Help us care for 900 street rescues at our refuge

Starting with an apology. I know I am a month late sending this newsletter out….I can only say sorry. January has started off with a whole year’s worth of busyness and worries (and you will have to wait till April to hear about it all).

It hardly seems 12 months since the year began and so much has happened… yet we are still in the same place as we were 12 months ago. Still hoping for and fighting for an improved position for animal welfare in Agadir and Morocco generally. Still struggling every day to keep the animals in our refuges fed and healthy. Still supporting the dogs in the city dog pound. Still taking in vulnerable and injured animals to our refuge. Still hoping we can find forever homes for as many as possible.

But maybe that is worth celebrating, that we are still standing, still shining our light and that you still continue to support us in that work.

To start with the good news, following on from Michele’s fight with cancer in 2022, we can report that once again following a check-up in Switzerland Michele has been given the all clear. You cannot imagine how happy and relieved we are to hear that. We are still concerned for her long term health and well-being as being present 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, working all the time to make things better for the animals in the refuge and in Agadir and Morocco takes a huge toll on her health and energy. We need more young people with energy and commitment to help take some of the burden from her shoulders. We especially need younger Moroccan people who are prepared to step up and help the Association. If you think you can help, please send us an email to office@saramorocco.com

SARA is now a fully registered association in its own right and operating correctly under the law of Morocco.

We have now moved all the dogs out of the Clebs Refuge and housed them at the Shems Refuge or the Farm Refuge. There is still more work to do in both spaces to make them safer and to offer more play areas and probably accommodate more animals… but at least we have a good base now.

Towards the end of the year we rescued 120 dogs from the City Dog Pound, including 4 mother dogs with young puppies and a family of 5 without a mother at all.

Work with commune continues, the agreement to start TNVR once again has been signed but we still don’t have a clear start date. We really want this work but are also remembering our previous experiences. The commune have promised that this time will be different and urge us to keep our faith. We both know that we can only do this together so we need to keep trying to work together and make the change that is needed in Morocco.

We want to give a shout out to our equine friends at Jarjeer Mule and Donkey sanctuary outside Marrakesh. Susan and Charles have created an amazing facility for the care and treatment of abandoned and injured equines. They have been a great help to us in Agadir and currently rescue equines from all over Morocco. Susan’s work in the field of equine welfare was recognised by King Charles III in 2024 when she was awarded an MBE. We also want to send our best wishes to Charles in his current health difficulties.

In December we had our usual stall at the Marche Noel in the Agadir Medina. It is a great chance to share information about our work and meet some of our local supporters. We are grateful to the FDM for giving us this opportunity.

We would like to thank the Lycée Français d’Agadir for their generous support. Michèle, our founder, visited the school where she had the opportunity to talk to the students about the challenges stray animals face in Morocco and answer their questions.

It was moving to see their interest and compassion, some students have even adopted animals from the street. They donated their drawings, as well as the proceeds from their Christmas market. They also bought and sent dog and cat food to support our shelter.

Thank you to the students, teachers and everyone involved in this beautiful initiative.

Just before Christmas we welcomed a second visit from Zach Skow. He came to help a friend take a dog back to the States and also to support us in a fund-raising drive to buy a new vehicle. We have been relying for years on Michele’s little car to allow us to service both our refuges and transport animals to and from the vets in Agadir. Having only one vehicle creates huge logistical problems as the Refuge is an hour’s drive in one direction and Agadir an hour’s drive in the opposite direction. Having only one vehicle means we always struggle if there is an animal emergency. We are hopeful that we will meet our target soon.

As well as the 120 dogs plus puppies rescued from the city dog pound in December, we also welcomed 26 other dogs and 20 cats.  We have had 32 new sponsors in the last quarter sponsoring a total of 34 dogs.  Off to new homes this last quarter were 23 dogs and 3 cats. I have attached some photos of the lucky ones.

In the last quarter we also neutered 69 dogs and 210 cats bringing our total for the year up to 233 dogs and 782 cats.  

And so we say goodbye again and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support. We could not manage to do what we do without the support of all of our donors. You are all amazing and are truly making a difference to the good of the world we live in.