Preacher Ebit Lew to the rescue once again

Kind-hearted act: Lew (left) with Badrul (right) visiting the dogs at the shelter in Kedah. Pic from Lew’s Facebook page.

ALOR SETAR: An animal shelter that was at risk of closing down has been saved by a Muslim preacher who helped it secure a new location in less than 24 hours.

The Pak Mie Animal Shelter, which has 220 dogs and 120 cats, will now have a new home in Tokai, Simpang Empat, near here, complete with facilities for people interested in adopting the animals.

Preacher Ebit Lew, 36, visited the shelter on Wednesday after learning that it was to be relocated to a temporary site on Sunday and sought to help it find a permanent home.

Pak Mie Animal Shelter was started over 30 years ago by Muhammad Azmi Ismail (better known as Pak Mie) and his wife, Halijah Idris (better known as Mak Intan).

Pak Mie died in 2015 while Mak Intan succumbed to cancer on Feb 10, leaving their children to take over the shelter.

Badrul Hisham Ramli, 54, who now runs the shelter with his sister, said his mother would be thrilled that her dream had now come true.

“We now have a place of our own. This is what she has dreamt of for years.

“My sister and I will run the place with our family, ” he said yesterday.

Badrul Hisham, a retired army personnel, said he was pleasantly surprised when Lew’s personal assistant contacted him with news that they had found a warehouse for the shelter.

“This is a suitable location as it has good ventilation and comes with a high roof, walls and fencing.

“We just need to renovate it and build a toilet, partitions for the dogs, fencing, a septic tank and an exhaust fan, ” he said.

“He has told us that he will help us with the payments for as long as he can, which is a big deal to us. We have waited for 10 years to have a place of our own. Now we can care for the animals until people come and adopt them, ” he added.

Badrul said since the 5,500sq ft warehouse was not located near villages or towns, the dogs and cats would not cause any disturbance.

In a post on social media, Lew said he would pay RM4,300 a month for the warehouse as well as bring in a veterinarian and a contractor to install a water and sewage system, ventilation, fans and a lobby area.

He also said he was happy to help as he had been following Mak Intan’s story.

Anyone wishing to adopt an animal from the shelter can contact Badrul Hisham at 014-238 6933.