I left the Philippines to get my PhD in Melbourne. Admittedly, it's exciting and it opens up lots of opportunities for me to learn and grow as a scientist. But that also meant I had to leave the loves of my life -- my furbabies Blaze and Kanye. It was one of the hardest things I had to deal with moving here. They would hear my voice over the video call and immediately rush to the door, thinking I was physically there. Breaks my heart 😢

I have so much love and care to give, and serendipitously my neighbour needed help walking his dogs. He developed cardiomyopathy and could not give his dogs the full attention and care they needed. I reached out to him and volunteered to walk his dogs Jack and Indy. I would take them to Fitzroy Gardens, Carlton Gardens, and their most favourite, Victoria Park where I have them off their leash and just run with them. They have been very, very lovely and I knew then that I needed to do this more. For me, this is much more than finding something worthwhile to do, this is about pouring all the love I can't physically give to my babies back home to those who need them here ❤️