A young Swiss boy chose to put animal welfare ahead of his own entertainment during a recent visit to International Animal Rescue’s rescue centre in Goa.
For months eleven year old David Süss had been saving up his pocket money to buy a €170 Lego robot. Now he had the money and was looking forward to buying his new toy. But he changed his mind at the last minute.
On the very day when David was going to purchase the robot, he was taken on a visit to International Animal Rescue’s centre. He had travelled in India before, with Barbara his mother, so was familiar with the sight of suffering animals. But he hadn’t previously been aware of IAR’s work to help them. Keen to help and show his love for animals, David elected to go without his new toy and donate his entire savings to the charity.
His gesture was made on the day of the Stretch Your Heart event – a day of yoga practice and workshops at the Satsanga Retreat in the village of Canca, North Goa. All the proceeds from the day are donated to International Animal Rescue.
Says Tanja Larssen, Operations Manager for IAR in Goa: “It was a truly inspirational moment for everyone present.
“Although many people support our work in Goa and donate generously to help us, occasionally someone will stand out from the rest because their story is a little bit different.
“David showed us all what selfless love for other creatures is and made us all think that we can all do that little bit extra to make the lives of suffering animals better.”
David and Barbara are now back home and Barbara decided to reward David for his kindness and generosity in Goa by giving him the money to buy his Lego robot. In the end not only did David do a wonderful thing when he gave up his toy to help the animals, he still ended up having his own personal wish come true as well.