KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 — Rather than depend on public donations, independent rescuer Ong Siew Hiang prefers to depend on herself to look after the welfare of her rescued strays.

Having started out rescuing strays in her 30s, Ong, now 59, sells burgers at the Rock Cafe in Bandar Sunway to subsidise her rescue costs.

Ong, who is single, has been in F&B all her life.

"I am actually a trained chef cooking Thai food,” she said.

Speaking to Malay Mail, Ong said she used to operate a restaurant in Subang Jaya but had to give it up after her partner was stricken by breast cancer.

Under the suggestion of a friend, Ong decided to open the burger stall at the cafe.

Ong said all income from the stall goes to her shelter, which she opened six years ago.

"There are 47 dogs in the shelter, which is located at Semenyih.”

The dogs, she said, were picked up by her whenever she saw them.

"The dogs are mostly victims of hit-and-run and I would take them in to nurse them back to health before letting them stay on at the shelter.”

On average, Ong said she needs between RM6,000 and RM7,000 monthly for the shelter’s operation, which includes employing a helper to look after the dogs.

"Thankfully I have the support of AnimalCare, which donates 16 packets of kibbles to me and it helps to offset some of the cost,” she said, adding that she needs about 30 packets of kibbles monthly to feed the dogs.

Ong’s stall has six types of burgers to choose from.

"The meat used in the burgers is my own recipe,” she added.

She does bulk orders too but customers would need to pick these up from her stall.

She is open daily from 4pm to 2am except Thursdays.