Ingles

Any body who has been too PT on Holiday or Living here will be very aware off the amount off abandoned Dogs & Cats trying to survive day to day & some off which are in a horrible condition !!!

As the "season off goodwill " is now upon us, some off you may care to donate even a small amount to help the group below.

www.animaisderua.org/pt/ - Translator

PayPal is accepted

GeniB

Thanks for the timely reminder Ingles..
A lot around at the moment in our area.. Unfortunately often due to un-spayed animals on heat. Our 'strays ' are mostly male dogs running after females ,.often complete with collars and sometimes chains or ropes attached. One whizzed past me yesterday with a snazzy winter coat on !.
.The Portuguese tendency to leave their dogs outside leads to this situation. There is a strong need to inform the urban Portuguese about this,as well as the rural who are notoriously casual about their animals

scrubbedexpat008

I've been working in this area for some years both at GAWT in Goa and now here in Portugal, where we have recently started StreetLife - an Animal Sterilisation Programme for the East Algarve.

After a couple of years at our local animal shelter, where unwanted litters were unceremoniously dumped in green bins, plastic bags, cardboard boxes etc., we are convinced that sterilisation is the only way forward, to try to prevent the puppies in the first place.

Depressingly, at least half of the problem is unsterilised pets, which, as pointed out above, are often allowed to roam loose. Abandoned animals are, of course, the other issue, and StreetLife funds the sterilisation of both categories. Despite already encountering some objections from local residents, we are confident that more and more people (and eventually the government) will recognise that sterilisation programmes work and are the only way forward.

Many Portuguese owners simply can't or won't afford the costs of sterilisation here in Portugal (often more than 120 euros for a mid-size female dog) so StreetLife subsidises the cost from donations.

Here in the Algarve, APAA has been doing similar work for some time in the West and SOS Algarve Animals likewise in Central, so if you know of a dog that needs sterilisation, please let the relevant organisation know. Outside the Algarve, there are other organisations trying to address the same issues.

If you're still interested, here's another take on the subject.

Now stepping off soapbox . . .

Ingles

GRC :-

As too "120 € for a mid size dog"

I was charged 130 € for female Cat !

EMR

We paid 90e for Our male lodger cat.

scrubbedexpat008

Yep - costs vary tremendously by vet and area. The common variable is the size/weight/sex of the animal since these have a direct bearing on the amount of medication and work involved.

One of StreetLife's mid-term goals is to work with the Municipal vets to try to get private vets in the East Algarve to agree a common (discounted) rate for sterilisations of abandoned / street dogs and also pets where the owners are clearly not well off. This shouldn't () be a real problem because most vets already offer discounts to registered animal welfare associations.

StreetLife always visits owners and the dog(s) to check that their circumstances merit help.