Over twenty years ago, Bon Ton Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia began rescuing and sheltering street dogs, seven of which made the journey to Langkawi with Narelle when she opened the restaurant’s island branch. Narelle soon found that on Langkawi the major problem was stray cats. There were no veterinary clinics on the island, so Bon Ton quickly set one up. For years it operated on a purely charitable basis, sterilizing stray cats and returning them to their original habitat. At the same time, Bon Ton set up a shelter for the island’s stray and needy dogs.

Seven years ago the project had grown so big that Narelle established LASSie – The Langkawi Animal Shelter & Sanctuary Foundation. LASSie’s main aim is to control the island’s stray cat and dog population through sterilization.

LASSie now has its own open-to-the-public clinic with two veterinarians, as well as separate dog and cat shelters. To insure adequate funding for LASSie’s present and future activities Narelle decided to expand Bon Ton, opening ‘sister resort’ Temple Tree in December 2008. All animal work is financed by the resorts and their restaurants.

The resorts share a motto in both their restaurants: ‘Eat more, Drink more’, as all goes to a good cause!