PETALING JAYA: One of the country's pioneer and renowned animal rescuers Sabrina Yeap has passed away at the Sungai Buloh Hospital due to leukaemia.

Yeap, who is the founder of animal sanctuary Furry Friends Farm (FFF), was 49.

According to her friend Wendy Goh, Yeap had been unwell for about a week but did not go to the hospital due to her heavy schedule.

“She went to FFF as usual on Monday and one of the volunteers noticed that she looked very ill and took her to hospital,” said Goh.

Yeap slipped into coma the same night and died without regaining consciousness.

A kind soul: Yeap playing with a dog she once saved. She always had a way with animals.

Yeap, who was an animal inspector with the Selangor Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) before setting up FFF, played a pivotal role in rescuing dogs dumped on a mangrove island by Pulau Ketam residents a few years ago.

She had also initiated the Dr Dog animal-assisted therapy programme in Malaysia, which was formulated by internationally-renowned animal activist and founder of Animals Asia Foundation Jill Robinson.

Thanks to Yeap, the dogs trained by FFF under the Dr Dog programme are now actively used as therapy dogs to bring cheer to special children and the elderly.

Orphaned after both her parents died in a car accident when she was only a month old, Yeap grew up in a temple.

Although she had no blood relatives, Yeap is survived by many loyal friends.

Her funeral is being sponsored by NV Multi Asia Sdn Bhd, which owns the Nirvana Memorial Park.

A NV Multi Asia spokesman said the company decided to sponsor Yeap's funeral due to her contribution towards animal welfare.

“She is a special lady and we want to do our part in giving her a good send-off,” said the spokesman.

Friends can pay their last respects to Yeap at Parlour No. 13 at the Nirvana Memorial Centre in Jalan Sg Besi from 2pm today until Friday morning.

The cremation is scheduled at 10am on Friday at the Nirvana Memorial Park in Shah Alam and her ashes will be interned at the Semenyih Nirvana Memorial Park.

For details, call Goh at 012-238 1970 or Myza Nordin at 016-371 7692.

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