RAK animal centre helps Filipino retiree take his stray friends home

Tony Malibago has spent all his spare time in the Emirates taking care of stray or abandoned animals and an animal welfare centre has helped him take his two dogs back to the Philippines with him.

Tony Malibago with the two dogs he rehomed and will soon be taking with him to the Philippines. Sarah Dea / The National

RAS AL KHAIMAH // Staff and supporters of an animal welfare organisation have raised thousands of dirhams to help a construction worker take two of his cherished rescue dogs home with him to the Philippines, when he retires.

For more than 34 years, Tony Malibago, now 61, has devoted his spare time and money to caring for abandoned and neglected animals in RAK and Dubai.

As retirement approached, Mr Malibago discovered his wife had cancer and he poured his end-of-service payments into her treatment.

Determined that Mr Malibago should not go home without the dogs, staff at Ras Al Khaimah Animal Welfare Centre raised money to vaccinate, neuter, and microchip them in preparation for their new lives.

Funds to pay for the dog’s papers are still required.

Mr Malibago said: “Eight years ago I was assigned to work at Ras Al Khaimah Free Zone, where I first found Buknoy – the first dog to be rescued. I gave him some food and from that day we became friends.”

It was a friendship that came at a cost, he said.

“I had so many difficulties taking care of the dog and faced a lot of issues with my supervisors, which had affected my promotion and salary prospects.”

He believes someone tried to poison the dog but Mr Malibago managed to keep Buknoy safe. In addition, he extended his family of animals to two stray dogs and more than a dozen cats in RAK and Jebel Ali.

“Last January, the company informed me that I had reached the age of retirement and that I should go home,” said Mr Malibago. “The first thing I thought about was my dogs, so I planned to take them with me.”

The cats were to be rehomed with friends in Jebel Ali, he said.

When Mr Malibago learned of his wife’s ill health and put his hard-earned savings to helping her fight cancer, his friends at the animal welfare centre stepped in to help him take care of his “other” family.

“I knew about Ras Al Khaimah Animal Welfare Centre and they helped me a lot, so I asked if they can help me for the last time and they did,” said Mr Malibago. “They started fundraising to cover our travelling expenses and managed to book the flight tickets for us.”

Tatyana Chernyshova, the centre’s administration manager, said: “We started thinking about how we could help Tony and we came up with the idea of creating a fundraising campaign to cover the travelling expenses and provided the vaccinations for the dogs, along with neutering and microchipping them to get certified to travel overseas.

“We managed to book them flight tickets with a discounted rate of Dh6,000 and they will take off on Wednesday, but we are still collecting money to cover the dogs governmental certification process, which will cost around Dh1,000 and to help with [Mr Malibago’s] wife’s treatment expenses.

“We are so proud of Tony. His love and passion for animals had influenced us all and we thank all the people who donated and helped him during this critical time and we encourage everyone else to donate in order to complete the mission.”

For more information on how to donate, call Ms Chernyshova on 0504321872 or email [e-mail].