Ark Natural Animal Shelter

Where? Pekan Nenas, Johor.

When? 23-24 February 2009

Who? Marianne, Reve, Roli, Grace and me!

We arrived at JB Train Station at around after loooooooooong train journey. No thanks to KTM’s notorious delay. We were delayed for two hours. We were picked up by Mr. Andrew Peris, a friend of Marianne. After a light breakfast at a local hawker centre, we begins our trip to NANAS.

After a 40 mins drive, we arrived at NANAS. We were greeted by a bunch of stray dogs outside the gate. Lotsa jumping. Pawing. Licking. Barking Wagging. Thank God no biting! We fed the dogs with a bag of dog biscuits.

Then the gate of NANAS opened. As we were entering the compound, we were "ambushed" by hundred of dogs!

More pawing. More jumping. More licking. More howling. More barking. And more butt sniffing too. Heheh!

I was totally floored by the overwhelming welcome!!! It was the best welcome ever any dog lover would receive!

After putting down our bags and meeting Mr. Raymund Wee - the Shelter Manager, Marianne gave me a grand tour of the place. She had been there once, so she was quite familiar with the place.

Everywhere we went, we were howled at. Dog-whistled instead of wolf-whistled at? Heheh!

The shelter was built in a 10 acres land in Pekan Nenas, complete with lotus pond, fruit trees and a resort like settings. Most of the dogs are free roaming. The cats are kept in the cattery. Oh yes, there are a few horses too.....

The horses were rescued racehorses. Usually racehorses are usually put to sleep due to injury or unfit for race. So, Raymund rescued some of them and put them in his sanctuary.

The shelter houses over 1000 animals - abused, abandoned, strays etc. That's 1000 mouths to feed everyday! The shelter depends on generous donations from the public to keep going. So, if you're animal lover, please please donate some money to the shelter.

As I walked around the shelter, I saw dogs with skin problems and promiment scars. Some even lost their limbs or eyes. Some horrifyingly disfigured due to abused cases or fights. My heart sank.

Each dog there has its sad story. I believe if I were able to listen to each and every one of their stories, I would have bawled my eyes out! Abandoned. Abused. Neglected. Tortured. Choked. Chained. Bashed. Stoned at. Left to die. By who? By our kind - Human beings!

Now, they are better off in NANAS than out there. So, I am happy for them. They have got people to care for them here.

I take my hat off to Mr. Raymund Wee, the founder and manager of NANAS. He quit his highly paid job at Singapore Airlines to start NANAS, which was previously in Singapore before they shifted to a bigger and better place in Pekan Nenas.

Mr. Raymund is so passionate when talk about his pets and his mission and fight for strays.

He also goes around Singapore and Malaysia, working with the local authorities to control stray populations by sterilizing the animals. He is also actively involved in educating children about responsible pet ownership in schools.

This is Mozart, the biggest but not the meanest dog in NANAS. (No relation to Beethoven.....Heheh!)

Marianne in the centre of attention of many adoring fans.

Roli enjoying some warm fuzzy lurvin'.

Reve getting wet and wild with Snoopy.

Joyride!

I want some.....I want some. See this cute face?

Coffee, tea or kitty?

One of the many beautiful marbles statues in NANAS.

Do you know the marble statues were "rescued" too? They were previously adorned some graveyards in Singapore until the government decided to exhume the graves for land development. Raymund creatively "recycled" those statues by putting them in his gardens, koi ponds, etc. Who would have known, right?

Meet three-legged Dino.

It is very challenging to shoot dogs picture in NANAS because they do not sit still and easily distracted by other dogs. But in one magical moment, Dino just “hopped” in front of me while I was taking the picture of the lotus pond.

He sat there for a couple of minutes, providing enough time for me to compose and shoot a few pictures of him with the beautiful background. This of course is my favourite photo from the whole trip. Whaddaya think?

From a very reliable source, Yasmin Ahmad, the renowned movie maker will be shooting her latest film there in June. And I beat her to shooting a movie at NANAS first. (Insert evil laugh here. Muahahaha!). Just kidding!

I am a fan of Yasmin Ahmad movie since Sepet. I have traveled all the way to Singapore to watch her movie “Muallaf” may not be screen in Malaysian cinema due to its “highly sensitive” content.

Dogs have been featured in Yasmin Ahmad’s movies in a very amusing light I must say. She's a dog person I think.

In Gubra, a bilal patted a stray dog on his way to the mosque.

In Muallaf, a dog seen was licking a PI’s hand before he extended his hand to a Datuk for a handshake, much to the Datuk’s disgust. But the irony of the scene is that the Datuk was drinking beer. Heheh!

Will the new movie feature more dogs? Is the sky blue? Heheh!

I’m sure the cinematography in new movie will look fantastic – lush greeneries, horses and hundreds of furry supporting casts.

OK, back to my own videos - please pardon the shakiness and the dirty lens. My movie was shot with just a tiny point and shoot camera. :)

The two short clips highlight our visit to NANAS - from the wag-a-tastic welcome to the unconditional love from our furry friends. What a good time we had there!

Part 1

Noah's Ark Natural Animal Shelter by runwitme

Caution: More crotch sniffing, wet tonguing and body rubbing actions in Part 2. Oh yes....More drama too. Heheh!

While having coffee in the next morning on our last day at NANAS, Grace excited pointed to two cats that were lying on the floor not too far from us. The cats were seen going at each other erm...milk glands. I was freaked out when I learnt that they were sisters. LOL! Sisters are doing it for themselves:

I have never seen such things in my life. Then again, I have never been around cats or dogs for such long period. 48 Hours! LOL!

The suckling couple was “guarded” by the resident dog named Susah! (Susah means difficult in Malays. What a name for a dog, eh?! Heheh!) I'm sure Susah no longer feel "susah" since he is very well taken care in NANAS.

According to Raymund, the cats were just pacifying each other. Cats do that if they were weaned too early from the mother. Only in animal world!

If I wanna pacify myself, I just go for a run or something. Heheh! : )

Hope you enjoy reading the post and watching the videos. Comments are always welcome.

Acknowledgments:

I would like to thank. Mr. Raymund Wee for having us and make us feel at home in his beautiful home and animal sanctuary. Thank you so much!

Animal lovers, SPCA die-hard volunteers- Marianne, Reve, Roli and Grace for making this trip memorable and tail wagging fun. Would like to Thanks Marianne again (she insisted..LOL!) for arranging this trip and providing all the dramas etc!

Not forgetting, dog-lover, Mr. Andrew Peris who pick us up at the train station to NANAS. Thank you!

Thank you to the furry four-legged (some 3 legged) friends at NANAS! Thank for the warm and fuzzy love!!! (Insert lots of licks and howls here)

Last but not the least, Thank God for lovely weather and the safe trip.

Do check out more cute doggies and cats of NANAS photos here.

runwitme’s NANAS photo album

Here's NANAS official website for more info if you should want to make a trip of your own to visit those furry friends and to donate for their welfare.

Noah’s Ark Natural Animal Shelter Official Website