Our Volunteers
People from all corners of the world and a collection of different backgrounds come and work for us at LAW. Here is some information on some of our recent volunteers and what they think about LAW:
Sofia Carvalho
Veterinary volunteer / Age: 26 / From: Portugal / Time at LAW: 1 month
Sofia came to LAW with her friend Andre. She found out about LAW on the internet while searching for places to volunteer. She graduated 2 years ago and her passion is to work with small animals. She is now going to specialize in Veterinary Oncology.
Achievements at LAW: Helping animals on the island and at the center especially the stray ones. Doing animal birth control surgeries, first aids and medical attention to any animal that needed it. And most importantly to give and receive lots of LOVE from all of them!
Advice for people considering a LAW placement: Please do not think twice! It was the best experience of my life. If you love animals you should definitely go volunteer at LAW.
Overall experience at LAW: I enjoyed everyday while working on LAW!! Animals are so lovely and staff is very friendly! Working with people from everywhere is an amazing learning! I made friends for life! I can’t wait to return to LAW!!!! I miss it every single day…
Joan Kilgour
General volunteer / Age: 36 / From: Ireland / Time at LAW: 2 months
Joan travelled here by herself with the help of POD (personal overseas development). Over the years she has worked on a dairy farm caring for the cows and calves and helping with the milking. She also has experience working with horses as a groom in a riding school. Joan will be starting a course in animal management as a mature student in September 2011. Coming to work for us at LAW helped her to get her place on this course.
Achievements at LAW: Being part of a team where everyone has a common interest has been a great achievement.
Advice for people considering a LAW placement: Do it! It’s a great experience, even if only for a short amount of time. It’s well worth it!
Overall experience at LAW: It has been a really good and worthwhile experience. Being part of a team that really care about what they’re doing and give so much of their time and energy has been truly inspiring.
Sian Fairgreve
Vet Nurse / Age: 29 / From: Reading, UK / Time at LAW: 4 months
Sian travelled here by herself after finding out about LAW on the internet. Sian worked as a kennel assistant for a re-homing charity in the UK before training as a vet nurse for 3 years. She has also worked as a clinic assistant at Koh Pha-Ngan animal care and as a general volunteer at Wildlife Friends of Thailand. Coming to Thailand was a way for her to do volunteer work to gain more experience and help animals in a country where education about animal welfare issues is not as advanced as it is in the UK.
Achievements at LAW: Gaining confidence in my surgical and medical nursing ability and helping to develop more efficient working systems with the clinic area of the centre.
Advice for people considering a LAW placement: Do your research before coming out. I have had an amazing experience but the work isn’t for everyone. You will see animals in upsetting conditions and it can be dirty and tiring at times. But as long as you are prepared for this you will have an amazing rewarding experience.
Overall experience on LAW: I have had an amazing experience at LAW. It has been a pleasure to work with such gentle and loving animals that are so affectionate despite everything they have been through. It’s also been a privilege to work with such a professional and dedicated team.
Caroline Ginel
General Volunteer / Age: 30 / From: France / Time At LAW: 2 months
Caroline travelled here with her boyfriend Ryan. She found out about LAW through our old manager Caroline Mercier who she met on their travels. Caroline has a zoology degree and has volunteered in France with cats and dogs, Thailand with Gibbons and elephants and Indonesia with wild animals.
Achievements at LAW: Helping organize LAW by sorting out the store cupboard and improving the work schedule board considerably. Also helping two wild puppies that are with us (Jules and Vincent) become friendly towards people and much happier in their environment.
Advice for people considering a LAW placement: It’s a great experience but be ready to be heartbroken when you leave…or when you leave with one of the cats or dogs like I will!
Overall experience at LAW: I’m having a great time, have learnt a lot of things and I love all the puppies and the dogs.
Jennie Nilsson
Vet / Age: 32 / From: Sweden / Time at LAW: 3-4 weeks
Jennie travelled here by herself and found out about LAW from a college in Sweden. She has worked as a vet nurse in Sweden for 3 years and has just graduated receiving her veterinary degree.
Achievements at LAW: Being able to help animals in need and to reduce the population of cats and dogs by means of sterilization and castration.
Advice for people considering a LAW placement: To consider and follow the rules of LAW and the way that things are run here. Obviously LAW is doing a great job and the way it is run works well. Opinions and suggestions of changes are very welcome but try to understand that LAW is on a limited budget. Try to save as much as possible. For instance not to waste things like water or in surgery things like needles/syringes etc.
Overall experience at LAW: I have had a fantastic 3-4 weeks at LAW and have learned much more than I expected. I have gained lots of valuable knowledge and experience as a vet to bring back to Sweden and my forthcoming career. I am definitely returning to LAW when I get a chance again. Also the group of volunteers at the time that I’ve stayed were a lovely group of people (supportive, generous, loving and fun) which made my stay even more fantastic.
Liam Breen
General Volunteer / Age: 39 / From: Scotland / Time at LAW: forever
Liam lives on the island so comes and helps us out a lot. He heard about the centre through LAW’s founder Junie. Liam had never worked with animals before; he has worked in engineering, as a care worker and as a dive master.
Achievements at LAW: Getting to know the cats and dogs and their routines.
Advice for people considering a LAW placement: Get familiar with the animals, listen to the experienced volunteers and most of all enjoy yourself!
Overall experience at LAW: It is a great team to be a part of, I am learning a lot about animal behaviors and surgical procedures. Fun fun fun!!
Ryan Lamont
General Volunteer / Age: 29 / From: Scotland / Time at LAW: 2 months
Ryan is a joiner by trade and travelled here with his girlfriend Caroline and found out about LAW through a friend. He has gained experience from volunteering at a gibbon rehabilitation project for 6 months, an elephant Nature Park for a day and Tasikoki in Indonesia for 2 months.
Achievements at LAW: I have improved the centre with various items of construction and have adopted one of the dogs from the centre and will be taking her home with me.
Advice for people considering a LAW placement: Just come, be yourself and enjoy the experience!
Overall experience at LAW: LAW is a very good place to volunteer. You get a good experience of working with animals. I have learned a lot about looking after and handling cats and dogs and how hard it can be to get dogs re-homed in Thailand. Overall I have enjoyed my stay here.
Jess Simmonds
General Volunteer / Age: 18 / From: Scotland / Time at LAW: 3 months
Jess found about LAW through POD and travelled here by herself. Jess has done several lambing seasons at a farm in the Scottish borders, she has gained 3 weeks work experience with a local vets. She also volunteered for 6 months at a donkey sanctuary in the Scottish borders. Jess came to us in her ‘gap year’ before she starts studying veterinary medicine in September.
Achievements at LAW: Learning to make Mojitos which we sold at the Lanta Laanta Festival to raise money for the centre. Also helping to rescue a litter of kittens that had been dumped in a bin bag at the end of our road, and the fact that all five have been re-homed is pretty cool. Helping to socialize three wild puppies that arrived at the centre has been great as well, watching their confidence increase over the past few weeks has been amazing. Oh and mastering the art of riding a moped (even if it’s just an automatic).
Advice for people considering a LAW placement: Be prepared to get covered in dust, drool, mud and mosquito bites! But don’t worry its worth it!
Overall experience at LAW: So far it has been fantastic! I feel that I’ve learned a bit and helped to make a difference. I’m pleased I managed to find a placement where volunteers are actually needed, and I hope that the rest of my time here will be just as good as my first month. If not better!
Massimo Mansilla
General Volunteer / Age: 24 / From: London / Time at LAW: 2 months
Massimo travelled here by himself with the help of POD. He went to university to study zoology and gained a lot of experience while studying there, handling many animals and doing sampling techniques, trapping experiments and dissections. He also has experience in working with animals which he gained when volunteering at a city farm where they gave riding lessons to disabled children as a form of therapy.
Achievements at LAW: Helping a dog called Panda become better at walks and sitting down on command.
Advice for people considering a LAW placement: Pay close attention to what everyone teaches you, always concentrate on your work and have fun.
Overall experience at LAW: So far I have really enjoyed the work and all the people are really cool.
Nikki Downes
General Volunteer / Age: 22 / From: England / Time at LAW: 3 months
Nikki found out about LAW through Google. She has an NVQ in horse care and worked with horses for 6 years, worked at an animal shelter for a year and volunteered at a dog training school for about 6 months. Nikki came to LAW to gain more experience working with dogs in a different environment and learn as much from the vets and other volunteers as she can.
Achievements at LAW: I feel I have achieved a lot since being here, I have learnt a lot about the medical side of looking after the animals and gained some invaluable experience from the huge mix of volunteers we have working here.
Advice for people considering a LAW placement: Get as much information as possible before leaving, don’t be afraid to email LAW with any queries you have. Learn as much as you can when you’re here from the animals and the people. Soak up the atmosphere and enjoy yourself as much as you can!
Overall experience at LAW: I am loving every minute of being here; the people and the animals are amazing. I am learning new things every day and would advise coming here to anyone! As long as you have a love for animals and aren’t afraid of hard work you will benefit from being here so much!
Jeanette Hindberg Soerensen
Full time Volunteer / Age: 28 / From: Denmark / Time at LAW: one year
Jeanette found out about LAW when she arrived at the island after 8 months of travelling and saw an advertisement for the centre. Jeanette worked as a manager in a shop in Denmark before travelling; she was here for one month then returned home. Only to realize she missed the dogs to much and had to come back. She is now a full time member of staff at the centre.
Achievements at LAW: Helping a dog called Dolly who when she arrived at the centre with her litter of puppies was very timid. I worked with Dolly and she is now very happy here at the centre and ready to be re-homed. I have also helped find happy successful homes to numerous animals.
Advice for people considering a LAW placement: Although there is a lot of hard work to be done, remember to have fun, enjoy your self and spend lots of time with the animals.
Overall experience at LAW: Although its very hard work, I get so much back from the animals it makes it worthwhile!
Andi Jones
General Volunteer / Age: 30 / From: Australia / Time at LAW: 7 weeks
Andi came to LAW after travelling through Burma when she heard about the centre through a friend. Andi is a social worker in Australia and has done volunteer work at a non-profit English teaching foundation. She had never worked with animals before but has had pets all her life. Andi came to us because she thought it was a good chance to experience something different and learn more skills in animal care.
Achievements at LAW: Helping nurse a weak kitten back to health and forming a strong bond with a lot of the animals. I have conquered my fear after I had a bad experience with a stray dog in Burma.
Advice for people considering a LAW placement: Be willing to put in a decent days work, sometimes in challenging weather conditions, and be open and flexible to new possibilities.
Overall experience at LAW: It’s a positive and rewarding place to be!
