Christiano now with the strays he cares for at the shelter.
KOTA KINABALU: Teenager Christiano Dee Aldrin has always loved animals, so much that he used to cry and refuse to leave an area if he saw an injured dog that needed saving.
Many times, his parents would go out empty-handed but return home with an injured stray, all because of Christiano.
From what he recalled, the 16-year-old has been living with lots of rescued animals, especially dogs, because his parents are animal rescuers and fosterors.
"From the day I can remember, I have been around dogs and that is why I grew to love them a lot and cannot bear seeing them in pain," he said.
Christiano’s daily routine, apart from going to school and doing his homework, is to care for the cats and dogs at home, clean their roaming space, feed them and so on, together with his elder brother and parents.
The SMK Kolombong student said whenever he sees an animal in pain, he feels sad and cannot bear to leave them unattended.
He will make sure his parents take the animals in or at least send it to a vet for treatment, and would make sure that it would be taken care of.
Christiano’s first blind puppy rescue in 2009.
The second of four siblings is working very hard to achieve his dream of becoming a vet himself one day so that he can do more to help these helpless animals.
"Now, I focus very much on my studies because I want to make sure that I get good grades and go on to further my education in veterinary medicine," said Christiano, who also spends time hanging out with his friends occasionally, just like other teens out there.
He hopes to change how the community treats animals one day, and that all cats and dogs would no longer be hurt or abandoned.
His compassion towards these animals are one of the reasons why his parents cannot and would not stop rescuing strays and finally founded a non-profit organisation - Animals Lovers Independent Rescuer (Alir) - in 2016.
His mother, Diana Romana Fransisca, said although both her elder children, both sons, help out a lot in caring for the animals, there are many instances where she feels defeated and tired because of the overwhelming job to be done, and never ending worries about funds.
"But whenever I see how much my son, especially Christiano, who we call ‘Ayie’, loves these rescued animals, it just renews my motivation to continue this work," said the 38-year-old.
She remembered the first time she witnessed her son’s deep empathy towards strays in 2009 when they saw a blind puppy on the side of the road, which he begged for them to bring home.
"Since then, whenever he sees cats or dogs that are sick and injured, he will beg me to rescue them and would not stop crying until we get them treated," said Diana.
She said prior to getting Alir registered, she and her husband together with their sons (her other two children are girls aged three and seven-months-old, respectively) and volunteers have been actively rescuing strays.
But they only went official in 2016 so that they can better carry out their animal rescue and fostering works.
In between her rescues, Diana and her husband Aldrin Ham, 39, run a pet taxi and pet supply business from home.
She attributes her success in being able to continue this effort to her group of volunteers, friends from the veterinary industry, donors and contributors, as well as her husband and children.
Her wish is to also one day see people’s attitudes towards pet keeping, animals and how they treat animals change for the better.
Alir handles dozens of cases and calls for help every day, while Diana’s home and shelter is a sanctuary to over hundreds of stray animals including those in foster homes.
