This is an article about love – unconditional love in four paws.

It begins in the late ‘90s, at a time when the world was younger, life was simpler and gardens were filled with strays. Nita Lichauco is a pet lover with no equivalent, who taught me about animal welfare -- over 25 years ago.

“We can do the interview in my house,” she said to me. Nervous as I was for my first writing assignment in a newspaper, I agreed.

Yes, it was about anything animals that began my life as a writer. And, yes, it was with Nita that I got my first taste of what it meant, back then and continues to mean, today, to live a life with animals.

“It is not hard to love them because they will love you first,” Nita said. “It does not matter where they come from as long as you let them into your life -- you will have love for always.”

We sat in her garden, surrounded by more stray cats than anything else. Each time a stray approached Nita, she would smile, whisper encouraging words and ask if the stray had eaten.

That is how I remember that first pet interview -- an interview that shaped my belief in unconditional love and animal welfare. “Because animals are the only creatures that give love — and ask for nothing in return,” Nita said.

Nita and the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) became part of my life 25 years ago. Though life takes many zigs and zags through the years, Nita and PAWS have remained a part of it -- then and now.

But that is getting ahead of my story.

Animal welfare

It was Muriel Jay, an Englishwoman residing in the Philippines, who wanted to do something for animals. So, together with like-minded friends, she started the Philippine Animal Welfare Society in 1954. Little did she know that this fledgling group would become the biggest and most beloved animal welfare organization in the country.

Sadly, Muriel left the Philippines to return to her home country, and PAWS became inactive. Still, the pioneer volunteers believed that PAWS had an important mission to complete.

Of course, it was Nita, whose home already served as a mini dog and cat shelter for PAWS’ rescues. Nita believed that changing attitudes toward animals would be best achieved through education.

In 1986, she officially incorporated PAWS as a charity NGO dedicated to ending animal cruelty and promoting animal welfare education. Nita attracted a new set of young volunteers who gathered at her home for weekly meetings to plan campaigns for the better treatment of animals.

Nita’s meeting with Don Manolo Lopez of MERALCO allowed PAWS to build its office and animal shelter in Quezon City. When its officers got a chance to intern in US shelters, the idea of adopting out rescued animals was born.