For the love of strays!

Environmentalist Ben Cabrido, and Marguerite Lhuillier are two of the well-known volunteers, who have been adopting stray dogs for a while now. | Contributed photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines— Valentine’s is for everyone—including our fur friends.

February is the month of love and CDN Digital got hold of some of the best people around Cebu who have been very loving to our fur friends, especially our stray dogs and cats.

Remember Gretel Eleazar, the founder of Saving Strays Cebu?

She shared with CDN Digital people who share the same love as her in saving and loving stray animals.

Eleazar together with some other members of the group has already rescued hundreds of dogs over the course of four years.

“We started in 2015 and since then we’ve met a lot of people who share the same love for animals like me,” said Eleazar.

Eleazar shared the top two people who helped and also inspired her to continue rescuing stray animals.

First is a lawyer and a law professor and environmentalist, Ben Cabrido Jr., who is very vocal in sharing his love for rescued and stray animals on his Facebook account.

He started adopting in the year 2007, and since then he did not stop and has no plans in stopping to rescue stray dogs and cats.

Contributed photo.

Cabrido’s dog shelter in Daanbantayan has 19 rescued dogs and 31 cats.

In this photo you can see, Rabols, who has a lingering illness with his kidneys.

Contributed photo.

“It’s the special bond I get from them. The friendship. The affection. The unquestioned loyalty,” said Cabrido.

From a man’s love for rescued dogs and cats, let’s head down to a member of a very well-known family here in Cebu— the Lhuilliers.

Marguerite Lhuillier, is one of the many volunteers of Saving Strays, and she has been adopting dogs and cats for years.

Just last year, she adopted a stray named, Azunta, who was already skin and bones, but with just a few months of pampering, Azunta turned out to be a very beautiful and well-behaved dog.

Contributed photo.

Lhuillier told Eleazar that adopting was her passion and that stray animals deserved to be loved equally like the other housed pets.

“We are needed in this crazy world we live in,” Lhullier told Eleazar.

She has nine aspins in her home here in Cebu.

“My dogs are really spoiled. Love them dearly!” said Lhuillier.

Aside from her rescued cats and dogs, Lhullier also has other kinds of animals in her care and love them all equally.

“Since childhood, I always managed to bring stray animals home.  Aside from cats and dogs  I have two rescued, turtles, Shelly and Ninja.  Fishes and birds,” said Lhullier.

Valentine’s Day or the love month, in general, should be celebrated for all.

And this story of Cabrido and Lhullier is a good example of how we, humans, can share and extend our love to our fur friends too.

Happy Love Month to all our fur friends! /dbs