Lanta Animal Welfare (LAW) in Thailand continues to work hard to relieve the suffering, trauma and pain of local animal populations. We have now outgrown the current cat house. A new cat compound (see plans) and a 'meet and greet' area for visitors, and potential adopters is now essential. A fun interactive education area is also needed for our Animal Welfare Education Program. This will enable us to host more local kids and teach them to respect and understand animals and their needs.
As the only organization of this type in the area, pressure on resources is intense and our current accommodation provision for cats is no longer adequate to ensure a safe environment. LAW receives no funding for the work we do in the local communities, other than your donations and some funding from local business. We do run a highly successful rehoming service, but since the baseline costs for this are already high, it is not our intention to operate this to generate revenue.
By constructing a new and larger cat compound with integrated visitor area, we will again be able to provide a safe and secure environment for our rescued cats, as well as improving the visitor experience and encouraging adoptions. We want visitors to feel welcome, encourage them to interact with the animals and hopefully provide them with a permanent home. An onsite education area will allow us to invite more local kids and teach them to respect and understand animals.
With security for the animals assured, we can improve the visitor experience, retain our #1 TripAdvisor rating for Koh Lanta and generate vitally needed additional funds, allowing us to do even more for the local animal populations. Creating a dedicated space for the education program will help influence the children as well as their families, thus improving the lives of the animals on Koh Lanta and surrounding islands.