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quo;s Global awareness campaign: ’Animals Matter To Me’!

During the WSPA Symposium 2006, which took place in London on June 8th and 9th and was attended by more than 300 animal welfare groups from over 110 countries, the ‘Animals Matter To Me’ petition was officially launched.
Hundreds of the world’s animal welfare groups began building a petition of ten millions signatures.
The petition is calling on Governments and the United Nations to recognise animals as sentient beings, worthy of respect and animal welfare to be considered as an issue of importance as part of social development.
The petition’s goal is a government-led initiative to persuade the United Nations to adopt a Universal
Declaration on Animal Welfare, similar to earlier initiatives in the sphere of human rights and the environment.

 

Major General Peter Davies, Director General of WSPA said:
‘This is the largest ever global animal welfare initiative. It is a huge milestone in our work to build a world free from cruelty and suffering for billions of animals.
We aspire to raise people‘s awareness through the ‘Animals Matter To Me‘ campaign by showing that animals matter to everyone’.

Participation in KidsCity

On June 30 and July 1 the Dierenbescherming participated in a tremendous event for children organized by HeRo Media Consulting & Planning. The emphasis of the event was ‘Animals’ and it
took place in “Asiento” at Emmastad and was visited by many families with children.

Dierenbeschermings’ stand, manned by a crew of 16 volunteers who each took shifts during the two days of the event, was situated in ‘Animal City’. Information concerning responsible pet ownership and daily care of pets was offered freely to the public and books and articles about animals were sold. The highlight for the children was the presence of some sweet shelter puppies. Under guidance of volunteers Yvette and Drea the children were allowed to hold them and cuddle them and many kids begged their parents to adopt a puppy …. However, we should all remain aware that sweet puppies grow into big dogs, and that the care and training offered to such little bundles of fun are very important in shaping a playful puppy into a happy dog who lives with dignity in a family environment.  Take time to train the dog, take time to learn how you can be the best owner possible and be sure you have the time and commitment to care for this creature as well as it deserves.

Volunteers in the stand, ready to start. On the left: big panels with information.

Trainee Stephan motivates the children to take a lucky dip in the “grab barrel”.

Volunteer Drea introduces a sweet puppy to a sweet child.

Happy children holding puppies.

Volunteer Yvette gives information about puppies.

Bulletin board with information about the shelter pets and Animal Ambulance.

Expansions and renovations at the Animal Shelter

Expansion of Cats’ pension

Dynamic shelter manager Andrew Berry continues to improve the shelter with the help of his personnel. The cages in the cats’ pension were very small and did not provide enough space to host two cats from one family together. The pension will be expanded to nine spacious cages where 18 cats can be hosted and will even enjoy their own private garden. At the beginning of this year a wooden fence was constructed to protect the cats from sunlight and give them more privacy.

First phase of the renovation of the cat's pension

Construction of the new cages.

The fence of the cats’ pension.

Dogs’ pension and shelter renovated

In both rows of the dogs’ pension new floors were constructed to improve the water flow to the brick drain. The path between the rows of cages was also renovated.

New floors and a renovated path in the dogs’ pension.

New floors in the shelter kennel and a renewed path.

Roof above entrance.

The entrance to the shelter office was covered with a roof as a protection against sunlight and rain.

At the left the entrance to the shelter, covered with a roof

View of the roof under construction at the side of the building

Participation in Feria Girobank

The local Girobank organized a tremendous event for children who opened a savings account last year, also inviting parents who wanted to open a saving account for their children at the event.

The ‘Feria’ took place in “Parke Tropikal’, the local zoo, and was visited by approximately 5,000 people. Girobank invited Dierenbescherming to participate with a stand to raise public awareness on responsible pet ownership, especially among the visiting children.

The Dierenbescherming stand where several articles were sold and information was given to the public about responsible pet ownership.

Face painting was very popular among the children. Volunteer Valerie de Haseth in action.

After having their face painted the children could pose with a puppy, which proved very popular. Long rows of children waited for their turn.

Layla finally re-homed!

Layla came to the shelter as a puppy and from the beginning she was very afraid of humans. In the shelter, with so many dogs to be taken care of, there is not enough time to give animals extensive therapy to socialize them with humans and we were afraid that Layla would never be adopted with this problem. However, trainee Stephan took it upon him to gain Layla’s confidence and little by little he progressed. Due to this progress, we realized that it was in fact possible to socialize Layla, with a lot of patience and love, and we put an advertisement in a local newspaper and found a family that was willing to continue this therapy. In the picture Layla with her new owner who, together with his spouse, will give Layla all the love and patience that she needs to become a happy dog without any fears.
We thank the Brito family and wish them lots of success with sweet Layla.

Layla with trainee Stephan

Layla with her new owner, ready to go home

Farewell to four dedicated animal lovers: trainee Stephan and three volunteers.

On July 20 the board of the Society and personnel of the shelter had to bid farewell to four dedicated and enthusiastic animal lovers who have spent a lot of time taking care of the animals. A certificate was presented to them as a token of appreciation for everything they did for the shelter animals. We will miss them but hope to see them back on the island one day!

From left to right: volunteers Anita Weerd and Wieke van Smeden, Stephan Kalberg, trainee who came from the Netherlands for a training period at the shelter; Andrew Berry shelter manager; volunteer Tara Moerman and Ineke Cijntje PR officer of the CSPA board.

Stephan did an outstanding job and all shelter animals loved him….

Andrew presents a gift to Anita

Progress of the Cats’ Pension expansion

Thanks to the enthusiasm of shelter manager Andrew and his personnel the expansion of the cats’ pension is progressing well and the five new, spacious cages that have room for ten cats are already occupied with vacation guests. The last part of the expansion, the garden, is now under construction.

Front of the new department at the cats’ pension; on the left the entrance.

The inside of the pension: on the left the row of four original cages, on the right the row of five new cages.

A view of the right side of the pension where the garden is being constructed around the Flamboyant tree.

Expansion Cats’ pension completed

The last part of the expansion of the cats’ pension, the garden, has been completed. The cats have now spacious kennels and a garden to stretch their legs, enjoy the sunshine and climb a tree.