Animal Welfare Venezuela Project #34341

Save 125 Dogs Lives: Shelter, Food & Vet Care

by South American Initiative

Project Report | Mar 10, 2020
Abandoned Pets Struggle to Survive in Venezuela

By Steven Malca | President, South American Initiative

Starving Dogs Arrive at SAI Sponsored Shelter

Family Pets Struggle to Survive On the Streets of Venezuela

Having a family pet in Venezuela is outrageously expensive. Not only has dog food become an expensive expense but the additional costs of pet care are simply out of reach for most.

Vaccinations, tick & flea-treatments, spay and neutering surgeries, pet grooming, and disease prevention now cost more than middle-class families can afford. The result is a record number of family pets are being dropped off at shelters or simply abandoned in the streets where they have little hope of ever finding their way back home.

3 Million Stray Dogs Roaming the Streets of Venezuela

According to a nonprofit animal rights group called Protectionist Volunteers, there are currently more than 3 million stray dogs roaming the streets of Venezuela. It would cost about $2 million dollars a day just to feed that many dogs twice a day. But that wouldn’t solve the problem. The only way even a small number of these innocent animals are going to get the food and care they need is through humanitarian aid from donors like you.

Providing Food & Medicine to SAI Animal Sanctuary & 8-Animal Shelters

With your help, South American Initiative is able to provide food and medical care to abandoned pets, mostly dogs and cats, at eight animal shelters in Venezuela, plus the pets in our own animal sanctuary.

We Find Families for These Shelter Dogs

Dogs that are starving and need medical care are nursed back to health at these shelters so they become adoptable by responsible families who can afford to take care of them. Healthy abandoned pets are put up for adoption immediately, but sometimes it takes time to find the right pet for the right family.

SAI Plans To Double the Number of Dogs it Cares for In 2020

Thanks to our generous donors, SAI is now taking care of 204 dogs, and 15 cats (as of this writing) with a plan to more than double that number by year-end. To do this SAI is constructing a new animal shelter.

This means that we are supplying over 400 meals per day for shelter dogs. Of the 204 dogs, 25 are classified as “sick” by our Veterinarian. We are also giving them the shots and medications they need to stay healthy so there is no danger of transmitting diseases to humans.

We anticipate taking in an additional 25-30 abandoned dogs and cats per month when our new facility is completed. This means that by the end of the year we will be near capacity caring for an additional 200-300 dogs and cats. This will more than double the number of abandoned pets we currently support. We have the veterinarian staff and volunteers that make it possible to care for these animals.

What kind of Care Do These Dogs & Cats Receive?

When a dog or cat is brought in to an SAI supported shelter, we provide the following:

Flea Collars
Deworming treatments
Antibiotics
Grooming
Core vaccinations to include distemper, parvovirus, and rabies. This provides immunity for up to 3 years
Neutering/spaying surgical procedures

On top of that, we give each pet two nutritious meals a day and enough love and attention to keep them emotionally healthy, and ready to be adopted by a loving family.

Dogs Want to Love — and Be Loved

The essential thing about dogs is that they need and want to be with people. They want us to show them the way, and in return, they will naturally give us undying loyalty and love. The relationship between dogs and humans started over 14,000 years ago. Perhaps that is why dogs are known as our best friends.

Dogs want warm, personal relationships — to love and be loved. We give the dogs we care for at our SAI the love and attention they need in supported shelters. Your donations and support make this possible. Thank you!

References

https://www.euronews.com/2019/02/27/in-venezuela-pet-owners-can-t-afford-food-for-their-dog-or-themselves

https://www.thailandtatler.com/life/what-makes-dogs-so-special-science-says-love

SAI Veterinarian Provides Care for Stray Dog

SAI Dog Shelter in Natural Habitat

SAI Dog Shelter Volunteers Deliver Food & Love

Loving Shelter Dog Says, "Please Adopt Me!"

SAI delivers 8 bags of dog food & meds to shelter

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Nov 26, 2019
SAI Creates Safe Haven For Abandoned Dogs

By Ligian Pinto | Project Manager

Rescued pets in 'Dog Paradise' thanks to SAI

Silent Victims of Venezuela Crisis

Caracas, Venezuela - When people can not afford to feed themselves and their children, the first major decision they are faced with is, “How are we going to feed our dog?” The answer to that question is easy: “Our kids and family come first.”

How Pets are Abandoned

Rather than watch their pets starve, they choose to abandon them in the streets. They simply drive 5-10 km from home, and then open the car door, let the pet out, and then quickly drive away. This is the typical way dogs are abandoned in Venezuela.

South American Initiative & GlobalGiving to the Rescue

The best humanitarian action for these abandoned stray pets is to rescue them from the streets, nurse them back to health, give them vaccinations, regular feedings, lots of love, and attention.

SAI Abandoned Pet Protocol

After all that is achieved, the next best move for each dog is to be adopted by a vetted, loving, responsible family. Thanks to our generous donors, this is the exact protocol SAI follows when rescuing abandoned dogs in Venezuela.

SAI takes it one step further by spaying or neutering the dogs when they are healthy enough to handle the surgery. With over 3 million stray dogs roaming the streets of Venezuela, it is important that we spray or neuter all of the animals.

Besides food, these rescue animals are given rabies, distemper & parvo vaccinations, as well as a deworming treatment, and a fast-acting oral flea treatment.

At SAI we do all this for our rescued dogs. It gives each dog an opportunity to be adopted by a loving, caring family.

We Need Your Help to Continue to Rescue Abandoned Pets

For the past few months we have provided food and medical supplies to the following:

SEPTEMBER: 162 abandoned pets have received care (6 of the dogs were adopted).
OCTOBER:168 abandoned pets have received care

Note: This is a correction from the GlobalGiving report from August 27, 2019: The correct numbers for each month are as follows for abandoned pets that received care.: May: 120; June:174; July: 174; August: 172.

We started this GlobalGiving project with a goal of $20,000. So far, we have received just under 5% of our goal.

New Animal Shelter For 200 More Dogs

SAI is building a new animal shelter that will be able to accommodate up to 200 more dogs at one facility. This facility will include a spacious yard for the dogs to run and play. It will include clean drinking water, a medical examination and surgery room, individual places for each dog to sleep, and a consistent supply of pet meds, toys, and nutritious food.

Help Us Rescue More Dogs!

If you love animals like we love these dogs, please help us rescue more abandoned animals with your donations. It can be a little as $8 or as much a $500; whatever amount you are able to give.

With your support, we will continue to take care of these abandoned animals and find responsible families to adopt them.

Please continue to help us rescue abandoned dogs by donating today! Thank you!

This report reflects the generous donations from GlobalGiving, A&G Animal Assistance Fund, and SAI donors.

Rescued dogs enjoy free-time with SAI Volunteers

Abandoned dogs feel safe and loved with SAI Team

Recently rescued starving dogs get food and love

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Aug 27, 2019
Paws for the Cause

By Jimmy Pena | Project Leader

Animal abandonment cases in Venezuela are very serious. The lives of many animals that used to be pets have changed dramatically. One day they were the most beloved pets in the home and the next day they were abandoned. These sad events are due to many factors that have affected the quality of life in Venezuela. One of them is the high cost of animal food and the other is due to migration.

Many Venezuelans have been forced to migrate from the country, and sadly do not know what to do with their pets. It is for this reason they have chosen to abandon their pets. It seems that the fate of our four-legged friends is abandonment or death. Sometimes, both.

The South American Initiative team (SAI), has a big heart for the abandoned animals of Venezuela. When a country experiences sudden poverty and famine, the very first victims are our beloved family pets. When personal survival is at steak, family pets are often abandoned and neglected.

With no relief in sight, SAI provides significant aid to our Venezuelan Veterinarian team to care for the abandoned and neglected pets in critical states of health.

For the past few months we have provided food and medical supplies to the following:

MAY: 102 abandoned pets have received care.
JUNE: 105 abandoned pets have received care.
JULY: 110 abandoned pets have received care.
AUGUST: 110 abandoned pets have received care.

Your contributions to SAI have made the expansion of our animal project a reality. Each month we continually increase the amount of food and medicine we supply to these abandoned pets struggling to stay alive during this economic crisis.

At SAI we want to sincerely thank each donor for their generosity in helping us improve the lives of abandoned pets in Venezuela. Without your help many would simply die of starvation and disease.

Thank you to all donors of GlobalGiving and SAI for supporting our cause. The information is reflective of the GlobalGiving and SAI campaign Helping Abandoned Pets.

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