Jonalyn Viray, in tune with animals

By ALMA J. BUELVA

JONALYN VIRAY, the petite songstress with a powerful voice, has a big heart for animals. She has opened her home to dozens of unwanted animals and has done some pretty daring rescues that deserve an applause.
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At 25, Jonalyn is already “mother” to over 20 cats and four dogs, most of them she rescued from the streets. It was 2009 when she first rescued a kitten and there's no stopping her since then. 

JONALYN WITH ONE OF HER CATS. (Photo from Jonalyn Viray's Facebook)

On one occasion, Jonalyn was on her way to a provincial gig when she saw a kitten in the middle of a busy highway. She stopped and carried the kitten to the grassy side of the road, away from the vehicles. But when the kitten ambled back to the road, Jonalyn thought it best to bring it with her rather than leave it and be another roadkill.

But her most daring attempt to save an animal's life happened last July in Capones Island in Zambales.

She told MetroPets that they were doing an ocular of the beach for her music video production when she saw a dog in the middle of the sea.

“I first thought the dog was swimming until I realized it was drowning,” Jonalyn said. 

She narrated how the dog was trying to get near a man, supposedly its owner who was ignoring it. They later learned that the owner apparently poisoned his dog and intended for it to drown.

Jonalyn's manager said she was shocked to see the singer walking towards the shore with the dying dog in her arms.

“I saw her coming out of the water and she was carrying the convulsing dog like she's Jesus Christ!,” the manager exclaimed.

​Jonalyn and her team took the unfortunate dog to the nearest veterinary clinic, but the dog sadly died. Jonalyn named the dog Capones. 

AT HOME WITH TWO OF HER RESCUES. (Photo from Jonalyn Viray's Facebook).

Another mark of a true pet lover is the number of pet scratches they endure and try to conceal. Jonalyn narrated how she got scratched in the arms by one of her cats which she patted down after it fought with another cat outside. The cat was still edgy and took Jonalyn's gesture the wrong way. That same day, she performed in a noontime show with a partly swollen arm, but acted like nothing was wrong.

THE SINGER AND HER PETS ROCK SOCIAL MEDIA. (Photo from Jonalyn Viray's Facebook)

Today, her pets' photos are a big part of what Jonalyn shares on social media. Her photos often show her playing, cuddling or carrying one or more pets. She said she also sleeps with some of them and, most likely than not, also sings to them.