July 26, 2015

Laky Laky - now Bobby





After 4+ months of Bobby's arrival (ex-Laky Laky) we continue to be happily living together.


In the attached file I include a few photos of Bobby as a visual update
for you all, who have taken part in making the adoption possible and
giving a new family life for Bobby. We are so happy to have him.

Kindly pass on the images to the care-givers in Spain to let them know
Bobby is doing very well!

Best regards,
Renee



          



Please Mum!


Please Mum! Stop with the emails already!




Little and Large ...



Indie and Peewee

Keeping cool at 43C ...



Seeing is believing



Cool, cool water - well, if 30C + is cool!



Gustavo in his element.



Ivanoe flat out!



Indie trying to stay cool.



Nisa, the day before she left for her forever home. She's now called Daisy.



Mini pool.



Sweet water dog staying in the shade.



Cats doing the same.



Napoleon - also flat out.



Mozart bags the chair.

Spotlight: Zipe & Zape - please don't forget us!





Zipe & Zape - two gentle brothers.

Zipe and Zape have already been in foster care for a long time... today we want to put the spotlight on these two sweethearts. They have been waiting for so long and these two guys are so worthy of adoption. They are always cheerful and playful, always happy to be with people and with a boss.

They are having a difficult time because they are gradually losing heart and we do not want that to happen.  So let's do something about it, let us give these two brothers a chance and let them warm your hearts with their sweet, gentle characters. And make their sad eyes become big twinkling stars ...



Hello! Will you play with me?



Brothers - there for each other. And almost identical!



Which is ...



... which?!



Smiley face.



Happy face.



All we need now is a forever home. Can you help us? Please.

Please take a look at Zipe's Page.

Please take a look at Zape's Page.


July 23, 2015

Redressing the balance : a small Spanish town approves an animal 'bill of rights'!





Wonderful news! Trigueros del Valle has become the first place to recognise dogs and cats as "non human residents" awarding them equal rights to co-exist alongside their human counterparts.

With a population of just 300, the small town, in the province of Valladolid, has passed a law to guarantee the rights of dogs and cats as citizens of the town. It is not yet known if this includes animals without an owner. However, since they have had the humanity to pass such a law it would be unlikely that they wouldn't include all dogs and cats.

The animal bill of rights was approved unanimously by the new town council. It comprises 13 articles and  also outlines basic tenets against cruelty to animals such as article 9a which states: “No non-human resident should be exploited for the pleasure or recreation of man,” And article 6b which states that “the abandonment of a non-human resident is a cruel and degrading act.”

The resolution bans "any action that causes the mutilation or death of a non-human resident", which means an end to bullfighting in the town. 



"This is a great day for humans and non-human citizens alike," said a statement from animal rights NGO, Rescate 1.


This is encouraging and heartwarming news and the people of Trigueros del Valle should be praised for their sensitivity and intelligence. Let us hope that this humanity spreads to other towns throughout Spain and that other follow their wonderful example.


Source: http://m.thelocal.es/20150721/spanish-town-gives-dogs-and-cats-equal-rights

July 21, 2015

Update : Work on the Refugio


Fabienne writes ...

In recent weeks we have been working in our refugio, slowly but surely, but with the coming of summer help ebbed away, as is normal in the holiday season.

Yet we still need to carry on; the tiles are halfway finished, the sections below are almost finished, but we have 40 cages stil to do. However we have decided that we are going back to work in September, provided we have the approval of the superintendent we would like to wait until then.

The heat here is daily around 40 degrees which makes it impractical for us to continue - paint dries to fast, as does cement. This is not good so we're going to ask permission to take everything further in September.

As ever people are welcome to come and help then. There are still a lot of iron doors, shelves, and bars to repair, painting and other work to do here and there, tiling and flooring etc. It's not over yet, alas .. ... we're not giving up and will persevere but this heavy and hot summer makes us all despondent and tired ... in a while we'll feel human again, and then we'll start again with renewed energy and enthusiasm!!!!!




Digging out the ground.



Enormous stones!



Giant stones and bendy pipes.



View of the work at the Refugio from the dog hotel.



A different view of the work, with some of the wall in the background and the beginnings of the new road up to the dog hotel.



Smart new door to the present clinic. 



Smiling and working.



The tiling continues. There's so much tiling!




Sweet dogs resting in the temporary cages.



Lots of painting and treating still to do.



The gang.



Digging out the new road to the dog hotel.


So much earth to shift!



Another new section of road up to the new cages.



The concrete is laid but still rough.



Lovely and smooth.



The retaining wall and the preparations for the new cages.



Pouring concrete.



The immense crane and pipe!



Another view of the groundwork in progress for the new cages.






An impresssive amount of work ...




In front of the 'monument' - also known as the retaining wall.



The channels you can see on the right delinate the position of the new cages.