News
Spain: Stories from Kimba
March 03, 2009, 2:48AM MT
By Sharon St. Joan
Lira, Taylor, and Saint Anthony
Lira, Taylor, and Saint Anthony
By Maria Jose Jaen-Jimenez, Kimba Shelter
Translated by Michael Rodrigue, Best Friends Network Volunteer
Edited by Marla Browne, Best Friends Network Volunteer
Kimba Shelter is in Cadiz, in southern Spain. It's a large shelter that cares especially for dogs that Spanish hunters often abuse and then abandon at the end of hunting season. Kimba gives the dogs good food, medical care, time to recover, spays or neuters them, then sends them off, with the help of many kind animal groups in other European countries, to new homes outside Spain, so they will not fall back into the hands of any more hunters. Their adopting families often send regular reports and letters with lovely photos back to Kimba--Editor
Taylor
Little Taylor arrived at Kimba this past April after having been abandoned.
Now he has left all his problems behind him.
Last Friday one of our volunteers took him to the Jerez airport so that he could board a plane bound for Germany where his new family awaited him.
At the airport, our little one was bid farewell by our volunteer Lola and by a few teenagers who had dropped by to visit Kimba, who were able to take part in sending a dog off to his kind new home.
Our dear little galga "Lira" left us today
After spending a year at Kimba, our fearful little "galga" "Lira" left us today, bound for France. “Lira” didn’t trust people, and with good reason. This poor "galga" had been very frightened by the hunter she used to belong to.
What’s important is that “Lira” has finally found a family, and thanks to our friend, Virginie of Passion Levriers, in France, she is able to travel to them. “Lira” will not forget her past, but she will believe in her future. We hope that she has a wonderful life, and we will very much miss this precious "galga."
Kimba feast in honor of dogs and cats
Saint Anthony is known as the patron saint for the animal kingdom. For centuries the Saint Anthony Feast Day on January 17 has been celebrated in Spain with food, revelry and processions. Some churches also allow animals inside for a blessing or simply to accompany their human friend during worship. The Feast Day is traditionally preceded by a night in the streets where people convene around bonfires and share food and drink.--Editor
Here at Kimba, we celebrated this patron saint with pooches and their people together in Cádiz, with food for humans and animals alike. Animals deserve complete respect and care; they are not just something that we call "our pets".
We remembered in our prayers all the animals used for work, the millions used for food, or for research. We hope that the day will bring awareness to people that animals should be treated with dignity, as they are living beings who feel and suffer just as we do.
Also happening at Kimba is the construction of six new quarantine stations. With the money raised at four Christmas events, we are now able to set the concrete foundations and walls for the isolation areas. Now the ill pups will have a safe and clean place to get better.
Many thanks to the people who helped us start this project a year ago, as well as to all those whose help has enabled us to complete the project. Special thanks to Stichting Dierenhulp Cádiz.
What you can do
To visit the website of the Kimba Shelter, please go to: (Caution: graphic content)
http://www.refugiokimba.org/indexengels.html
Photo: Kimba Shelter / Taylor, on his way home to Germany!