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See 2015 Gallery for more photos of the following refuges
Animarco Association, Marco de Canaveses
This refuge has had a very difficult few years. The dogs were moved from their original kennel site (see 2009 visit) to a large area of land, lent to Animarco by a private donor, where the animals could have free space. However, this land did not have either water or electricity already in situ and would have been far too expensive ever to finance, and so after a period of time the refuge was obliged to move again.
Now Animarco pays a monthly rent to lease a small piece of land on the remote outskirts of the town. The approach ‘road' is particularly bad but there is a primitive albeit habitable house on site where a helper is employed full-time to stay and look after the dogs. The Council contributes a very small sum towards expenses. At weekends, as usual, volunteers help out with the dogs and take them for walks.
There are also a number of sympathetic people who have some land or a big garden that house additional dogs and care for them. Altogether Animarco looks after around 200 dogs.
Marco de Canaveses is a small town with no foreign tourists to help. However, being small, townspeople know the Association and therefore several small groups of dogs have been accepted and manage to live freely within the town. They are overseen by the Association.
Animarco desperately needs a permanent base. Realistically only the Town Council can provide this but so far has offered nothing.
NAAAS, Tala, near Sintra
This refuge has been making great strides over the last few years with improving their infrastructure. However, as usual, everything stops and starts as they fundraise for the next step with the work. Many kennels were badly flooded last year so urgent improvements are required before the winter.
The refuge still lacks basics. For example it has to rent a private garage at some distance to store the food, otherwise rats will eat it. Again, a proper storage shed is badly needed.
Volunteers help mainly at weekends and there is a full time paid employee during the week. With over 200 dogs it is the only way the refuge can be managed. Volunteers continue to raise money in the usual ways - weekend stalls outside supermarkets, feiras, Christmas and summer meals, memberships etc.
AAAAM, Moita, near Lisbon
This refuge is severely limited by the shortage of land available in the area. They are required to rent their space privately which fortunately includes their water usage. The town Council is helpful and often purchases materials for infrastructure work completed by their volunteers.
They employ 3 people for various hours of work during the week as there are insufficient volunteers to look after the 200 dogs and cats.
We saw big improvements with the refuge - paths around the kennels, some better kennels, a toilet (very difficult in the past as the refuge is isolated) and wash basin, a shed where they can now take cats with feline leukaemia and proper storage facilities. Since in summer the refuge is a dust bowl and in winter the rain creates a mud pit, this makes a huge difference.
At weekends there are quite a few volunteers and they try to get all the animals outside for a short time. Money is raised by the usual means and they do well at the monthly ‘feira' in the town.
JAVA, Lourinha
This refuge is situated near the coast, about 45 minutes north of Lisbon and is a tourist area for Portuguese visitors and some foreigners in the summer. Lourinha is fairly small compact town and the refuge is not too far from the centre and is accessible via a good road.
Volunteers have made an organised, well planned space in which to house so many animals, currently around 200 dogs. Although the site was originally a place for rubbish you would not think so now. Using concrete for kennel bases and open spaces has enabled the refuge to keep the area clean and avoid the worst problem of coping with the extreme winter rains and the dust of hot summers. The refuge also helps with feral cat populations and manages to find a few homes abroad for lucky dogs, primarily in Holland and Germany.
They now have a charity shop in the town centre. It is difficult to find enough volunteers to keep the shop open as much as they would wish but JAVA does manage to make some money from it towards the end of the summer and at Christmas.
AOAAA, Almada, near a coastal area south of Lisbon
This refuge has been around for more than 30 years now. It is still situated in a residential area on privately owned land which the owners wish to have back. So the refuge has been unable to make headway with any proper fixed infrastructure over this time, making life very hard for the volunteers and their 230 dogs. It is anyway in an unsuitable area with so many private houses nearby, and far too small.
After the terrible storms and floods of 2013 which nearly destroyed the refuge the volunteers have been ‘fighting back'! They feel the refuge had been ignored for far too long. So they have now a much more visible presence - in schools, visiting old peoples' homes, walking dogs along the beaches and in the town, attending public sports events etc. They and their dogs have been well received and the Council appears to be sympathetic to their demand for a permanent suitable site. They are linked and working with a cat association to increase public awareness and are organising a public Forum event “Animals in the City” for 3rd-4th October this year.