Author: SPCAI Staff

As many of our supporters now know, SPCA International was honored to testify at the Congress of Deputies in Spain about Greyhound abuse issues in Spain on March 12th 2014. It was totally unexpected that we would have the opportunity to speak at this groundbreaking meeting, but we were delighted to get the chance to be a loud voice for Greyhounds of Spain and the rescue groups in Spain working diligently to stop the tradition of abuse and killing. We made brief spoken statements and also delivered an official letter that was submitted along with letters from six other organizations. The six letters introduced a multitude of complementary policy changes and ours focused on 1) that hunting with Greyhounds should be outlawed outright, and 2) new humane education programs should be implemented in the national curriculum.

My Spoken Statement:
I am Stephanie Scott and this is Meredith Ayan. We are from SPCA International based in the U.S. We are honored to join you and to represent the international animal welfare community here today.

The plight of Galgos in Spain is gaining international attention and we are so thankful for all the groups working tirelessly in Spain on behalf of Galgos. This community of activists is well represented here today and they are saving lives every day and facing incredible challenges in the process. Their work is truly commendable.

We are grateful to the Committee for listening and taking action on what you hear today. These beautiful and gentle creatures need a more powerful voice, and you can give it to them.

Thank you for inviting us to join you today. We look forward to being your partners as we work to improve life for every Galgo in Spain.

Meredith Ayan’s Spoken Statement:
Thank you very much for hosting us. We are so pleased to be here with so many dedicated organizations and happy to be representing North America and the international community. When I came here in September and made this video, and saw the Galgos firsthand I was very angry. But being here today, I am very happy, seeing so many people here to change the future of the Galgos. This issue is very important to us and we are eager to find a solution that will benefit these beautiful animals.

By Ana Johnston

Stray dogs live a very hard life in Sarajevo, the capitol city of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Abandoned and ignored, hated by many who consider them a nuisance, they have to live through the cruelty, the heartless dog catchers and the public “shelters” that are just a death sentence for the unfortunate animals that end up there. They live short lives, starving, tortured and killed for no reason, considered worthless beings that need to be eliminated by any means.

The war that affected the former Yugoslavia in the 90s caused lots of pain, suffering and devastation to humans but it also affected animals as they were abandoned by their owners when life became too hard and food was scarce. Animals had to learn to fend for themselves with no food or water, lost in a dangerous city where kindness was rare and brutality too common. During those horrific times Milena Malesevic, fueled by her compassion and love for animals, began feeding the abandoned dogs that nobody wanted. She just could not walk away from these innocent creatures that after so many years of loyalty to their owners now faced a life of hunger, cold and cruelty.

Fortunately the war ended and, while people worked hard to bring back a sense of normalcy to daily life, these abandoned animals became silent victims of the war. Nobody wanted them as the process of rebuilding the country began and they became unwelcomed creatures, considered in many cases a nuisance, a pest that had to be exterminated. Dogs were shot and poisoned daily and many were injured from deliberate car hit-and-runs. Milena understood that somebody had to care for these creatures and decided that she was the person who had to do something to help. Thus, for the last 20 years, Milena Malesevic has continued this mission of caring for the stray dogs of Sarajevo. She has devoted her life to save these dogs of nobody; animals with no homes and no hope until she arrives with her kind and loving smile and her car loaded with food for the animals that depend on her to put some food in their belly and to receive some compassionate care.

Milena is, in most cases, the only hope for these dogs. Known by her supporters as the Angel of Sarajevo, this woman has dedicated her life to save as many stray dogs as she can. She works alone, day and night, with no breaks or vacation. Many people hate her for what she does as they believe strays should be killed rather than be neutered or spayed and others make fun of her for caring about the stray animals, but none of that has stopped Milena; the dogs need her and that is the only thing that matters.

As word of her work traveled, many people from other countries began supporting her efforts. She has now a Facebook page run by volunteers living in other countries who have visited her and have seen firsthand the commitment of Milena towards these animals. Thanks to awareness of her work, during the last few years, Milena was able to find homes for over 350 stray dogs in several countries. They now live in loving homes where they are safe from the cruelty and indifference that is so common in Sarajevo. There are many stories with happy endings because of her care and devotion to the animals. There are still many to be saved and sometimes it seems like a non-ending task but that will not stop Milena. Bosnia is in the process of approving an amendment to the law that will make legal to kill strays after 14 days if nobody claims them, which could mean that all these dogs that Milena cares for could be killed, making her work even more difficult and heartbreaking; but this woman doesn’t give up easily. She loves these animals and they love her and as long as she is breathing, the dogs in Sarajevo will have an angel watching over them: Milena, the Angel of Sarajevo.

To learn more about Milena’s work, you can visit her Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/SavingSufferingStraysSarajevo

Note of the author: This year, I had the privilege of visiting this lady two times during my trips to Europe in May and November and I could see by myself all the wonderful work she does. All donations to Milena are used entirely to buy dog food and to pay for vet care for the animals. If you would like to make a donation so she can continue her mission of feeding and saving the stray dogs of Sarajevo, you can send it via PayPal to [email protected].

 

By Laura Diaz

Hunting with hounds in Spain is one of those controversial topics that proponents and critics cross reproaches and mutual accusations to steady your posture. The galgueros called defending their love for dogs as the main argument and always come to the "we are not all equal." Meanwhile the animal protection associations and greyhounds especially refer to abuse suffered by this race, always associated with the instrumentation that make them hunters. A large number of them have developed a series of proposals by the Parliamentary Association in Defense of the Rights of Animals (APDDA) lead the Congress with a long- term ban hunting with hounds .

On this occasion , about a hundred people gathered Wednesday in the House of Representatives in a paper under the name " Greyhounds : Spain to the world ," on the first thing they remembered is that Spain is the only country in EU still allowing hunting with hounds , while countries such as Germany (1952 ), Belgium ( 1995 ), Scotland ( 2002) and the UK ( 2004) and have been banning . Coordinated by the deputy of the Aragonese Chesús Yuste , the act intended as a starting point to articulate a series of proposals that result in legislative initiatives to limit this practice on animals.

"More than 50,000 greyhounds are abandoned, hanged or thrown into wells in February, ending the month at hunting," says the founder of SOS Galgos veterinarian

To do this, different associations as SOS Galgos, Greyhounds without borders or Baas Galgo, in collaboration with other international and the Franz Weber Foundation (Switzerland) , French Club CREL or the American SPCA International- Global Animal Rescue , have joined forces with about 40 deputies and senators of all political forces APDDA – forming , with Pacma own and even an agent of the Municipal Police and forest officials to prevent the abuse which they say brings everything around to this tradition.

Figures abuse

Deputy Joan Josep Nuet ( Plural Left ) and asked at the time the Government 's approach to address this complicated situation Greyhound in Spain , since according to unofficial figures used protective , over 50,000 greyhounds are abandoned , hanged or thrown into a pit in February, the month in which the hunting season ends . "Just this past February have appeared 167 greyhounds hanged. Currently have data on some 190,000 federal galgueros with 500,000 registered greyhounds to hunt, but we believe that we currently around 900,000 hands galgueros greyhound . Figures are very different depending whom the offer because there is no official data. in 2013, Seprona , 53 greyhounds were abandoned , but a survey of the Affinity Foundation 12 protective speaks of 2,600 , of which also only 25% of those arriving are identified "explains Albert Sorde , veterinarian and founder of SOS Galgos.

TV News report: http://youtu.be/wyQCqBETERs

Blog Post: http://vozpopuli.com/actualidad/40275-se-podria-prohibir-la-caza-con-galgos-en-espana-protectoras-y-diputados-lo-llevan-al-congreso?

We have some very exciting news coming out of Dallas, Texas! Our friends at Lily Lane Home expect their next photo shoot to go to the dogs… literally. On April 5th, they will be holding a “Pup-arazzi” photo shoot in the Central Dog Park in Dallas, TX from 11 am – 4 pm. You can register your dog for one of 3 different looks (we love the “Prepster Pup”!) and after the shoot, supporters will vote for their favorite. The cost to enter is $20 and all donations will benefit SPCA International’s Operation Baghdad Pups program, bringing soldiers’ animals home from war-zones.

For more information, visit Lily Lane Home’s website: http://lilylanehome.wordpress.com/2014/03/04/pup-arazzi-2014-spca-international/

If you are in the Dallas area, you won’t want to miss this awesome event and chance for your pup to become a star! We hear there will even be food trucks and giveaways! Best of all, you’ll be supporting a great cause and helping our US servicemen and women.

I wanted to share this difficult, but happy story with you that was shared with us by our one of amazing partners, SPAY Panama. This is Little Miss Muffin. She was thrown out of her house when her owners found out she was pregnant. Before she was thrown out, they abused her, resulting in multiple fractures in her leg. She had no where to go and was forced to give birth to her litter in a planter on a walkway. A concerned citizen called SPAY Panama and they immediately set out to find her. By the time they did, her puppies could not be saved and her leg required amputation. But with supplies and funds donated by SPCAI, SPAY Panama was able to give Little Miss Muffin a second chance at life. Thanks to a spay surgery, Little Miss Muffin will never again have to suffer helplessly as her entire litter dies beside her, and she now lives a life of comfort and love.

These are the kind of stories that both break my heart and warm my heart every day. They are only possible thanks to the support of SPCAI staff, volunteers, partner organizations and, most importantly, donors like you. Thank you for helping us give Little Miss Muffin a happy ending.

When one envisions images of Indonesia, it's usually of beautiful white sand, warm turquoise water and lush tropical jungles in the sun. Sadly there is a darker side to this paradise when it comes to the monsoon seasons and animal welfare. There are literally no laws governing unwanted and abused animals there and just a couple of tiny shelters. Stray animals run rampant in the streets and suffer from wide spread starvation and a myriad of sicknesses they spread amongst themselves.

The city of Bandung on the island of Java is no exception. It is the backyard breeder capital of the country with horrible repercussions for the unwanted animals. There is only one haven for the unloved street cats and its run single handedly by a little wisp of a girl named Josie. She has named her shelter The Whiskers' Syndicate and its home to close to 60 cats and kittens. Upon reading Josie's posts on her site some of her amazing heroic rescue missions are enough to warm your heart with her empathy and compassion and also make your hair stand on end at the same time. Josie started saving animals at a very young age and comes from a long line of animal rescuers in her family, going all the way back to her Grandfather. No cat or kitten in need is left behind, even if it means climbing through the sewer to get to a cry for help in the dark.

The Whiskers' Syndicate was formally established in late 2008 and has since moved to a permanent home in 2012 of 1000 sq. ft including the yard. 168 cats and a couple of dogs have been rescued since. Some were lucky enough to be adopted, some succumbed to their illnesses. The majority are part of Josie's Trap, Neuter and Return program, the first of its kind in Indonesia.

Josie's haven is solely funded by her holding down three jobs and through the generous donations from her followers. Monsoon season this year has been especially brutal as the typhoon that devastated much of the Philippines also took it's toll on Indonesia. Savage winds and torrential downpours completely flooded out the shelter and damaged the roof of The Whisker's Syndicate. Appliances in the house were ruined; mud and water left nothing on the property untouched.

Emergency appeals have gone out since December in the hopes of finding the funds to repair the extensive damage to the shelter, but with Christmas spending and paying for it afterwards have left donations at a minimum. With the funds that have come in so far, Josie has been trying to get the repairs underway. There's still a lot more help required. Some people will say, "why help animals in another country when there's animals in need here at home?" I say why not. Animals suffering and in need are global and there are no boundaries. In the U.S., Canada and Europe there are many resources that shelters can turn to for help when disaster strikes. In places like Indonesia, there's no where to turn and no relief coming. Very thankfully SPCAI jumped in to help last year and bought a water tower for the shelter so that they have fresh water. Josie and The Whiskers' Syndicate's survival depend on Josie's exhausting hard work and the generosity of animal lovers from everywhere. It's so vital to Indonesia's street animals that this sanctuary remains open to them.

If you would like to help in the quest to repair the shelter and aid in replacing all of the lost blankets, cat beds, toys, etc, please take a look at the link below to Josie's site, her stories are all there, and there's a Paypal link down below that goes directly to Josie if you could spare just a little. Any amount of help is hugely appreciated and no amount is ever too small.

http://www.whiskerssyndicate.com/

Donate

Most, if not all states, have their legislatures in session right now. One of the most important issues many are deciding relates to restricting or banning certain breeds of dogs in various jurisdictions. Many of these laws do not base these bans on breed alone, but whether a dog LOOKS like a breed. Most dogs are mixes and impossible to classify into a single breed.

These laws do not take into consideration whether the owner has raised, trained, or managed the dog. It does not take into account the dog’s actual behavior.

Establishing and operating an animal sanctuary can’t be an easy task anywhere in the world, but running a cat sanctuary in a country like Serbia, where cats are utterly marginalized and often horribly abused and where their suffering passes virtually unnoticed, it sounds like mission impossible… From the very beginning, setting up and maintaining Cat Shelter Felix, the one and only cat sanctuary in Serbia, has been a courageous and risky project that no one has ever dared to try before but it's also living proof that even when things look darkest, if there’s a will there’s a way.

Cat Shelter Felix was registered as the first cat shelter in Serbia back in 2011 and is located in a small village in the Vojvodina region. Right now, there are 116 cats at the shelter and almost all of them are rescued from utter abuse, abandonment and neglect. They are all neutered, spayed and vaccinated regularly and last but not least, provided with permanent protection. Some of the Felix kitties are very old, disabled or chronically ill and most of them have lived the tough street life for years until they arrived at the shelter where they finally found safety and learned love for the first time. However, years of street life have left scars both on their bodies and on their minds, they have all had more than their share of trauma and suffering and that’s why their long and tiring journey ends here at the shelter. None of the cats are nor will be put up for adoption, they will stay in this place they know and love for as long as they live so Cat Shelter Felix can serve as an apt example of care and respect for the once unwanted, unadoptable and by many people, the stigmatized and ignored animals.

Although  everything seems idyllic from a distance, it takes a lot more than love and good intentions to run a shelter. Cat Shelter Felix is in fact a unique cat haven with plenty of open spaces where all of the rescued cats are provided with a lifetime of care in a cage-free environment. Every day is a struggle to ensure things are kept going and all the cats are well fed, comfortable and as healthy as possible. It's exhausting not only physically but emotionally as well, not to mention what it takes to properly take care of a three-digit number of kitties. Even when everything goes more or less as planned, the Felix kitties’ caretaker Danica already has so much on her plate, but when something unexpected happens, the burden becomes almost too hard to bear. Nevertheless, caring and thoughtful supporters have restored her faith in humanity whenever it seemed that there was no hope left and their kindness has proven that the darkest hour is just before the dawn.

Due to the very severe winter which swept across Europe in 2011, a lot of damage was done to the shelter by the prolonged snow build up, ice and freezing temperatures and three out of four cats’ rooms needed to be repaired, the new roof eaves built and the entire roofing of the auxiliary cat rooms replaced. Despite financial hardships which all animal shelters have, extensive shelter repairs have been underway for more than a year and a half and quite a lot has been accomplished so far in order to ensure that all of the rescued cats at Felix shelter are safe and secure until the end of their natural lives. Almost all of the indoor enclosures have been renovated (out of the four existing cats’ rooms, three were in terrible shape), the new roof eaves have been built, the hydrophore system fixed, the old water pipes replaced, a new yard faucet made and the concrete paths through the yard were paved. While preparing for the roof replacement, a new concrete path between the front entrance into the backyard and garage was made and five new columns needed to support the new roof were built as the existing supporting structure would not stand a chance to bear its weight.

Since undertaking the massive shelter repairs began, back in the spring of 2012, attempts were made to address as many issues as possible, with the replacement of the roof over the auxiliary cats’ rooms being the top priority. Finally, the funds have been raised and the roof replacement will take place this spring, as no construction companies were willing to start the job in the autumn since the weather was totally unpredictable, mostly rainy and cold. But now, in the midst of yet another winter, Felix shelter is facing hard times while struggling to keep afloat. Winters in Vojvodina are usually harsh, with persistent snowfalls accompanied by biting, frosty, northerly winds and maintaining an adequate temperature in all of the cats’ rooms is not an easy task. Central gas heating costs a fortune to run in the cold months but there’s no other way to keep the kitties warm and comfortable while the shelter is in the grip of bitter frost with heavy snowstorms outside. The cold season is always a time of crisis and at this point it’s impossible to tell how many of the oldest and the most delicate kitties will make it through the winter, but all of them deserve the chance to see another spring. All 116 of the Felix kitties are living their fairy tale existences thanks to the support and generosity of cat lovers all over the world, as the shelter has never been provided with any kind of support from the state in the form of governmental funding and it relies entirely on donations. Therefore the future of the Felix kitties is in the hands of all the kindhearted and caring people who believe that every cat matters, because, in the end, it all comes down to compassion and love. Donations of any amount are welcomed and deeply appreciated.

Website: http://catshelter-felix.com/
Blog: http://novisadcats.blogspot.com/
YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/Felixshelter?feature=mhee
Webshop: http://www.cafepress.com/catshelterfelix