Young anthropology graduate Renae John has been going to the Lapeyrouse Cemetery, Port-of-Spain, every single day, including holidays, for the past eight months. But there is no sinister motive behind the 29-year old’s visits to the cemetery.
John’s deep compassion for abandoned and abused dogs,particularly the more common breeds, leads her to Lapeyrouse daily. Seven puppies took up residence among the tombs and John goes there to feed them. She has rescued four already and is searching for foster homes for them. “There are three remaining. I want to move them. People pelt them.”
John once paid $900 for nine dogs earmarked for death at the San Fernando Pound. She thinks it nothing, too, to climb down into the St Ann’s River to rescue puppies abandoned there. She is founder of the Mustapha Project, a dog rescue organisation based at her Diego Martin home named after her beloved deceased grandfather, Mustapha John, from whom she inherited her love for animals.
“I was the first born grandchild and he took me everywhere with him. Our home was like a farm with dogs, chickens, ducks, parrots.
“Whenever my grandfather was feeding and seeing about them, I would be there with him. We shared a bond with animals.”
Mustapha died in 2000 and John founded the Mustapha Project last year, naming it in his honour. “The initial purpose was to raise funds for animal charities and increase awareness of abused dogs but the project took on a life of its own.”
With the help of her parents, Saied and Princess, sister Gabriella and volunteers, the project expanded into a dog rescue operation.
“People drop dogs for us at home they picked them up somewhere. I started to do my own rescues too.
“I keep some of the dogs at home and pay to board some at a veterinary clinic until we find homes for them.”
John studied anthropology at St John’s University in New York and did a short stint as an On the Job Trainee administrative assistant at the Office of the Prime Minister. For now, she is helping Saied run the family grocery and devoting every minute of her free time to the Mustapha Project.
“My dad and I work shifts. When I’m free, I run errands for the grocery and visit the dogs at Lapeyrouse or do other rescues. Then I come home and spend time with the dogs we have.”
One time, John even petitioned the San Fernando Pound with over 5,000 signatures asking for more humane treatment of dogs it picks up. The Pound is run by the San Fernando City Corporation and dogs picked up are put down in a matter of days. John said someone took a photograph of a dog at the Pound staring pitifully into the camera and it haunted her until she could not sleep.
She scrambled together $900 to pay for all nine dogs at the Pound at that time. But getting dogs scheduled to be put down there is no easy task. “The Pound advertises its opening hours as between 6 am and 7 am. But if you want a dog you are required to get an application from the corporation which opens at 8 am.
“A friend spoke to the Pound keeper while I secured the application and went back for the dogs the next day.
“I took them to the vet and got them spayed and neutered. They were malnourished and had skin conditions and tick fever.”
John has photos of dogs she rehabilitated on the Mustapha Project’s Facebook page and the transformation is amazing. She picks up puppies dumped on the banks of the St Ann’s River.
“People put them in boxes and bags and someone would see them and call me. Some people told me they had to dive into the river to rescue puppies.”
Since she started the Mustapha Project in February 2014, John has rescued over 200 dogs.
“We have 11 at home right now, eight of them rescues we fell in love with and could not part with.”
Rescuing abused dogs is a fixed part of her life. “I don’t know life without this,” she said.