Update from the Canil Ferreira do Alentejo
At the end of June we revisited the Camara Canil in Ferreira do Alentejo, with a car full of donations. We met up with Kim, volunteer, Dr Luis – Camara Vet, and Diogo, responsible person from the Camara, whom we met for the first time today. He is very committed and willing to push things forward where it is the animals concerned, a younger generation concerned with animal welfare.
The first donations ever received by the canil to help the animals and make their life more bearable. Leads, collars, a radio, kettle, milbemax, endogard, scalibor collars, flea and tick treatment, syringes, dog beds, garden hose with appliances, were handed over to the camara vet and the volunteers. We were able to help this way, thanks to the generosity a lovely family in the UK.
Kim and Dr Luis immediately started to ensure all the dogs have a scalibor collar, other were also due a spot on treatment, puppy Dorinha moved in with Jacko and was given a proper dog bed to sleep in.
How did this all start and happen ? In July last year we received an email from the young camara vet, with a cry for help, as finding homes for the animals in Ferreira do Alentejo is very very hard, it is almost impossible. It is hard to see perfectly healthy, social and happy animals wasting away in a camara canil, where officially they have to be put down after the official waiting period has passed.. The new generation Camara Vets do not agree to putting all these animals to sleep, and are sourcing other possibilities for these animals… After discussing the options and possibilities, we visited the canil last September and published an article on this canil in our Shelter Series. To read the orginal article please visit Canil Ferreira Do Alentejo
It was lovely to be back and see the changes…still a long way to go, but things are improving. When we first visited the canil the dogs were never taken out… they were safe, fed but they spent 24 hours a day every day in their kennels. Now, the adjacent piece of land, originally designated for abandoned horses, is the playing area for the dogs on an almost daily basis when their kennels are cleaned and drying. And there is more good news… there is another pieced of land, currently unused, which will be fenced off by the camara as soon as they are able. It is a very long narrow piece of land just for the dogs…
After our visit and the publication of the article, Kim approached us, offering to help in any way she can and has since been devoting and dedicating her life to volunteering and helping at the Canil on a very regular basis. And another couple is devoting a couple of days per week to help clean, feed, care and walk the dogs. Currently there are six dogs in the canil: Jacko, Hector, Dorinha, Diogo, Pedro and the mummy of Dorinha, all looking for homes to call their own.
The difference the volunteers are having is truly wonderful and so visible, little sweet older Pedro, was petrified last year, and hiding away trembling and shaking in a corner, now when he sees the people who are giving him the TLC, he is a totally different dog, he runs up, loves to be cuddled and can’t wait to go out for a walk. What a transformation…
Hector has been in the canil since November, and is such a sweet gentle Labrador mix, he so deserves a home to call his own. And Jacko, yet another black dog, young, so friendly, playful, so wanting to be part of a caring family. Sweet puppy Dorinha, just four months old, only weighing three kilo’s….her mum and dad so scared of people, yet she has met loving caring people in the volunteers, and she is now sharing a kennel with Jacko, and is the sweetest of puppy’s. She, her mum and dad, and Pedro, all come from the same hoarding situation, and are believed to be related.
(Happily, since our visit Dorinha and Hector have found new families…but then there are also new arrivals).
Since September we have taken in total… under our care, Frida, Farah, Sweepy, Coconina, Amarella, Ze, Lucy, Martha, all lovely and wonderfully natured dogs. It is wonderful to see and experience people volunteering their time by cleaning and caring for the dogs, others have been happily driving dogs to us, the local vet clinic has been very helpful and donating time wherever they can. More volunteers are more than welcome, donations in the form of dog toys, towels and blankets are also more than welcome.
A very good example of where just a little bit of help has made a tremendous difference for the animals….
For more information about the canil please visit their Facebook page here or email canil.ferreiradoalentejo@g
