A Portuguese company called Pixel, involved in the making of wedding and lifestyle videos, recently decided to offer their services free of charge to make a short film about Aanifeira’s work since 1999.
We couldn’t help airing the short video for all our friends, members and followers to see how our work has progressed.
Our deepest thanks to Pixel for making this possible!
We would, once again, like to draw everyone’s attention to the 3rd WORLD STRAY ANIMALS DAY which is TODAY April 4, a day when we should all show compassion, care and action for all stray dogs, stray cats, stray horses and donkeys all over the World.
This initiative was first started by a Dutch marketing guru at the Dutch National Stray Animals Conference held back in 2010 and today, more and more people have become aware of this growing problem throughout the world.
It is incredibly heartbreaking to see the amount of animals that are considered as strays. Estimated numbers are said to reach approximately an incredible 600.000.000!
A Stray Animals Day website http://www.worldstrayanimalsday.org helps give plenty of ideas for everyone to work in helping to reduce this problem. Check out their Facebook page for even further information.
Maria Daines wrote a special song to commemorate April 4th, World Stray Animals Day. Please take a moment to listen and watch the video here.
Although very often short of space, Aanifeira has done its part throughout last year in taking in strays and the results of some of them can be viewed below.
LET’S NOT FORGET THE STRAYS IN THIS WORLD
AND JOIN TOGETHER TO RID THE WORLD OF THIS PROBLEM.
It has been a long time wish of ours to have a spacious cattery where we could house adoptable street cats into an environment where they could feel comfortable, protected and cared for. This day has finally come and we are delighted to announce that our new cattery is finally open and even more work will be done on it over the next few months.
Aanifeira’s New Cattery
It is a far cry from the days when our hands were tied and we could only accept emergency cases where cats were temporarily housed in largish cages whilst awaiting adoption. With a lot of hard work and many donations from private companies and individuals, this new cattery emerged from the old amphitheatre area where cattle were once auctioned off and where, for several years, many dogs were housed. It was sectioned off into two floors and without incurring too much expense or changing the look of the building, the idea was to make the most of the space and windows on the top floor for the cats. Sixteen large boxes for cats were installed, each glassed on three sides and netted at the top. The idea of glass is to prevent the spread of viral infections as well as reduce noise when visitors come to see the cats. There is more space for additional boxes to be put in and this will be done in a gradual process over the next few months.
Each box has three shelves leading up to a window for cats to see out. The boxes and flooring are easily cleaned as well as the area in the room itself. Check this slide show below of how work progressed over the past few months.
The space on this first floor was large enough that we could also build a spacious back up area where food, cat sand and general cleaning materials could be stored as well as a large playground room where the cats can be let off daily under the supervision of volunteers to kick up their heels! We only need to open the door of their boxes and they run straight to the room to romp and play.
It is such a pleasure to know and see that they have enough space to move around in and that they can live in a clean and temperature controlled environment. Check out the slide show of the playground below.
We just love catching up with old friends from Aanifeira! From time we bring updates of animals adopted in other countries (read here for more) and Sonia was one of these special cases being almost blind and incontinent when she was adopted by Betty from France.
Betty has done miracles with Sonia who had lived for most of her life in the darkness of the central corridor of Aanifeira’s pavilion (now demolished) for many years never fearing other dogs or humans who passed by her.
Betty keeps us posted on a regular basis regarding Sonia’s health issues and the latest news is that she is fine, no longer incontinent (her medication has had to be increased) and that has become a little more active. Betty also reports that she makes it clear when she wants to drink water by giving a special squeek “hello I want some water”!
More about Sonia’s adoption can be read here. Thank you Betty for giving an old podengo this wonderful chance in her life!
Have you ever thought about why some people are not keen to adopt a black dog or cat? This is a problem that we come across every day and that we find heartbreaking.
In the USA for example, they have chosen February as Black Dog and Cat Syndrome Awareness Month in an effort to draw attention to the stigma as to why people always overlook black dogs and cats at shelters.
This is not only a serious problem in the USA but also in other countries. In Portugal in general and at Aanifeira, many people will look straight past a black animal to choose a lighter coloured one. But what are the reasons behind this one would wonder? People often associate black cats with witchcraft and superstition.
Since the 1800′s the colour black has been associated with anarchism and the black cat, in an alert, fighting stance was later adopted as an anarchist symbol. All of this would have fired even more the myths, superstitions and stigmas that surround a black cat today.
Large black dogs might look rather more menacing than others and perhaps too the reference to the proverbial ‘black sheep’ of the family when choosing a pet for adoption, also has some influence. In truth they don’t always photograph as well as lighter coloured animals as their features do not show up and very sadly, in the USA, they are the last to be adopted and the first to be euthanized!
The truth of the matter is that they are no different to other animals and have exactly the same temperaments. In some countries like Great Britain and Ireland the black cat is considered good luck and the Scottish say they bring prosperity to a home. In Japan black cats are also considered good luck. Black dogs are also thought to bring prosperity to a household in some countries.
Whatever it is, shelters everywhere need to work in promoting that Black is Beautiful to draw awareness to these animals needing adoption. We at Aanifeira have a large number of black dogs and cats of all sizes just waiting for adoption and which would make wonderful pets.
One cat rescue site in the USA, Precious Paw Rescue came up with a wonderful list of excellent reasons as to why someone should adopt a black cat that can be checked out here.
Another 10 very good reasons for adopting a black dog are given on the The Black Pearls of the Dog World site and can be checked out here.
Remember BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL this month so let’s all do our best to break the stigma!
It’s not everyday that we have two dogs from the same kennel adopted out together on one day, but TODAY was one of those days for Xila and Polo, two long time residents at Aanifeira.
Aanifeira’s has two fostering programs available for animal lovers:
Xila and Polo have had two very dedicated fosterers Cristina and José, who, for over two years now, would come on a regular basis each week to walk and groom them but always with a strong urge to eventually adopt these two beautiful dogs when they moved into their new and spacious home.
Today, that day finally came when Cristina and José arrived at the shelter to take Xila and Polo to their new home. It is incredibly rewarding for us to see dogs such as these, who are not youngsters and often rejected for adoption because of their age, being given a whole new chance in life through the sheer dedication of a young couple.
We will look forward to hearing news of Xila and Polo and of course to see them on their follow up visits at the shelter clinic. Our special thanks to Cristina and José for giving two beautiful adult dogs a brand new opportunity in life!
We always enjoy hearing news of how our animals are after they have been adopted and are in a totally new environment. This month, we had news from Holland about one of our senior shelter dogs plus we had a visit from the owner of a dog found abandoned in the countryside. We would like to share them with you.
Tuka – one of our senior, visually impaired dogs, adopted by Dutch vet Mascha, who came here to do an internship in April/May 2012 and fell in love with her. This week, Mascha sent us an update on Tuka with photos and although she is completely blind, you wouldn’t think it the way she is enjoying herself playing in all that snow! You can read Tuka’s story on this link- Tuka.
Bia – found wandering in the middle of a busy road. Bia had been abandoned and was lactating but there were no signs of her pups. She saved the lives of three puppies which had been found by her owner, Ana Rita, in a rubbish bin and accepted them as her own offspring. Today, she is the pride and joy of Ana Rita and goes everywhere with her. More on Bia’s story here – Bia.
Hi I'm Jackie, holding a full time job and working as a volunteer at Aanifeira. I write the articles for the blog and juggle all of this together with caring for my own five rescued street dogs.
