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Ask HN: Is it feasible to launch crowdfunding for a dog shelter in Central Asia?

23 points by dondraper36 ↗ HN
I live in one of the countries in Central Asia. It break my heart to admit that, but unfortunately very few people care about animals here. There are shockingly plenty of cases of violence and sadism towards dogs and cats.

Luckily, there are a few shelters that really do whatever is possible to save animals from dying.

The sad thing is that the shelters, and the one I'm volunteering in, do not have any support except for private donations. I personally donate on a regular basis to cover the debt for the food and products. In general, on average the shelter only gets $80-100 which is obviously not enough to feed thousands of dogs on a regular basis.

If you have such experience, is there a feasible way to collect international donations? If so, what would you recommend?

31 comments

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jjtheblunt
Humane Society International might be helpful, as they are very organized and effective where they can operate.

And what’s going on that animal abuse is tolerated by that society or population?

pfannkuchen
> what’s going on that animal abuse is tolerated by that society or population?

Cultural differences? I think animal abuse as a concept is a cultural entity, it isn’t some universal thing.

sgt
In the West we arguably abuse pigs.. chickens.. you name it. In Asia they eat dogs, so why would they be treated like pets?
dondraper36
If only that was about not treating like pets. A few guys locked a cat in a cage and set it to fire. Then they posted the video in social networks. That's what I'm talking about.
sgt
Terrible... just animal abuse. Should not be acceptable anywhere.
pfannkuchen
People in the West flood ant hills without a second thought. What’s the difference? Any answer I can think of is a cultural construct AFAICT.
sgt
At some point you have to put a value on things based on perceived consciousness. Like if you treat ants the same as pigs, you'll always see roadblocks. At some point you'll start feeling bad about trimming your hedge.
pfannkuchen
Perceived consciousness is roughly what people in the west have settled on, but that isn’t the only option. Human vs not human is also workable, I think, and I suspect that is what some of these other societies have settled on.
CalRobert
I live across the road from a dairy farm and often hear the wailing of cows desperate for the calves that have just been taken away from them to be killed for veal. These animals are born to suffer. I think the west, with its high dairy consumption, has nothing to complain about compared to "that society or population".
jjtheblunt
wow, that's sad. i'm from illinois where it's corn and soy so never saw that.
dondraper36
I don't know honestly, it's utterly depressing. For example, just a few days ago one of our large Telegram groups posted a video with a guy that bound a dog to the back of the car.

The worst he will get is a $70-90 fine, this is it. I still feel physically bad when even thinking about this case. For some reason, however, our society cares more about cars and what neighbors think than of other lively creatures.

Paul-Craft
I'd seek out and talk to rescue organizations that operate in Asia and adopt out dogs to the US or Europe. Learn how they operate, and start by emulating them.

I personally know two people who have gotten dogs from Asia via this type of organization, so they shouldn't be too hard to find.

vedantkhairnar
I live in Asia, and there are many active dog shelters. I have been a constant donator to them as well. Yes, they do get considerable donations but only enough to make the animals live. If they get more, they can definitely improve the living conditions for them.

They do accept donations through paypal. As we have UPI systems, I do payments through UPI.

PradeetPatel
It might be good to state which country you're working in, since the local laws, regulatory requirements, and political situations may affect how donations are collected.

Without knowing which country you're doing your good work in, I have some generic recommendations based on my time in Tajikistan & Azerbaijan - if the organisation is registered as a tax-deductible charity and has a notable presence in the local community, it shouldn't be too difficult to get some funding from local big businesses.

This way they get a boost in their positive public image while enjoying some tax benefits, and you get the much needed cash flow.

adastra22
Run a YouTube channel focusing on success stories. Show animals you have rescued. Show the work that goes into caring for them, and the happy lives they lead. Make it something an animal lover will want to see. Post regularly.

Then once or twice a year—but not all the time or it’d be too annoying-host a fundraiser to help pay for rescue work.

In other words let people feel involved through your channel and updates. Then they will be emotionally invested like you are, and pay to keep things going.

dondraper36
That could work given how adorable the shelter dogs are. That will, however, required a dedicated person from the shelter to take care of content creation. It might be worth it ultimately though
JCharante
That's great! Charities/organizations need volunteers from all backgrounds. Not everybody wants to volunteer by getting their hands dirty so a social media volunteer is a great position with more willing people.
peyton
100%, keep it light. TikTok-able.
2-718-281-828
this. stage scenes where you accidentally stumble on a wounded dog and you rescue it. accentuate with tearful music. $$$
nine_k
Why, keep a donation link somewhere visible, just in case.
thomasfromcdnjs
I worked at the checkouts of a supermarket for a year. We had about 50 donation boxes for children, diseases, animals etc

Depending on how much you spent, you would receive X amount of tokens to put in the boxes.

My job was to clean the boxes and tally it etc

95% of tokens were in the animal boxes.

AdamKlob
I've seen it done in Phillipines with a support from western Youtuber from Poland. It worked and helped a lot. On Phillipines dogs are also treated very badly.
dondraper36
It's sad to hear that. Asking some well-known YouTubers might be a viable option. I would even pay for that honestly
rootsudo
Yes and many people profit from it, if you need viable examples just use the geographic location of Bali, Indonesia.

The way they do it is the same as any content production house. The story is the hook and the patreon and sponsorship is their way of getting financed.

There was also another shelter in NYC doing this as well, but I felt they were doing better with it and animals were getting proper care.

I would also model it among successful sass models because what you want is a subscription based income and patreon is easy for that. I really do believe some production houses do it for the content and have the animal care/recovery second.

I don’t want to link directly as I feel many really are the above example but if you join Bali Facebook groups and then browse the instagram you should get a quick idea of how it works.

dondraper36
One problem is that we don't have Stripe or Paypal yet. We do have Payoneer but I have yet to figure out whether it will work
2-718-281-828
where shall i send my money, kindhearted stranger? ah, yeah, and flagged of course ...
joot82
I worked for a cat shelter in Malaysia, besides local donations they got the majority of their funding through GoFundMe, paired with updates and campaigning on Facebook etc. Personal contacts and trust played a big role in this, the manager was an American expat and hosted a bunch of volunteers every month (that's how I got in there) to gain some exposure.
SaniGER
Maybe you could ask a guy in Thailand, he's running "tiger cave temple dogs" (name on Facebook). He posts photos of the dogs and his work everyday, asks for donations and I think it works because you can see what happen with your donations. Also he gets food from expats who are living there. Maybe he can give you some more information. :-)