A Giant Step Forward

Scaling up the ambition of this mission

This mission to save 10,000 dogs per month started on the 17th January and despite not setting a specific timeline I think I am largely on track. I can see a route to it happening over the next 12-18 months.

In the past couple of weeks however I’ve started to think what my mission could look like at a higher level and loosely come up with the following…

Reduce the 500 million stray dogs in the world by 50% over the next 20 years.

Yes you did read those numbers correctly. I’m going to nail down that exact mission by the end of December with more insight, research on the numbers and planning but that is the scale I am now aiming for.

Where We Are Now…

After spending a lot of time “learning by doing” I came up with the following key areas of focus…

1. Feeding + Medication on the streets

2. Sterilising

3. Helping dogs in need

4. Education

5. Re-homing dogs

This is how those 5 areas are progressing…

1. Food

I started feeding just 5 dogs a day on the 17th January but this morning food is being served to 600 dogs. That food is cooked and will be cheaper, healthier and tastier for the dogs. My hope is to get that to 1000 dogs per day by the 1st of January. This will help local people feeding and also improve the health of the dogs.

2. Sterilising

Nothing is more important. I’ve managed to do 261 dogs since I started on the 1st April. It is massively expensive, tricky logistically and hard to execute but doing those 261 dogs will mean 10,000s of future puppies won’t ever be born into suffering and the mothers won’t have the torrid lives they currently endure.

I hope to be able to fund over 100 sterilisations a month at the very least from January onwards and find ways to scale that up even faster with partners.

3. Dogs In need

This is probably the part that captivates people the most. The transformation of dogs like McMuffin, Derek, Hope and King Whacker are the stories that give everybody something to smile about and some positivity in life. I now have space for between 10-15 dogs who are in the most serious need of shelter, food, medical care and love.

It is also the part that gives me wonderful energy and fulfilment and to see the problems the dogs face on the ground. It reminds me daily just why I do this.

4. Education

I see social media channels as ways to educate people around the world not only about street dogs but also about being kind to dogs in general. One big focus I identified was a Youtube channel for kids (which you can follow here). It’s very hard for me to measure how effective the content is but with over 100 million video views this year across the various channels I can only hope attitudes are changing towards street dogs. One big issue that I need to fix is that this is all in English only. I need to think of ways to educate locals as they are the key.

5. Re-Homing Dogs

This is by far the hardest thing to do. I’ve only managed to find 20 dogs forever homes this year but at least I know those are 20 dogs who would have had a certain death and who now have warm and cosy places to sleep with wonderful people looking after them. I am seeing huge demand from around the world for people to adopt dogs. That is something that will be built out properly soon.

Time To Pour Petrol On What Works

It’s pretty clear to see that 1000s of dogs lives are being saved and improved already. Now the challenge is to pour petrol on what is working and make it happen at even bigger scale.

I see endless suffering on a daily basis. I’m on one small island in a country of 8 million stray dogs. There are other countries like Turkey, China, Vietnam and Indonesia (to name but a few) where the problems are as bad if not worse. Time is not a luxury that the 500 million stray dogs around the world (the number is probably higher) have right now. The are suffering this very second. So I will continue to find ways to speed up what I do.

It’s not an easy problem to fix and the scale I am thinking at is ludicrous but I’m 100% determined to do it. I’m 43 and very determined not to waste the opportunity of being sober and having such support to improve the lives of these wonderful creatures. 100 million dogs in the next 20 years.

Thanks for being on the journey with me.

Big Love

Niall

P.S All the above is possible because of your support by either donating here, on Paypal or just subscribing to this newsletter.

P.P.S Note to self…write an email every week as it helps focus my mission and keep people updated. Must do better!