By Hazel Skeet | Volunteer
Thankfully the heat of summer has started to cool, and we are all feeling more energised.
As we head into the last few months of the year we are still working hard to expand and improve our refuges and of course still feeding and caring for all the animals in the refuges, on the streets and in the city dog pound.
We have now finished moving out of the Clebs Refuge, around 350 dogs have been moved to Shems and 20 to the Farm. The new enclosures at the Farm Refuge made it possible not only to move dogs from Shems and Clebs but also to rescue more dogs from the City Pound. But it is not all over. There is still more work to do.
We have made some heart stopping rescues of badly injured puppies and received visits from many holiday makers. We also had to turn down a lot of requests for help… sadly we cannot say yes to every plea for help. The hardest thing about working here is having to say no. We know all too well that many animals are suffering and dying on the street - but it is just not possible for us to help every single one.
With our attention on trying to get the building work complete at the Shems and Farm Refuges we had not time to visit the city dog pound, though we continued to send food. When we were able to visit at the end of September, we were shocked at the number of dogs being held there. We immediately took 40 puppies and 60 adults. We made an appeal for help to sponsor the rescued animals and so far 45 animals have sponsorship.
If you follow our social media, you may have seen that we are once more entering a partnership with the Agadir City Commune to implement TNVR. We are really hoping that this time will be the real deal, that we will be able to deliver a long running comprehensive program of change that will change the landscape and lives of people and street animals in Agadir forever.
This is something that we have been fighting for since 2013. And yes, I mean fighting. Just because you haven’t seen blood spilt, because we haven’t manned the barricades or filmed our team tearstained and exhausted from battle doesn’t mean that there has not been blood, sweat and tears poured into this effort.
Michele has worked behind the scenes, changing minds, persuading sceptics, and convincing those who did not believe in the need for TNVR that it is the way forward.
Since 2019 there has been a government model for local areas to implement, so far not one has implemented it fully, but we are hopeful that at last we have the opportunity to do it here.
Over the years, we have learned hard lessons, and we believe that the city officials have also learned. They have committed to implementing an education and awareness campaign, to reorganise and train the teams who capture the dog and most importantly they have committed to a humane approach to the project.
The Commune are building a new refuge which is schedule to open in the first quarter of 2025. We have been able to advise them on the construction and running costs. We are committed to helping ensure that animals receive everything they need for their care and are treated in a humane manner. Once it is open we hope that there will no longer be a need for us to fund care costs and provide food to the dogs.
But we also know that there will be setbacks, that things rarely go to plan, and everything takes much longer than we hope it will.
And if it all fails again, we won’t give up. We will pick ourselves up and continue with our positive campaign for change. Because we believe that this is the only way forward. The only way that will produce the sustainable change that we and all the animals need.
By Hazel Skeet | Volunteer
By Hazel Skeet | Manager
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