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We are a small, non-profit making organisation which assists abandoned animals in the south of Spain, many of whom are suffering in terrible conditions, and who desperately need our help.
Canan
Since my childhood, I have loved animals so, when I moved to Spain in 2002, I decided to do something positive. I went to a refuge by myself to volunteer my help. As I walked in, I began to realise that this was not going to be easy.
The smell and the noise were both awful. In the cages which lined my route, there were some dogs desperately trying to attract my attention, jumping at the wire and barking. Others cowered in the rear of their cages, trembling and frightened. It was plain that most had endured a terrible life!
When I reached the cat section, most of them were huddled near the front of the cages
crying for food and attention. The cages had no bedding or comforts of any kind, just the
cold concrete floor with a few bowls of dried food which looked to be, at least, a week
old! The smaller cats weren’t even strong enough to be able to fight their way to the food!
That day, having seen all of this misery and suffering, I made a promise to those cats that I would
do my best to help them and, seven years later, I am still working for them!
Email: canan@animal-rescue.es
Sharon D
I became involved with the rescue and care of cats about five years ago when a stray arrived at my home. At first I couldn’t get near it but it was obviously very ill and, eventually, after a number of nights sat at my front gate with food and talking softly to the poor animal, I managed to get it to eat and come to me.
The stray was very loving but terribly skinny and I did not know what was wrong with it or what to do with it. I rang numerous rescue centres but was unable to find anywhere who would take it. Eventually, I took it myself to the local vets where it was diagnosed as having feline Leukemia so I had to have it put to sleep.
After a few days, Canan, who had been away but heard my answer message, rang to see how she could help. I explained what had happened but arranged to meet up with Canan anyway just to have a coffee and talk about the animal problem in southern Spain.
That meeting convinced me that I HAD to do something to help the cats who were suffering and redress the balance. Canan and I have been good friends and co-workers for the care of cats in southern Spain ever since.
Email: sharond@animal-rescue.es
Sharon M
I became involved in the welfare of street cats because I was horrified to see so many sick and dying kittens lying around when I took my dogs for a walk on the beach. I would literally pick kittens out of the bushes where they had gone to die and it took a harder heart than mine to ignore their piteous cries. I was new in Spain and new to the callous disregard that greeted me when I tried to encourage communities to resolve their street cat problems with an inexpensive castration programme.
I met Canan one Sunday at the refuse bins when we were both about to feed the same group of cats. We almost fell into each others arms and we worked together for 2 years on a catch, castrate and release programme. Instead of 200 kitten births, there are now around 20 kittens born each year on the huge and wealthy community which we targeted but the community has never paid a cent!
It has all been funded by the charity, with the help of wonderful local vets. We have demonstrated time and again that castration is an effective and humane option. We hope that one day the message will be better received and people will see that there is not a “cat problem”, only a human one.
Email: sharonm@animal-rescue.es
