Everywhere in the world, we can observe and be touched by acts of kindness. People from all walks of life, faiths, and cultures extend themselves beyond the call of duty to help others unconditionally. Through their noble deeds, humanity as a whole is elevated.

To commend virtuous actions and encourage more people to be inspired by their examples, Supreme Master Ching Hai has lovingly created a series of awards, including the Shining World Leadership Award, Shining World Compassion Award, Shining World Hero and Heroine Awards, Shining World Honesty Award, Shining World Protection Award, Shining World Intelligence Award, and Shining World Inventor Award, to recognize some of the most exemplary, generous, caring, and courageous people who walk amongst us.

On today's program we feature veterinary surgeon Roger Coley who has spent most of his life caring for sick and injured animals. He has practiced veterinary medicine in his hometown of Atherstone with the Oakfield Veterinary Group in Warwickshire County, England since 1981. His love of animals extends to his home, which he shares with three dogs, four cats, four tortoises and two stick insects. This kind-hearted doctor also routinely donates his time and services to the Nuneaton Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary which is also in the same county.

Well, basically what we do is any of the animals that come in to them that are injured, we deal with on a no-charge basis. If an animal comes in to them that’s injured, then Jeff or Stacey will ring me, and we do advice over the phone to start with. They’re very good at basic stuff. They’ve got some drugs available to them under my direction, and then if they’ve got a problem that they’re not happy about like today, we have the bird in and the chinchilla or we had a swan which was injured a couple of days ago, we had to x-ray her.

And those sort of things would cost them a lot of money if they were to buy the service and it doesn’t cost us that much to do the service. By doing it for nothing, they hopefully benefit from what we can do, and also the wildlife itself benefits because you’ve got a better diagnosis. If things can improve, and we know a lot of them can with a bit of time and care, we give the basic instructions and the medications, and they give the time and the care.

Throughout the years Roger Coley has cared for countless suffering animals. What does he love most about his work?

The best part though is the satisfaction of seeing an animal that is seriously ill and recovers. And I think that the satisfaction you get out of that is unbelievable. But you have to go back to a statement a vet said, many, many years ago when we were about to graduate and he said, “Just remember one thing in life, most animals will get better in spite of you rather than because of you.” So you have to temper your sort of aggrandizement of getting things better with saying "Well, right, you know, how much of that was the animal itself, and how much was me?"

Through his extensive experience as a veterinary surgeon, Roger Coley has developed a keen sense with regards to the overall state of health of animals he sees.

I can go to a farm gate and look at a herd of cows and tell you whether there’s an animal ill or not, I don’t have to go near, because I know what they’re like. And I think that when you see animals every day, all day, I don’t know whether it’s intuitive or it’s just pure experience, but you can pick up. And this applies not just to me, but most people involved in the profession have the ability.

A dog walks through the door, and in 90% of the cases you’ve got a reasonable diagnosis before they get into the examining room. And it’s important, that connection; you can tell something is wrong with an animal. And I think we have animals that they come through the door and they understand what we are trying to do. They understand. They don’t cause any problems and they accept easily, and often with a wagging tail if it’s a dog, what we’re doing. And I think there’s a sort of empathy.

Let us now join him as he treats an avian patient brought in by Stacey Clark, deputy manager at the Nuneaton Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary.

Come on in Stacey. Let’s have a look at this Owl.

He got hit by a car last night.

Oh dear, poor old chap. Let’s have a look at you.

We think he’s dislocated his right wing and damaged his left leg.

His right leg is okay; it’s his left leg. His right leg...

Left leg, right wing.

Just frightened aren’t you? Yes, if you can just hold his body. Yes, he’s dislocated his knee. But it actually goes back in, but it will need some support.

Do you want to just support his body? Can you do that? And we now have a look at this wing, bad joint. The trouble is it’s inoperable, so what I think we’ll do, because he can still move his wing fairly well is bandage the wing to the body, because I suspect he’s concussed anyway (Yes) But I think it’s definitely worth trying.

When we return, we will learn more about this gentle and kindhearted veterinary surgeon. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

Welcome back to the Shining World Compassion Award series, featuring a benevolent veterinary surgeon from England, Roger Coley. Stacey Clark, deputy manager of the Nuneaton Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary, now shares how Roger’s loving care benefits the animals of the haven.

Stacey, could you tell me how Roger’s helped the sanctuary at Nuneaton?

Well, Roger is a really huge help to the sanctuary. He gives us all the wildlife veterinary treatment free of charge and he also gives us a good discount on domestic animals. We can call him any time of day or night. So he’s literally 24/7 for us so and it obviously saves the charity a lot of money, thousands a year he saves us. So he is a huge help for us.

And that’s with the medical supplies as well you said?

Yes, it’s not just the veterinary treatment, so he doesn’t just see us. We get all the medication that we can use on site at the sanctuary. Whenever we need anything else, we can just give him a ring and he’s there to help us. He’s a really nice, generous person, but he’s really good with all the animals and they all respond to him. He’s gentle and caring with them. And we’re obviously very, very grateful for his help, because without his help, we just wouldn’t be able to run the sanctuary properly.

We all want our canine or feline friend to be happy and safe. Roger now shares some helpful tips on how to provide the best care to one’s animal companion.

And the main advice I would say is understand your animal. Look at him carefully so that you understand when things are going wrong, and try and put yourself in their shoes. And then you are able to provide far more satisfactorily, for their welfare. So you know, if you shut your dog in a room and leave them there, you may think that is perfectly alright, but the dog needs a walk, the dog needs to be outside, he’s an animal that in the wild would roam many, many miles. So it’s understanding his requirements. And you need to sit and think about it. And if you do, it quite often will change the way you work with that pet, and you would have a better relationship with them as well.

Animals truly bless our Earth with their presence and Roger Coley believes that animal companions contribute greatly to our lives.

I think they have a tremendous amount to offer people. Immense, immense benefits there, companionship and love. A dog gives faithful love. And we can learn from that. And children I think benefit greatly because they have a companion that is completely respectful of them. They can love her and she loves them back, and they learn from it. They learn compassion, they learn things that they need to do to help others because that animal needs help often, and they learn how to care for them. So there are lots of benefits that animals give to us. And if you see people walking dogs, you’ve only got to look at the person and the dog, and they are enjoying themselves, aren’t they.

Hearing of the exceptional kindness and generosity of Roger Coley, Supreme Master Ching Hai recently honored him with the prestigious Shining World Compassion Award and asked our local Association members to present on her behalf a regal crystal Award plaque, a framed letter of appreciation, and several other gifts to this true gentleman. The following is an excerpt from Supreme Master Ching Hai’s warm letter to Roger Coley.

Dear Roger, It is with great pleasure and gratitude that we present to you the Shining World Compassion Award. This Award is presented in recognition of your benevolent loving care for God’s precious creatures, for your spirit of service to animals and for your support of animal groups. Thank you for uplifting our world with your example of love in action.

Thank you very much. That’s lovely. Thank you very much. I’d like to thank the Supreme Master Ching Hai.

Roger, I’m honored to present to you from Supreme Master Ching Hai for your noble work with the sanctuary a check for £5000.

It’s very, very generous. Thank you very, very much. But, I don’t really deserve this. So, I’d like to pass this over to the Wildlife Sanctuary. They do such a lot of good work. They do educational work, they are responsible for most of the area, for the rescues and the welfare of these animals, and they look after them. And it is wonderful and I think that this should go to them. So, I’m going to hand this over to Stacey.

Now, Stacey, is this a surprise for you? What have you got to say about this?

Thank you to Supreme Master Ching Hai and to Roger, and Oakfield Veterinary Group for the donation. It’s brilliant!

We are grateful to Roger Coley, the veterinary surgeon with a heart of gold, and to all other people and organizations around the world who generously provide care and comfort to our animal co-inhabitants. They are noble examples and an inspiration to us all.

For more details on Roger Coley, please visit To learn more about the Nuneaton Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary, please visit

Thank you for joining us today for the Shining World Compassion Award series. Coming up next is Enlightening Entertainment, following Noteworthy News here on Supreme Master Television. May your days be filled with peace and contentment.

Jeffrey M. Smith is an internationally recognized expert on genetically modified foods. How does he avoid these unnatural and dangerous foods?

When I go out to, to buy food, I prefer to buy organic whenever I can because organic has not only, disallows the GMO’s, but studies show that there is 25% on average increase in antioxidants, there’s more vitamins and minerals, it supports the soil, it supports farmers doing better growing practices. And so when I can, I buy organic.

To find out more about genetically modified foods, please watch Part 2 of “Jeffrey Smith and the Damaging Effects of Genetically Modified Foods” Monday, May 24, on Healthy Living.