Turning passion into mission, woman’s animal care tips become Facebook hit

AMMAN — Maysoon Albaddawi has been taking care of all sorts of animals for 23 years, with her efforts culminating in a Facebook group that has over 60,000 members. 

Albaddawi’s mother taught her how to take care of animals and at one point they sheltered over 200 animals at their home including cats, dogs, birds, rabbits and even a hedgehog that she kept in a garden. 

In 2014, Albaddawi created a Facebook group called “Al Rifq Society for Animal Care”, which at first she used to post general tips on taking care of different animals, she told The Jordan Times on Saturday. 

The more the group grew, the more people would post about animals in certain areas needing help, Albaddawi said. 

“Every Thursday, I would start a live video where people could address their questions directly to me, and in this way I became able to help a larger number of people at once,” she said.

Albaddawi also obtained permits from the Education Ministry to take pets to school and give lessons to students on animal care, and she recently started giving awareness lectures at Petra University. 

“In this way, I am raising awareness about animal care, helping people take care of their animals and others, and I also work hard to get information from credible sources in order to correct certain stereotypes and misconceptions that make animals look bad,” she said.

She added that one misconception some people have is that keeping cats around will cause infertility, which is not true as “many diseases that animals can have are not transmittable to humans”.

Albaddawi said she will continue to spread awareness on how to take care of animals and make sure they are not abused. 

“Animals need love and caring, they exist for a reason and they have feelings, and I want everyone to understand that. If you do not love animals, at least do not harm them, just leave them be,” she concluded.