Heartbroken

Oh guys, I’m so sad. Our local shelter is closing at the end of the year due to lack of support. I know they’ve tried everything they can to stay running, but it’s just not possible.
All the dogs HAVE to find home now. I don’t know what will happen to them if they don’t. Euthanising healthy animals is illegal in Catalonia.

Some of the dogs just aren’t suitable for homes; they’ve lived their whole lives in the shelter. Others are terribly institutionalised but with a lot of patience and kindness would eventually settle in a home.

Ginny’s two kennel mates are among their numbers; both have lived all their lives in the shelter. I started to gain their trust while I was visiting. Now they’re available with zero adoption fee. None. I’m so scared for them that they will end up somewhere they can’t cope.

Negreta is the hardest for me. She reminds me so much of Willow. She’s just scared, but brave and intelligent. She wants to not be scared. I want to save her but I can’t. I’m just in bits 😢


Here are the three kennel mates (Negreta at the back, then Ginny, then Lulu closest) all being super brave after we got to know them a little.
 
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This is awful. Is there definitely nothing that can be done?

How much money would need to be raised to keep them going for even another year?
It’s less about the money and more about time. There are seven volunteers who do the cleaning out. It needs two shifts a day, each is five hours long.
The administration are also all volunteers. Two of them are young ladies (early 20s) who no longer live in the area but travel from Barcelona at least once a week to manage adoptions, legals, maintenance etc etc. They are both moving on with their lives, getting jobs and relationships, and rightly so. The main administrator, Anáis, doesn’t have enough support and she has a full-time job and family to manage, too. She can’t take on any more responsibility and can’t find the people to help with the load. They have approached other shelters in the larger area, and have been pleading with the councils to work together, but it’s fallen on deaf ears. I guess there are other priorities right now.
 

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Absolutely heartbreaking. It sounds like all is being done to get these pups placed but realistically that is a herculean job. I'm very surprised that Catalunya has a no kill rule: in Andalusia I'm fairly sure a good portion of the dogs in this situation would simply be euthanised (or "accidentally" infected with a common deadly disease like parvo). That Catalunya is setting an example for change in Spain is a ray of hope in a bleak situation.

I've seen lots of announcements on my FB feed when shelters go bust and they push out the dogs to private rescue groups. Are they having any luck at all with that?

Try to think of all the pups you've helped like Ginny. You and the other volunteers have made miracles and there may be some yet to come despite the sadness. ❤
 

HAH

Moderator
Location
Devon, UK
You can see how brave Negreta is. She’s beautiful, as they all are of course. I’m so sorry @snowbunny . As Emily says, there may yet be some good news to come out of this, and there are so many pups who have made it into lasting, loving homes. It’s awful though.
 
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