KOTA KINABALU: It is less than two weeks before an important sporting tournament in Jakarta, but international mixed martial arts fighter AJ “Pyro” Lias Mansor found time on New Year's Eve to clean a shelter house for abandoned animals.
The 41-year-old KK man arrived at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) centre at Jalan Papar Lama near here as early as 8am today.
AJ, the name by which he is known in his field, donned disposable gloves to replace soiled newspapers in cages with new sheets, before playing with and feeding the resident cats.
"Usually, I (come about once a week) to help out in cleaning the place, when I am in Sabah.
"It has been awhile since I last saw these animals, as I was at a training camp in Kuala Lumpur, and will be busy with two training sessions daily, before I fly to Jakarta on Jan 11," he said, adding that he really wanted to see his furry friends before fully focusing on his training.
AJ will be the only representative from Malaysia for the ONE: Quest for Power tournament on Jan 14 to fight his opponent from Holland.
At home, he has a cat, brought from the centre, in addition to three strays he adopted.
Through his Facebook page, AJ managed to find an owner for one of the strays, and his fans and trainees have also donated money for the SPCA through him.
The animal lover, who had a white mouse when he was younger, said he hopes more people would offer help to the SPCA to run the centre, which houses about a hundred cats and dogs.
"They are in dire need of public donations (to buy) food to feed the animals.
"Other than that, people can also adopt them, or spend some time at the centre to clean the place,” said AJ.