AJITH SIRIWARDANA 
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Animal lover in UK dedicated herself to stray dogs in SL
A heart-touching incident was reported in a foreign media where an animal lover Rachel Schofield in England had dedicated herself to focus on the charity after an eye-opening holiday to Sri Lanka exposed her to the reality of its estimated three million strays.
She had even abandoned her PHD studies, decided to sell her house and moved to a cheaper home in Wigton to focus on the charity and open a shop in Finkle Street.
It was reported that she was running a charity Help Hikkaduwa Strays from a shop in Workington where the street dog Kalu that overcame horrific conditions and neglect in Hikkaduwa was now safely sheltered.
“Street dog Kalu overcame horrific conditions and neglect in Hikkaduwa before making a miracle recovery from being run over twice and an attack which left her with one eye and a disability. She has now been rescued and is making a new life with animal lover Rachel Schofield at the charity Help Hikkaduwa Strays from a shop in Workington,” News and Star reported.
Because of Kalu's upbringing, Rachel does not know her exact age or breed but believes she is about two years old and has some German shepherd in her.
Malnourished and flea-ridden, Kalu was nursed back to health by Katharina, the charity's manager in Hikkaduwa.
Rachel said: "By sheer will she lived.
"She still absolutely loves people and for what she's been through she has an amazing nature.
"She's a typical Sri Lankan street dog with long legs and pointy ears."
"Even though her entire body is out of shape, she can run and play and she's a normal dog.
"She's got an amazing spirit and every puppy that survives those streets is a miracle."
Rachel has now dedicated her life to helping dogs in Sri Lanka and her partner Christopher Coupe also helps out, with his employer BC Agencies Ltd donating a van to the charity, the media report said.
"I actually went on holiday in Hikkaduwa and the amount of stray dogs was horrendous," she said.
"I saw an eight-week-old puppy that was skin and bones, dragging a broken leg and an old, emaciated dog that could barely stand.
"I took them to the local vets and it all started from there.
"I realised there were no facilities there to help these dogs."
The charity aims to rescue, feed and treat strays but Rachel's dream is to build a shelter in the region. The amount of donated items we've had has been absolutely unbelievable.
Word is still getting out that we're here and if we can get more people volunteering that would be absolutely brilliant,” she said and added that "Last year I personally went over there and saved 273 dogs in 10 days.
"There is a lot of fear due to not understanding over there so I'd like to be able to go over there and educate people, get them the facilities," she said.
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