Chino is one of the most cheerful dogs ever, although he’s got every reason not to be. As a puppy, he was run over by a vehicle which completely offset his hip. But he learned to run and play again. After that he was caught by the dog catchers and ended up in the dreadful Boracay dog pound where we rescued him and his friends. After a brief happy period, he now has a tumor on his skull. Still, he’s playful and an incredibly friendly dog. What a guy!

Chino came from Boracay Island, which is one of the main tourist spots in the Philippines. Sadly, years of neglect had rendered the island into an unmanageable mess with no infrastructure to back up the endless flow of incoming tourists. Therefore the government decided early 2018 that the island had to be closed to tourists for 6 months to start a cleanup program. This in turn led to many Filipino workers returning to their home islands, leaving any animals that they were feeding behind. Many of these unfortunate animals ended up in the infamous Boracay dog pound, where they are euthanised after a few days. AARRC took in over 50 of these poor souls, rescuing their lives.