Samantha (Sam) Green founded the Dogstar Foundation in 2006 having been moved by the plight of local dogs in Randeniya, Sri Lanka whilst a volunteer at another NGO. With a background in signalling, operations and project management in the rail and construction industries in the UK and Australia. Sam is the driving force behind Dogstar and is one of the Charity’s Trustees and Operations Director. She also has a wealth of experience volunteering with dog rescues within the UK. When her busy schedule allows, Sam spends time in Sri Lanka supporting Dogstars work there. Away from Sri Lanka Sam spends a lot of her time on Dogstar administration, fundraising, developing and maintaining the website ,  Facebook and Twitter.

Mark (Sam’s husband!) Green is another of the Dogstar Foundation Trustees. Mark also has vast experience of operational and project management in the  railway industry and, like Sam, spends much of his time supporting Dogstar activities and volunteers within the UK. Mark also has lots of experience working with dog rescues in the UK . He joins Sam and the team in Sri Lanka as and when his work schedule allows. Mark also helps with the Charity administration in the UK and Website maintenance although he is banned from touching any HTML as he always breaks it

 

Maureen (Mo) Rendall is the third Trustee and is based largely in Sri Lanka. Like Sam, Mo was a volunteer at MEF and through them she became aware of Sam and Dogstar – and the rest is history! Retired after working in research in the pharmaceutical industry, Mo is a lifelong dog lover and owner. As Dogstar’s Project Manager in Sri Lanka, Mo handles much of the day-to-day work. This involves arranging treatments, temple dog feeding program, organisation of both the fixed and outreach clinics and handling emergency cases . Mo’s many other varied duties involve managing our patient records and accounts as well as looking after volunteers staying with Dogstar.

 

Isuru Gajanayake, BVSc CertSAM DipACVIM MRCVS ,American Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine , Small Animal Clinical Nutritionist. Isuru graduated from the University of Sydney in 1998 and subsequently worked in mixed practice in rural Australia for two years. After moving to the UK in 2001, he worked in small animal general practice where he achieved the RCVS Certificate in small animal medicine in 2005. Isuru completed a junior clinical training scholarship at the RVC in 2006 and was subsequently appointed the senior clinical training scholar in internal medicine and small animal nutrition. Isuru Volunteered with Dogstar in October 2010 and gelled so well with the team who were impressed with his compassion , knowledge and amazing sense of humour ( especially during power cuts mid surgery ) We are delighted Isuru has accepted the voluntary position of Dogstars overseas Veterinary Consultant.

Dr. Preshashini Eranditha ( Dr.P ) is a veterinary surgeon working in private practice at in nearby Kegalle . She graduated from the University of Peradeniya in 2009 already  part of the Dogstar family , as student her research paper into Rabies at the University having been funded by Dogstar.  Dr. P is the lead Vet at our very popular fixed clinic program  providing first opinion consults , treatment and vaccinations, when staffing/funding levels allow Dr P additionally carries out surgical sterilisations.  All volunteers working with Dogstar will get the chance to work with Dr P

 

 

Sampath Marasinghe is the Dogstar driver without whom we couldn’t operate in Sri Lanka! Known to Sam and Mo from their volunteer days, Sampath had always been reliable and trustworthy and gradually he became involved in assisting at Dogstar clinics and with day to day transport of patients. His punctuality (rare in Sri Lanka!), excellent dog-handling skills, willingness to learn and ability to multi-task are almost legendary…..he can fix up a drip-stand from a piece of wood in minutes, load a cupboard on the roof of his tuktuk equally fast, act as interpreter with owners and muzzle a dog before it knows what’s going on!

Dogstars Dennis ( Head of Cat Section ) Dennis was a street cat and became the first animal sterilised at the new Dogstar Clinic in September 2010. Dennis liked the Dogstar team so much he decided to move in and offer his views on all things feline related. Dennis lists his hobbies as eating , chasing butterflies , sleeping on the volunteer vets beds , chewing puppies tails and hiding in Sams laundry bag.

 

Dogstars Tobias , local feral cat Tobias Started visiting the Dogstar clinic in September 2011 to steal Dennis’s breakfast and sleep in our vegetable rack , Tobias staged an unsuccessful coo to oust Dennis as Head of  Cat section which failed when Dennis arranged for Sam and visiting Vet Dr Manjula to trap Tobias and sterilise him ! Tobias has now accepted the position of Head of Security guarding the Dogstar Clinic as Dennis hides under Mo’s bed at the first sign of any trouble ! Tobias is also known as Mr Blue due to his lovely Blue eyes

Both Dennis and Tobias are available to sponsor via our sponsor a cat section