Operation Kindness Rescue

Long Island, NY-based Global Strays aims to reduce the suffering of animals in impoverished regions of Latin America. It funds animal shelters and creates longstanding partnerships to bring services directly into communities to increase the well-being of pets, strays, working animals, and families alike. Their goal is to create partnerships so that they can combat animal mistreatment and stray overpopulations at their roots. Their current initiatives are informed by the One Health Model, a driving principle that asserts that optimal health can only be achieved when we consider the health of people, animals, and their shared environment.

Global Strays offers myriad programs in order to achieve its goals: animal shelter support to fund the monthly necessities of struggling animal shelters so that they can decrease the financial strain of rescuers; spay, neuter, and veterinary care clinics to reduce both animal suffering and stress for owners, thus allowing for healthier pets; relieving the financial burdens of surgery costs to families with pets, which dramatically prevents pet abandonment; educational clinics to provide pet care knowledge and to help foster empathy and respect for our planet and those that inhabit it; and free of charge working horse clinics that allow for healthy and pain-free horses that help sustain families’ livelihoods.

Moreover, Global Strays believes that its role as an animal welfare organization allows it to serve as a resource for animal lovers around the world. According to its website, Global Strays “helps raise awareness on important issues in animal welfare on its social media platforms and website, and strives to become an educational resource for pet owners around the globe.”

Global Strays was founded by current president and board member Elizabeth Shafiroff, daughter of prominent philanthropists Jean and Martin Shafiroff, and she began her animal advocacy journey in her 20s when she adopted a Shiba-Inu rescue named Rusty who hailed from a kill shelter in Kentucky. In due time, she also began fostering and finding homes for pitbulls who were scheduled to be euthanized. Her interest in saving these dogs became a guiding cause, and she now aims to educate communities around the world on the proper treatment of our furry companions. She has traveled around the world to areas such as Central America, South America, Africa, and the Caribbean, and has garnered support from others who share her passion.

Global Strays will be represented on the runway by designer Gloria Lee. Gloria Lee offers elegant yet romantic dresses that women can wear from day to night. Inspired by mythology, nature, and history, Gloria Lee designs each and every garment with the purpose to highlight women’s innate elegance, beauty, and love for all. The mission of the company is to deliver joy, style, and prosperity to everyone in the world and Earth. “It starts with the promise of creating beautiful collections with compostable fibers, collaborating with domestic manufacturers, and embodying production processes (Zero-Waste pattern-making, up-cycled fabrics) that are least harmful to our ecosystem,” according to the Gloria Lee website. ■

Sponsor: Inga / globalstrays.org

Long Island, New York