Providing a better life for animals

My first connection with Marisa Saara Ramnath was when she contacted me on Facebook through the page of Venus Doggess of Love, the Tobago-based animal rescue/welfare NGO of which I am founder and president.

She announced that she and her best friend were due to visit Tobago for the weekend and stay at Mount Irvine Bay Resort in order to attend the first major fundraiser (Dine & Dance) organised by Venus Doggess of Love. It was held at Mt Irvine on March 14, the Saturday
before the Sunday that TT went into lockdown.

Marisa arrived with thoughtful surprises – ten white T-shirts with the Venus logo embroidered on the upper left chest and over 30 white-iced cookies decorated with the Venus logo.

As a guest at the head “Venus Table,” Marisa filled us in on the charity work she, her siblings and friends do for animals and the organisations that help them. She humbly described herself and her associates as lawyers, doctors and pilots who love animals and consistently raise funds to help make their lives better.

With face masks now set to become a mandatory accessory occasioned by the threat of the coronavirus, Marisa offered to supply Venus Doggess of Love with embroidered masks, courtesy David Ramnath and Sons (DRS) – a 45-year-old safety garments manufacturing company founded by and named after her late grandfather.

A release from the company around that time said because of the covid19 pandemic, the demand for N95 masks had skyrocketed. So DRS had decided to use its resources to manufacture cloth masks “as a means to alleviate the shortage of masks in TT and ultimately, help prevent the spread of this deadly virus.” The company said in this unprecedented time, its main focus was “not about the profitability aspect, but more so, continuing to practise sound principles and values which have been embedded by the founder of this establishment, the late Mr David Ramnath.”

He had an incomparable love for animals, it said, and always assisted them over the years – “a trait that has been passed down to his grandchildren.” So the company “made a noble decision to assist local animal shelters and NGOs, so that these shelters can provide a better quality of life for those animals that have been abandoned, abused or neglected.”

One way DRS did this was by donating cloth masks directly to the shelters so that not only would their volunteers have access to the masks, but animal lovers with a desire to help could buy them. Additionally, it said, “a percentage of all sales generated from masks produced by DRS has also been generously donated to these shelters.”

Each embroidered mask would carry one of the following messages: Be Kind to Animals, Stop Animal Cruelty, or the logo of the animal rescue organisation.

Being something of a fairy godmother to animals, Marisa spearheads many initiatives in support of local animal rescue organisations. Those close to her heart include the Mustapha Project, Animals Alive and Samsara. Her aim is to help make these shelters/NGOs self-sufficient. “Animals Alive was my first project,” she explains. “I held a Christmas party one year and asked all guests to donate to animals. We raised about $8,000 and a whole lot food. We used the money to build a waist-high bath stand for them so they won’t have to bend to bathe the dogs.

“We have also donated food, and every year for the past four years, I have made sure that on Christmas Day all 400 dogs have their Christmas treat of greasy baked cookies.”

As children, Marisa and her siblings, Alicia and Jason, developed a strong bond with animals – thanks in major part to their paternal grandparents Dave and Enid Ramnath, whose motto Closer to animals, closer to God became embedded in the children’s psyche.

By demonstrating an active love for animals, their grandparents taught them the life-enhancing lesson that animals are as important as humans.

“We were taught that our principles and values are what matter, not the amount of money we make,” Marisa says. “Money is not what you will carry to your afterlife.”

Disney Enid Ramnath (whose middle name honours Marisa’s paternal grandmother) and London Bridge Ramnath are Marisa’s “two amazing little girls…my kids” – not human, but canine. Marisa and her sister believe that the two dogs, which they thoroughly adore, are their grandparents, reincarnated.

“God granted us a chance so our grandparents can see how well we are doing in our lives. It is our chance now to shower them with so much love, just as they did for us when they were alive.”

Like Marisa, her two siblings also carry on the animal-loving legacy. Alicia, a doctor, feeds stray dogs at hospitals and always has dog and cat chow in her car. Jason, a pilot with CAL, adopted a stray dog and looked after him when he lived in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Upon leaving, he found the dog a loving home and, to this day, sends money to make sure he is well looked after.

In order to bring more formality to their fundraising efforts, they founded the Enid and David Ramnath Animal Foundation.

“It started over tea,” Marisa explains. “My friend, a lawyer, asked me why I don’t attach a name to the donations. What better name than those of my grandparents?

“Through parties I host for my birthday, Disney and London’s birthdays, my family members’ birthdays and annual Christmas parties…we always request donations for animals. Even at a small tea and coffee chat held on Sundays, the group walks with dog and cat chow.

“Basically the rule is, ‘When coming to my home, bring something for the animals.’ It’s a rule that everyone knows now.” Given the financial challenges that many animal rescue organisations face as they strive to better the lives of God’s creatures, Marisa’s hope is that other local companies are inspired to follow in the charitable footsteps of her team – giving from the heart and the pocket, for the greater good of animals.