Hogar de Asís

The animal welfare association "Hogar de Asís" was founded in 2000 in La Carolina, a village in eastern Andalusia.
At that time, there were many abandoned dogs in our city, which were caught with a noose and killed in the city kennel according to the ten-day rule if their owners did not pick them up.
It was the eyes of a stray puppy that brought together a group of people who did not know each other, but who had one thing in common: respect and love for animals. From that day on, in June 2000, the municipally owned kennel became an animal shelter. A small storage house with 5 kennels on each side and large stones on "a roof" of Uralite to keep it from flying away on windy days. This part was the first "house" donated by the municipality to house abandoned dogs with dignity, it is "El Hogar de Asís" (translated: the home of Assisi). From that moment on, all abandoned dogs in La Carolina began to be cared for until they find a responsible family.

After years of persistence and insistence with the local authorities, the city built a new shelter. It is still a municipal kennel, though, as it is owned by the municipality. But it is managed by La Protectora de Animales and funded by the monthly contribution of €2 or €3 from each of the 150 members, the sale of raffle tickets and our entirely voluntary work. The municipality has let us use the building and pays the costs for water and electricity. In Spain there are no subsidies for animal welfare.

After 20 years, the presidency of Hogar de Asís has passed into younger hands, Teresa Serrano Oña is the current president and together with her four volunteers we continue to work for "our" abandoned dogs.
All dogs that come to the shelter are dewormed and cleaned of parasites, vaccinated against diseases and rabies, tested for Mediterranean diseases and neutered, as well as medically treated when they arrive with broken legs that need surgery, festering wounds that need disinfection, skin infections such as scabies, fungus, ringworm.... arrive full of misery, hungry and malnourished and with great fear that man will want to harm them again. Puppies come to our shelter, often whole litters, and almost always they get sick because they were not well cared for. Seniors also arrive in their final years and suffer from being abandoned by their loved ones. As our town is located in a small hunting area, there are many Podencos and also some greyhounds that we collect every year. Small, medium and large dogs, they all arrive with a deep sadness in their eyes that burrows into our hearts.

None of these dogs would have the opportunity to know the love and respect of a family if other countries, like Germany, did not take them in with special sensitivity and love and give them a life in dignity. Without you, it would be impossible for a sad fate to be transformed into happiness, which is like a fairy tale: a dog finds the respect and love of a responsible family. For this we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

There are many difficulties we face: In our town, La Carolina, there are only two vets, and their high fees force us to take the dogs to other nearby towns for veterinary care, which takes many hours that we don't always have. Volunteering is becoming scarce in our city, and the youngest go abroad when they are old enough to move out.
Two years ago there was a massive flood of puppies. Many litters were abandoned, we had up to 62 puppies in the shelter that came from mothers without medical care and became ill. It was a total breakdown in every way, to the point where we were on the verge of closing the refuge due to lack of funds and money for vet costs.

Today, a window of hope opens with the Animal Welfare Association of Europe. You are the hope for us and our dogs, we speak for our dogs here, and we know you will not close your ears to this cry for help. We thank Nicole and her whole team very much for this great opportunity to reach all of you in Germany.

Our task

Since its foundation, the main goal of the animal welfare association Hogar de Asís has been to create a culture of protection, responsibility and at least respect for animals. Over the years, we have directed all our activities towards this goal, but the neglect of the animals is increasing year by year. We are setting a good example, but it is not enough. The municipality must assume its responsibility so that this suffering disappears from our region, Andalusia, and from our country, Spain, because the mistreatment of animals is a very serious problem.

Images
The first pictures show the shelter today with the new building and under the management of the Hogar de Asís association. In the last pictures you can see the bad conditions before the new wing was built and the shelter was still a classic municipal shelter with the "ten-day rule", i.e. the right to kill the dogs if they were not picked up after 10 days.

News about the association:
https://hogardeasislacarolina.protecms.com/
Facebook Hogar de Asis
Instagram Hogar de Asis