21 Days to Save Them – Please Help

Everyone has heard of the recession all over the world and how it has affected everyone. In Valencia, Spain the recession has hit people the hardest. There are schools where there is no money to pay electricity bills and students can’t study. Unemployment is the highest in Spain and where corruption in the government is at its worst everyone is suffering. Animals in particular are paying the cost of the recession with their lives.

I am an expat that lives here and sees on a daily basis the devastation caused to animals. I myself started with 4 puppies which were rescued from cruelty and abandonment. I have also come face to face with Spanish who are happy to put a gun to an animals head. When I got in the way to prevent that happening I was shot at point blank range by one of those Spanish and now have a bullet embedded in me to remind me on a daily basis of how cruel people can be. Also it's a bit embarrassing when the bullet sets of the security alarms when I walk through them!

The locals think I am crazy for trying to save animals and to give them a safe, loving environment but I now have 13 dogs, and 7 cats which were given to me by Spanish families who can no longer afford them hoping to give their animals a loving home or animals which people have found abandoned, lying dying, starving to death and beaten. 

I presently also have a stray dog who found her way to my house who lives at the moment under my hedge outside my house (she is too weak to move and too scared). I cannot bring her in to the safety of my house as I cannot afford to pay for her innoculations or vets bills at the moment. I  had puppies come to me with parvo virus which killed them plus made some of the dogs very ill. All I can do is tend to her wounds the best I can, and give her food and water. She has now come to trust me as for the first few days she was cowering and growling when I went near her. She is badly beaten, was shot in the hind leg and is just skin and bone. The Spanish think I am even crazier now as to get to her I have to scramble under the hedge! My spanish neighbours however do not like her being there and are threatening with killing her. 

I am offered dogs, cats, and even horses on a daily basis, but do not have the funds to look after them anymore.  I have just been asked to take on a litter of puppies which are due any day and 2 more dogs which are malnourished and were abandoned. 

Neutering a female dog costs €300, neutering a male dog costs €200, neutering a female cat costs €250 , for a male cat €180.  The cost of dog food is: 15kg of dry dog biscuits is €15, a tin of dog meat is €1. For cats : 3 kg of Cat biscuits is €5, a tin of cat food is €0.60

I spent €30 a week alone on dog biscuits and €10 a week on cat biscuits.

With your help I am hoping to raise money to continue supporting the animals I have as without help I will no longer be able to help them,provide food and warmth for them and give them a safe, loving home. I also need help for the other animals which I am being offered.

I have 21 days left of food for them. Without your help.......... I really don`t know what I will do. Anything that you can afford to give will be greatly appreciated.

Our nearest dog pound is finding 30 stray dogs a day in the region and cannot cope anymore. They presently have nearly 400 dogs and it keeps on getting higher. Dogs are being turned away and the owners are being told to shoot it as they have no more room, and  the healthy animals they have are being euthanized . Dog food is not cheap, families barely have enough money to feed themselves never mind their animals. It is cheaper to kill the animal, which unfortunately is a daily occurrence here. For the Spanish families that cannot bear to do that they leave their animals at the side of the road hoping it maybe picked up. Cruelty to animals is widespread here and others are just left to starve to death.

My first priority is the animals that I have, but I am hoping down the line to start up the Valencian community animal rescue centre where I can set up proper and bigger premises so that all animals I receive can live out their lives in a safe and secure environment. Owners that can afford to look after their pet but cannot afford neutering can get their animals neutered free of charge and can get cheap animal food. Owners that cannot look after their pet will know it is safe and secure, and cared for.