Limelight Owner Named to Board of Thailand Animal Rescue

Lanta Animal Welfare (LAW) on Koh Lanta Island, Thailand, has named Jean Clement, owner of Limelight, to its board of directors. LAW rescues, spays/neuters and vaccinates the animals, and houses them until loving homes are found.

“I’m very happy to have Jean on our board,” said Junie Kovacs, founder and executive director of LAW. “She cares about the issues of animal welfare and pet overpopulation and is dedicated to helping homeless animals.”

“We think pet overpopulation and animal neglect and abuse are bad in this country, but the plight of animals is much, much worse in Thailand,” Clement points out. “Many people there don’t regard animals the way we do here in the United States.”

“Frankly, I find the abuse to be horrific,” she continues. “I hope that in time, the dedicated staff of LAW will turn the tide and stop the senseless suffering through spaying and neutering and humane education.”

To accomplish its mission and continue to save as many animals as possible, LAW (www.lantaanimalwelfare.com) needs help from people outside of Thailand:

– veterinarians, veterinary students, and vet techs who want to work abroad for a period of time
– funding from grants and corporate and private donations
– rescue organizations that are able to transfer animals out of Thailand
– vacationers and college students visiting Thailand during school breaks who want to volunteer to spend time with the animals

Kovacs established LAW in 2005 to rescue unwanted, abandoned, and abused cats and dogs. More recently, LAW opened its Animal Clinic and Recovery Shelter, the first if its kind on Koh Lanta Island, to provide vital, life-saving treatment to sick and injured stray animals, as well as spay and neuter services for family pets.

“Workers from all over Thailand came to Koh Lanta Island to help rebuild what had been destroyed by the devastating tsunami in 2004,” Kovacs says. “Many of them brought their dogs, but when the construction was complete, the workers went home, leaving their dogs behind.”

“Tourists took pity on the dogs and began feeding them,” she adds. “This resulted in a high survival and reproduction rate causing a completely different kind of boom – one of starvation, disease, injuries and abuse. I had to do something.”

LAW recently applied for non-profit charitable status in the United States. The organization has been supported financially by donations from individuals and profits from Time for Lime (www.timeforlime.net), a cooking school, restaurant/bar, and vacation bungalows situated on the beach on Koh Lanta Island and owned and operated by Kovacs.

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