Story just received, illustrates some of the problems facing the volunteers who struggle to help the abandoned dogs of Spain.
'For the last year we have been arranging car boot sales every Sunday in a place called El Marquesado, and successfully got an income for the animals that need help in our area. It has been very hard workload on all our volunteers, but they have done the job without complaining. This car boot sale has been held on what we thought was wasteland as this was an unfenced, abandoned area. We were unable to find out if anyone owned it.
A few weeks back, some people arrived and were very intimidating and very angry, because we had cleaned the land and used what was not ours, but theirs. The situation got so bad that I had to call in the Guardia Civil, and the people told me they were going to denounce me, and that they wanted us off the land immediately. We moved the same day, with the container where we store the things, over to the parking of the shop and the venta close by. Then the shop wanted us off their parking because we gave no room for their clients to park. And we lost 21 stalls.
I was denounced to the authorities and had to go to the police station and make a statement. I had to appear in court where the judge changed the case from fault to felony. And now we have a few stalls left, about ten, and no place to make a good car boot sale. Everybody seemed so delighted about having something to do a Sunday. To visit us and to buy things cheaply. People have been so good donating things for us to sell, and we brought life to a boring and sleeping place in the vicinity. And we gave people that needed to get some money to get to the end of the month, a chance. So everybody was happy, until this happened.
This car boot sale was what kept our head above the water with the veterinary costs, that have only increased and continue to do that. We took in Angel, the first dog with Filaria this year, and a skeleton to look at. Since then Raphael, Wanda, Fabulous, Lolita and now Yogi are the Filaria cases. Monday last week, the Guardia Civil called me and said they had found a dog hit by a car and he was injured. I asked them to deliver him at the clinic and went down to see to him. He, Othello, has 3 fractures on one hip and one on the other. His belly was without any skin as he was dragged along the road and the asphalt “burned” his skin off. He is about 8 months and was in a lot of pain.
While I was at the veterinary clinic, another call of help came from an English lady, that walking her dog, had found a dog that had been hit by a car, on the side of the road. She brought him in and he was in a bad condition. One hip dislocated, the other with a fracture. His right front leg had a fracture above the elbow and the elbow smashed to pieces. He was operated the same afternoon. His name is Roto (broken) and he is about 1 and a half year old bodeguero.
So when we need money the most, our income suddenly shrinks in to less than half, and the expenses have doubled. So therefore I send out this cry for help to all of you that have been so good helping us before and to new ones that want to help. We need members, so we can have a secure income by the month. We need donations to pay the vets for the operations, and we will also need good homes for the dogs that finally managed through the crisis, so they can have a happy life in the future.
Another urgent case is a mother with a puppy living by the autovia. We have managed to get the puppy and he is now recovering. And we have been trying to get the mother, that is badly injured and will need operation of one of her legs that may be broken. We don´t know what else may be wrong with her. We have so far not succeeded in getting her, since she manages to escape every time we have tried. She is very afraid of people and difficult to get near. At least she does not have to hunt to get food, since we keep feeding her. But we are afraid she might have internal injuries that might end her life if not taken care of soon.
We are all of us working so hard to get the charity going, but we need more help, because we cannot manage it alone. My life is taking care of the dogs, and I have them all in my house, because we have not been able to afford to build anything yet. We are new and very vulnerable at this moment. That is why I ask for your help!
Look at our web www.happy-ending-final-feliz.eu and see the dogs and read about us.
NB Margrethe funds so much of the expenses for the dogs from her own pension, if you can help, please contact her direct via the website.
Hi all,
The latest news from Happy Ending/Final Feliz December 2011.
I have to tell that things have changed a lot since I wrote the above. We have had two big donations from two comittee members that made it possible to concrete half of each pen and then SOS Podencos NL showed up and found out we needed dog kennels in each pen. So thought then done. Down came three ladies and build 11 kennels in one and a half day. I was so touched by this that it is hard to find words to thatnk them. Now at least they have proper houses when the rain comes and I am very happy.
The next good thing that has happened is that the UK has opened their doors to us and we are sending a lot of dogs in January. The transport is expensive though and I just hope we can manage. We have been able to continue with the car boot sales and are still keeping our head above the water. The vet has been very good to us, and he does not panic if the amount we owe iw growing passed 2.000€, but it has to be payed anyway and we are still struggeling.
Any help is welcome. And I am proud to tell that we have rehomed about 100 dogs this year.
We have also had 26 cases of Filaria at an average of 200€ for the cure (I know it is expensive, but I have so far not lost one of them)is getting a bit too much to handle.
But I will use this opportunity to thank all the people that care and have helped us, and maybe it is time to say a big THANK YOU to the volunteers, who are working hard as well. I love you all, guys!
Margarita Gloersen, President, Happy Ending-Final Feliz
Posted by: Margarita | 06 December 2011 at 09:41 PM