Help Us Scratch those Fleas!

Hallo again, another 3 months have flown by, and we have reached the end of another busy year. In many ways it has been the same as previous years: full of puppies, sick and injured animals, some finding wonderful forever homes. But this year has been notable because of earthquakes and extreme heat, with costs continually increasing but on a positive note we have developed some new partnerships including Mission Dogo, Anella Living and AIESEC

As I said at the start we have taken in many puppies and injured animals this year, and this last 3 months in particular. We have around 30 puppies running around the farm, full of fun and mischief. Sadly, some of the puppies that we rescued did not survive. Each time this happens a little piece of our heart breaks, but for each puppy or dog that survives, gets healthy and especially finds a new home, the heartbreak mends and we carry on with some positivity.

We hope that in 2024 we will manage to improve our infrastructure so that we can enhance the life chances of all the animals that we rescue. This will include new work at both the Farm Refuge and Shems Refuge. We are going to expand the Shems Refuge so that we can move all the animals from the Clebs Refuge. Housing most of our dogs in one location means that we will be able to make savings in staff, transport and property costs as well as providing better facilities for both the dogs and the staff working there. We also have better access to water at Shems Refuge which is so important in the summer months, to keep the dogs hydrated and healthy and keep ticks at bay.

Towards the end of November, we found that our website content and a lot of our social media content (along with that of other organisations) was being used by a group masquerading as an animal charity based in Libya.   After a lot of in-depth research, we reported the scammers to all relevant authorities and have managed to get them shut down. While we were doing this, we had some very negative comments on our social media, and no surprise found that they had been posted by people involved in the scam.

It is very likely that this will happen again, so we need our supporters to be careful. Donating via GlobalGiving means you can be sure that your donation will go where it is needed and where you intended.

If you see someone using our content to raise donations, please contact us at info@saramorocco.com and we can either let you know if it is OK to donate or take action to stop any illegal activity.

You may have seen from Social Media that there has been a lot of culling of street dogs again in Morocco. In our area it was mostly dogs in Taghazout and Aourir but also some dogs and cats in Agadir were callously killed. We all know that not only is this inhumane, painful for the animals and risky for the human population, it is totally ineffective. We will continue to try and ensure that our message gets through to the public and officials alike. We think that it will help if our supporters from abroad contact the Ministry of Tourism and let them know how this action makes them feel about Morocco. Please note we are not asking people to stop visiting Morocco. Too many people in our communities, many of whom support our work, depend on tourists for their livelihoods. An embargo on holidays in Morocco would hit the working people very quickly. To help our supporters make their voices heard we have compiled some notes for Tourists with some useful contact addresses. You can find them here www.saramorocco.com/addresses

Lots of puppies came to us in this quarter. Sadly, a lot of them died from parvovirus while still very young. It is heartbreaking how quickly they go despite intensive and dedicated care. We hope that they at least had happy little lives, though they were very short.

Some older dogs came to us with serious injuries, some we had to let go but others are on the mend, and we hope will make full recoveries.

We managed to get 18 animals adopted to new homes abroad. This is the best result for the animals, for their adopters and for us. It is what makes it all worthwhile.

In addition, we managed to neuter 149 street cats and 34 street dogs, which brings our totals for the year up to 626 cats and 203 dogs.

As we start on a new year, I am trying to be hopeful for good things to happen. I know that it will not all be easy, and there will be heartbreak on the way, but I need to start this year with some optimism. For now I have 2 dreams. The first is that we can increase our income so that our costs are covered, and we don’t have to spend every day worrying about how we are going to feed and care for the animals in the refuges. My second dream is that the people in power in Morocco will get their act together and start making sure that TNVR is adopted throughout the country and the horrific and useless slaughter of animals is stopped.

I also hope that all our supporters have a peaceful, happy and safe year. See you all soon

Hazel and the team at SARA.