Push for paws: Nanay and her rescued stray pets bear with the heat

May 7, 2024

Nanay Malou caresses her dog, Snow, as she reminisces about her life on the streets of Malate. (Photo by Aabgina Cos/The Manila Warden) 

As the heat index reaches 41 to 51°C across Manila, the streets and unseen corners of buildings are the only spots to stay safe from the high temperature for some people. 

Frequently found moving around the streets near Victoria de Manila and convenience stores in Malate, Nanay Malou Jasmin and her son, Ryan, make a living by scavenging, separating, and selling garbage to afford human and pet food, showers, and clean clothes, along with her 15 cats and two dogs.    

Despite facing challenges to the brink of nothingness, in her old age with a golden heart for her furbabies, Malou shared her experiences of how she copes with unprecedented and extreme weather changes, lack of money, and halfhearted relatives.  

Pushcart pets  

Nanay Malou houses her rescued pets in her pushcart where several cats are caged, and a dog chained to safeguard them from street accidents. (Photo by Aabgina Cos/The Manila Warden) 

While Nanay Malou worries about the safety of her furry friends rather than her own, she keeps her pets chained to the only form of home they have: a pushcart. 

“Palabasin ko man, dito lang pero lahat sila nakatali din. Hindi ako nagbibitaw kung sa kaling bitawan ganun. [...] Baka biglang tumalon, tumakbo, o masagasaan,” she said. 

Malou also felt concerned about the fame that she and her pets garnered from a Facebook post that went viral. 

“Sa gabi nga, nangangamba ako. Kagaya ngayon alam na sikat na sila—hindi naman ako ang sikat, sila eh. Baka kako may magbiro na pakawalan sila, tanggalin sila sa kulungan nang tulog ako ‘diba? May ganung tao,”she adds. 

Nanay Malou keeps her pets cool from the heat by wrapping them or covering their cages with any available cloth or blanket they have. She also brings umbrellas and keeps them attached to their pushcart to provide shade for her furbabies. 

“Kahit naman nahihirapan basta maglaro yung mga kuting ko diyan, nawawala yung hirap. Masaya na rin ako,” she says.  

Considering that she had her pets since they were rescued even at the brink of death, she has always found safety and companionship with her furry friends.  

Acknowledging her attachment to her pets, Malou said that she sleeps beside them. Even when she ends up throwing away her clothes due to her cats and dogs urinating or defecating directly on her from the lack of proper litter space, she still feels happy with her furbabies.   

"Kahit anong problema ko, may makita lang akong naglalaro ang mga alaga ko. Napapangiti nila ako, napapatawa na nila ako," she says while shedding tears.  

“Kagaya kanina, umiiyak ako, dinidilaan ng mga aso mga mata ko. Sino bang hindi mapapasaya sa ganun, ‘di ba? Kung tao gagano’n, ‘di ba?” Malou adds.  

Finance and family 

Meanwhile, even when Nanay Malou and her son segregate and sell garbage, they still suffer from the lack of money, which remains a recurring problem for them as they must care for themselves and their pets.  

Although Manila City Hall offered her a job, she was unable to present valid IDs and other important documents such as her birth certificate, which got stolen while she was sorting trash with her son. However, she also had an opportunity to live in a shelter.  

“Meron naman nagsponsor na i-shelter sila. Kinukuha naman ako. Eh ang layo naman, Batangas,” Malou said.  

“Una lang, binigyan kami panggastos lang tapos wala na. Basta ang sabi ko nga lang, yung sidecar na lang po,” she added, referring to the transportation money she received to travel to the shelter.  

In the past, she was a vendor at the markets of Luneta streets when she was 17-years-old. However, after Malou’s mother passed away and when she took in rescues, she chose to live independently on the streets rather than burden her existing family members. 

Malou’s devotion toward her rescued pets pushes her to give up the choice of convenience of living with either her siblings or brother, who provides her monetary support occasionally.  

"Yung kapatid ko, minsan pumapasyal dito. Binabalang kami na umuwi, gano'n," she said.  

"Pag pumupunta naman binibigyan naman ako kahit papaano. Binibigyan ako 300 [pesos], mga gano’n," Malou adds. 

However, even when her brother offered her to live with him, he refused to accommodate the growing number of pets under Malou’s care, and that he would accept her coming back home if she left her furbabies behind.  

While she feels grateful for the minimal support she gets from the government and some of her relatives sometimes, she hopes to have her only wish of having a sidecar granted by whoever can provide it.  

“Kahit sidecar lang para kung sakali man may lugar ba na talagang pwede kami tapos mapuntahan na namin. Kasi pag ito lang [pushcart], wala,” she says.

- Keonna Mikaela Atienza & Aabgina Cos