For latest News letter and committe information please go to the
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Indio (Wallace) with his new family Indio with Raul (left) and Duke
(right
Hi Fran. Hope things are OK with you and Wallace,
and the journey back to Belgium went Ok. Many thanks for your
visit to us and taking him back with you. It was great to see
you all and especially wonderful to see Amando again! He is
such a clown that boy.
Hope to see you again when you decide to get the 4th!
Best regards Andy
Police intervene with Dog
care Eastern style
After receiving some
complaints about the treatment of a German Shepherd seen chained
to an armchair in the garden of a Neptuno property on Camposol
B section
-Rescue
officer Andrew Hurrell was called to make an initial
investigation
On arrival he was horrified to
witness a young female pedigree German Shepherd indeed tethered
to a metal plate. This was next to an armchair which was turned
onto its front in order to give the dog a little shade from the
blaze of the midday sun.
On closer inspection there was some
dirty water in a bowl no more than 1cm deep in which the dog was
regularly placing its feet in a desperate attempt to cool off.
Sadly the water was reaching 50 degrees and was not having a
cooling effect.
A man answered the door of the
property of far Eastern origin to explain that the dog was not
his and the owner was in the Wok restaurant on the commercial
centre.
After leaving a bowl of cold water
for the dog Andy went to the restaurant to find the owner. After
trying without success to locate him there, the Police were
called to investigate and true to their word later that
afternoon they appeared with another Guadia civil vehicle with a
further two officers there as well.
They were horrified to see the dog
kept in this condition and found the owner indoors who was told
he was unable to keep the dog there. He immediately promised to
keep the dog with cold water available and also provide better
shelter, but then quickly said that he no longer wanted the dog
and wanted us to take the dog. Happily the dog was homed by one
of the police officers later that day.
Thanks
to the quick actions of the police this unhappy situation was
dealt
with clearly and decisively
IT
CERTYAINLY WASN'T FRIDAY 13TH FOR TEN GREYHOUNDS
After an
urgent plea from our
Denmark counterparts, the now fairly big
wheels of Noah's Arc got rolling.
10
Greyhounds were on death row in one of Spain's many 'killing
centres' where there is no remission, compassion or care.
The
rescue was complicated by various factors, the huge initial
cost, what to do with 10 dogs in one go and the fact that
they were in Sevilla, 600 kms outside our area of
operations.
A
decision had to be made quickly as to whether we could help or
not. For 2 days our phones and e-mail boxes were red hot as we
looked desperately for a solution.
Noah's
Arc funds are very limited and the initial cost was presented to
us as around 1,200 euros at the very least. There was the cost
of getting the dogs released from the centre, kennel care until
transport was arranged and of course the transport. Sadly,
Noah's Arc had to make the decision that we could not use our
funds for a rescue so far away.
Then
Gail, our administrator stepped forward and said she would pay
from her own pocket to rescue these dogs. Committee members were
consulted and it was agreed we would look at the issue again.
We made contact with an Animal rescue group in Sevilla and after
much negotiation we managed to get the cost down to a sensible
price and we agreed to go ahead which had to be followed by
continual pleas of clemency to the 'killing centre' to give
these dogs more time.
Andy and
Gail then had to find places for these dogs in just 24 hours.
Paid kennelling was out of the question.
The night
before arrival we were informed that one of the dogs had escaped
and another was too sick to travel, so would be cared for by the
animal rescue group, (again volunteers working for nothing) so
we were down to 8. ( the dog who escaped was captured 4 days
later and is now in care)
Everyone
involved had very jangling nerves on the Friday morning, 26th
June when the dogs were to arrive.
The girl
arrived only 15 minutes late after all those miles in a
transporter that didn't smell too good. Several dogs had had
accidents or been sick due to their poor health. Clearly, she
couldn't stop to walk the dogs en route for fear of losing one
or more.
At the
last moment, with the dogs safely here in Mazarrón, another
problem. The reception area fell through due to an accident and
the family having to rush off to hospital emergency, but in
minutes, a volunteer said, "bring them to my house, the walls are
high and there is shade".
We spent
2 hours watching these dogs come to life. 8 dogs in one area, no
fights, just drinking lots of water and wagging their tails non
stop. Several dogs immediately adopted someone, already showing
them affection. A few flaked out, tired but clearly relaxed and
at peace.
It was
hectic but by 6 o'clock, all dogs were in their respective
foster homes.
These dogs will appear on
our 'meet the dogs' page as we prepare them
for re-homing. Their names are: Abby, Bessie, Colin, Diana, Duque,
Fletcher, Milly and Raul
We must
point out that this is not an operation we are likely to repeat
very often.
Someone
has to foot the bill and the logistics were complicated.
Noah's
Arc needs to stay within its area even though we are looking
to expand it if more funds become available.
This was
an exception to the rule
BUT WITH
A VERY HAPPY OUTCOME AND NO ONE REGRETS IT...
AND an enormous THANK YOU to all those who helped that day and
to the
foster carers who once again, got us and 8 greyhounds out of a
difficult situation.
About 50,000
galgos (Spanish Greyhounds) die every year in Spain in the hands
of their owners, after being used for hunting. Spain is the only
European country where hunting with galgos is allowed. At the
end of the hunting season, when a galgo does not run at the same
speed, hunters kill hem by
shooting them,
throw them into
wells,
hang them, put an injection, they break the spine or they burn
them alive. Recently, they also drown them.
Hi everyone. Just a quick update re these two to confirm that
they are both very well have had all the stitches removed and
looking very well now.
Thanks to the amazing care of Sabine and Andrew these two have
come through their whole ordeal with flying colours. Thanks
also for going the extra mile Sabine to take
them to their new home in Belgium! We wish them a
pleasant journey on Monday where they will be homed
together.......FANTASTIC! Adios Amigos
Failure to
give a twenty minute walk a day will bring a 400 Euro fine
The City of Girona has drawn up a new by law under
which dog owners who do not take their animals for a 20 minute walk
every day will be fined.
Owners who keep their pets tied up for more than six hours a day, or
who keep them in very small areas also face a fine.
It will be prohibited to be in the street with your dog without a
lead, or to feed wild animals such as cats; doing so will bring a
150 € fine.
The new regulation will be approved in the next council meeting and
envisages fines of up to 400 €.
Those who fail to register their dogs on the local census, or who
bathe them in public, will be fined 500 €. An unlicensed dog
classified as a dangerous breed will bring a 2,000 € fine for its
master.
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SWIMMING FOR THE ARC
Fund raising for the ARC slowed down in north london. But then
VICTORIA PULFORD,ASHLEY PULFORD and JAMIE SALMON decided to organise
a sponsered swim on the strength of seeing first hand in August
2008 the work that NOARH'S A.R.C. does for the animals that are
sick and injured in the MURCIA ,MAZARRON area.Keith at Michaels
Sports Bar in Bolnuevo reluctantly gave up his collecting tin over
to these fantastic young adults, who when the donations were slowing
down,had an idea to raise money by means of a sponsered swim.
They decided to organise a swim of 20 lengths of the local swimming
pool of which they all completed and the donations and sponsers
came from all the locals in two local pubs THE DUKE and THE COPPERMILL
in WALTHAMSTOW and they were really generous as the fantastic three
raised just over 200 pounds.
This is a tremendous effort by 3 young people, all the animals that
will be helped with this money and NOAH'S A.R.C. Animal Rescue in
Spain thank them so very much for all their effort and hard work
what they have done to help.
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Prison sentence for abandoning or abusing an animal !
New laws just passed in Spain now make it a criminal offence to
abandon or mistreat an animal.
Article 337 says "Those that ill-treat domestic animals with
cruelty, causing the death or provoking injuries that produce serious
physical damage will be punished by a sentence of prison from three
months to one year"
Article 631.2 says: "Those who abandon a domestic animal to
conditions in which their life or their integrity could be in danger
will be punished by a sentence from 10 to 30 days".
Article 632.2 says: "Those that cruelly ill-treat domestic
animals will be punished by a sentence from 20 to 60 days or work
in benefit of the community from 20 to 30 days".
This is a step in the right direction and the law goes on to say
that........ "you can take photos and or videos with your camera,
mobile phone etc to record the facts these are very important evidence.
It is even better if you obtain/possess the details of the person
mistreating the animal/s. If you are afraid of the person mistreating
the animal/s you can denounce them to the police anonymously or
through the association of protection of animals".
W e hope that these new laws will make people think very carefully
before leaving animals, in the hope that someone will take them
in!
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Sharon's appeal update.....
Stop press! Thanks to out Dog show day and the
fete, we made it ! 2500 Euros has been raised giving us 5000 Euros
thanks to Morgan Stanley . Thanks to Everyone involved and especially
to those of you who gave their Euros.
New you tube video boosts “Sharon’s appeal”!
Sharon Reynolds has written a poem dedicated to our cause, which
is a moving and poignant reminder of the reasons we are all involved
in this work. After a request from her to set this to music and
with some shots taken from our trauma promotional video we have
now got a live video, which is drawing in funds for us on youtube.
Within 24 hours of its release we had £125 donated (doubled
to £250).
The video can be seen here
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Noah's arc goes International through it's re homing initiatives
As many local people will already be aware, with Camposol residence
already owning many dogs’ local re homing opportunities have
become less common in the last few years. It is for this reason
that this web site was created. Since it's creation last October
we are pleased to announce that our re homing numbers have gone
from strength to strength. This has been reported locally to our
volunteers in a monthly newsletter
Our new international re homing initiatives along with links to
other international homing websites and links with a variety of
other Spanish information sites dedicated to Ex pats, Noah’s
arc have never been in a better or more optimistic position operationally
or procedurally. Our fantastic team of volunteers have all worked
really hard on behalf of all the kind local people over the past
few months who have continued to give us their old clothes, books,
furniture as well as money, to ensure that everything possible is
done to help local dogs get permanent homes if not locally then
abroad.
Our international co-operation with home checking means that every
dog homed abroad has the venue and host checked for suitability
ensuring that as far as is possible the dog will always find a happy
ending to their local rescue. In addition we have procured a very
exciting association with one of Europe biggest dedicated greyhound
rescue group who has pledged to help us rescue Galgos that we have
helped in our organisation. many of you are aware that these beautiful
dogs can have an appalling life at the hands of some Spanish hunters.
Our local kennel facility at Corvera does a great job, and again
since their co operation in 2006 have helped us slash the cost of
our kennel care, allowing us to help even more dogs than before.
When these kennels are full (most of the time) our volunteers foster
carers step in together with our kennel manager who currently looks
after many dogs at her own house free of charge to our charity.
So our message is clear “please keep helping us”.
Every penny spent with Noah’s arc either donated or at the
shops is used to help local dogs now
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Doggy Hell near Polaris World!
Just 2 km from the luxury of what is to be Polaris World’s
new development in ALHAMA DE MURCIA we are informed about what must
surely be some of the worst cases of dog abuse in the region! Noahs
arc fully support whatever action may be required in order to bring
about a satisfactory conclusion to this situation
A rectangular strip of land, measuring about 25m wide by 250m....
not enough to legally build any permanent structures but large enough
to dump a few animals is being used as a compound for dogs. Built
in March 2005, a fence was erected and the first of the dogs were
confined. There is no power or water supply. The dogs are permanently
confined in the compound while their owner remains living in Alhama.
Outside her occasional visits (lasting around 1 hour) with food
and water the animals have no stimulation, discipline, exercise,
affection or leadership. more information can be found at the web
site
cruelty
at polaris.
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Another record year for rescues in 2008
So far this year to Feburary 1st 2009 we have re homed 22 Dogs.
Many thanks to all of the volunteers who have helped save these
lives and made these dogs happy! Last year 2008 we homed 107 dogs
and rescued 142.
Noah's Arc - Registered Animal Charity - rescue sick,
injured and badly treated animals in Murcia, Spain
