I was so excited that Masdaw has found the new shelter, with a even greater location which is more convenient to welcome more people living in Macau and Taipa. The new shelter is also surrounded by many animal-friendly restaurants, cafes and bars at old taipa village. Imagine grabbing a cold beer with your human friends while taking our lovely dog friends out in the hot summer, would be such a cool thing. What makes me more excited is now we can not only take them out for a walk, but also pet them inside of their home, no matter it’s sunny or rainy. The first time I saw Kebab at his new home, he was with all the other dogs in the big room. He recognized me immediately and came close to me, just like a kid seeing his parent at kindergarten. He still can understand my orders and was always beside me enjoying my petting. The time always flies when spending with these fluffy friends, but the good thing is now I can visit them more often. Many more new faces are showing up as Masdaw moved, our dogs must be so happy to live in this new place as they are receiving so much love everyday.

Masdaw is love! I learned about Masdaw organisation about three years ago after I had already adopted two dogs here in Macau. After one of my dogs passed away of old age, I jumped on the opportunity to foster a couple puppies when Masdaw was in need. I found a soul mate in one of the puppies, Quoki Marsmallow, and knew he was mine! More recently I brought my students with me to go for a dog walk and quickly fell in love with another pup. Wanting to help out in any way possible, I started the process of fostering. Thankfully because of Masdaw’s socialisation requirement we quickly realised that that dog was not the right fit for my pack. But in return I met Lion, a great old boy, that fit with the two I have already adopted. I’m thankful for the socialisation process and how Masdaw takes good care to ensure each dog is matched in a suitable home.

Rebecca Gergens, 2022

DescI met Barky in 2020 and have just gotten to know about Masdaw through my friend. I joined their community walk and I was assigned to walk Barky. She was definitely one of the loudest and most hyperactive out of all the dogs, hence her name “Barky”, but little did I know, she also is most capable of giving love and affection. I truly believe I have found my soulmate and that Barky has found hers in me. I am so happy I made the choice to adopt her, and that she has finally found her forever home after being abandoned twice. I’ve recently brought her with me to Vancouver Canada, and she’s loving her life! She will never miss the opportunity to roll in the grass even if it’s filled with geese poop! She’s living the life she’s always wanted (: I hope that more people will adopt instead of shop, and I am very grateful for all the work MASDAW is doing for finding the precious dogs their forever home.

Esther and MASDAW dog Barky

I first saw Buddy, his name was Gonzo, was in the vet. He was hurt and being brought to the vet for a check up. He lived at a construction site. I knew that after he was being treated he would be brought back to the site. When I first met him, I felt something different from him and I was thinking he kind of looked like my first dog Mocha, maybe they could be brothers? I wanted it to work so I brought Mocha and Buddy out to meet each other to see their reactions. They were ok to each other. I tried a couple days, and then I tried to take them home together after a walk. They seemed okay and since then they are like brothers. Sometimes their colour and patterns are alike that I couldn’t recognise who is which from their back. Buddy was really nice to Mocha. He let Mocha have everything, he just followed. He even protected him outside at the park. One time, Mocha was with another dog and the other dog was a bit aggressive, Buddy just run into that dog and that dog rolled over on the ground. It was so hilarious. Since then, they have accompany. I was lucky to meet Buddy. He is also my emotional support.

Susana Tang & Buddy

Prica has been living with us for 6 months now. She seems happy with me and Pedro. Prica gets more and more comfortable with our community, she loves to walk and meet her dog friends everyday. The three of us are so happy to stay together! She is one of our family members now! Prica brings a lot of joy and happiness to us-we love her so!

Rita and Pedro March 2022

UPDATE: Mike and Nicolle decided to adopt Braza and they are now in ENGLAND altogether. Follow Braza on Instagram @braza_bear!

Fostering a dog from MASDAW has been a very rewarding & heartwarming experience. We had been walking Braza regularly & would love to adopt her but unfortunately we are not in a secure enough position to do this so instead we are fostering her. She is an older dog so it is very rewarding to know that we are giving her a loving & wholesome home. We love coming home to her happy smile & seeing her personality develop as she has become more comfortable & confident in our home. Despite being 8 years old & never having lived in a ‘normal’ home, she has settled in so well, has been very well behaved & has become so affectionate, loving all of the one to one attention! It is also very fulfilling to know we are helping the organisation by making more space at the shelter, helping with the costs & preparing her for a potential forever home!

Nicolle and Mike Discole July 2021

First time I got to know Masdaw and walked with Masdaw dogs is through their community walk event, where I met Kabab and made new friends who also love dogs. There was a lot of joy as well as treats, with so many happy faces and wagging tails. And Kabab, who I’ve been told got abused before but still trust humans, is a very lovely friendly and smart boy, and he is always so excited, always has so much energy to run and hike and even swim. After a few times of interactions, we got to know more of each other, and Kabab started to be calmer and learned some new tricks like ‘sit’ and ‘shake hands’, and meanwhile I’ve learned to be more patient. Every time walking with him, I’m surrounded by his love and positive energy. I don’t actually know it is I’m helping him or he’s helping me. Apart from walking with Kebab, I also joined some fund raising events like art jamming or educational activities like taking primary school students to walk dogs, and every time I truly felt the happiness from people’s faces and their words. There are over hundred cute dogs in Masdaw who are waiting for love and forever home, or even just a walk to the beach or just a piece of chicken breast as a treat. I’m looking forward to seeing more people joining and sharing their love and happiness here, and building bonds with these beautiful creatures.

Regular volunteer, King, July 2021

In July 2015, we first planned to foster Batik for 6 months but it turns out that Batik has been one of our family members till now.

I do remember that Batik was scared of the toys and didn’t sleep with his bed the first day we had him but his big personality is quick to show and we couldn’t be happier.

I can even leave him with someone while I travel around for work and as soon as we’re reunited, he’s glued to me once again. And it’s not just me: this dog loves everyone unconditionally.

Batik is the sweetest boy and we are so glad to adopt him. Although I cannot change his past, I can rewrite his future.

Saving one dog will not change the world, but surely for that one dog, the world will change forever.

I hope more people will support Masdaw for your wonderful work to be done for the stray dogs.

Once again thank you!

Brenda Wong

My husband and I have adopted two senior dogs from MASDAW. Edison was adopted in 2015 at approximately 12 years old and Bilu in 2019 at around 9. The joy that these beautiful boys have brought to our lives is immeasurable and I can never thank Fatima and MASDAW enough for entrusting us with them. Edison had been surrendered by a family forced to leave Macau, and Bilu was found dumped in a carrier in the trash. I struggle to understand how anyone could do that to a living creature, but find it even more incredible that animals subjected to so much neglect and abuse still have the capacity to trust and love. Senior dogs still have so much love to give and it is so gratifying to be able to give them a comfortable, safe and loving retirement. We are lucky to have the wonderful people that make up MASDAW to protect the strays and abandoned dogs and cats of Macau.

Chrissy Macdonald

"The dog walking with my friends at MASDAW was my favourite activity during Experience Week. The dogs were so cute and it was so much fun!" TIS Middle school student, age 13.

We began fostering Bali when we had just moved to Macau in 2015 and were looking for a way to help out with the overpopulated dog community. Little did we expect, Bali was the sweetest girl and we just had to adopt her and bring her with us when we moved to Thailand afterwards! Masdaw was very helpful in arranging for us to visit the shelter, dog passports and everything else we needed. Thanks again to Fató and her crew at Masdaw!

"I couldn't have been more pleased with the dog walking experience that the dedicated staff and volunteers at MASDAW organised for our middle school students during our annual experience week. Teachers and students loved interacting with the dogs so much! It was such a positive experience for everyone I really look forward to our students visiting their centre again.

Stephen Boyko, Service Learning Coordinator at the International school of Macao

Since I knew the community walk of Masdaw and one of their lovely volunteers Nicolle, I always love to find some time to take these cute fur friends out for a walk. Walking around the mountain or watching sea together aside the beach, it always makes me feel refresh and cheerful. Sometimes I find more friends to join and this even became our usual day offs activity! We would just do a bit effort to help the volunteers walking the dogs, because the dogs need this for their health and also for socialization, therefore to increase their opportunities to be adopted! Masdaw really needs our support, just join us, and don’t buy, adopt!

Zoe, July 2021

The first time when I join the dog walk is thinking of helping the doggies, but turns out it's much more than volunteer activity.

The doggies here are always friendly, lovely and willing to share the love with you, the pleasure is much more than you thought. I wish more people can come and join the Masdaw family!

Regular MASDAW volunteer walker: Rain, July 2021

Marlee (age 6 years):

I like walking the MASDAW dogs because the dogs are always filled with excitement. They are always happy and really like treats.

Harper (age 10 years):

The MASDAW dogs are so fun to walk because they each have their own wonderful personalities. I feel really happy walking them because I feel like I am helping them.

Abby (parent):

Volunteering to walk MASDAW dogs is a family favourite.

The joy these dogs bring to the kids is infectious. You’ll hear laughter and chatter for most of the walk. In return the kids gain an appreciation that the dogs do need our help.

We highly recommend you give a little family time to walk a furry friend!

Masdaw has been an amazing experience for many who are living in Macau. My school was doing an experience week with 80 ten year old students, and we asked Masdaw if we could volunteer and walk some of their dogs. Masdaw was not only accommodating but flexible and very efficient with making this happen! This was an extremely large task having to gather many dogs, harness them, ensure every dog had bags and water and pair them with some very excited children. However, the volunteers of Masdaw made it happen and were so positive, knowledgeable and gracious the entire time. This was very much a highlight of our students week and many of them were talking about it months later. This was made possible because of Masdaw.

Whether it's personal or doing something with the community, I'd highly recommend contacting Masdaw to walk their pups. Not only is it enjoyable for the pups, it's incredibly enjoyable for those walking them too!

Marley Henault

Grade 5 Teacher

Our walk with MASDAW exceeded our expectation! Both LECPA and MASDAW value the idea of community and bringing people together, so the community walk was perfect that our members got to bond with each other while doing something fun and meaningful!

Wawa, President & Co-founder of Language Exchange & Culture Promotion Association