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news - 28/01/2010
TULA’S STORY.  -  Belgium

dogs breeders dog pictures by Karl Donvil
Story provided bij Animal Care España – Spaanse Honden In Nood In a far and dark corner of a South Spanish extermination station (“perrera” in Spanish), sat a female English setter, shaking with fear and starving. She had been abandoned there by her owner who had grown tired of her. Rather than keeping her, he preferred leaving her there to be killed after 10 days grueling days (the legal waiting time in which the dogs remain without food or water) in a gas chamber. Ten long days of hell with many other starving dogs, ten long days during which the owner can come and get his dog back, in case he decides to change his mind… But none does…

Sadly, this is a daily routine in a country where, for many people, a pet has no rights and is often maltreated… Thrown out of a driving car, shot by a hunter who suddenly prefers a younger version of his dog, hanged in the trees of a quiet village, stoned by playing children who have learned not to respect animals, wrapped in barbed wire for not being fast enough in the dog races, or pregnant with unwanted puppies… Many reasons can bring a dog’s life to a dreadful and cruel end in a gas chamber… This is Spain, December 2009.

That particular day, the English setter bitch got lucky. She was found by Fabienne Paques, the Belgian founder of ACE (Animal Care España, better known by its Dutch acronym SHIN), and her colleagues, whose aim in life is to save as many dogs as possible from these deadly places. These are unknown places that the whole of Europe would be ashamed of if only they knew. This is unacceptable in a EU Member State in the 21st century!

Fabienne named this English setter “Tula”. When she felt the first friendly strokes she must have had in a long time, Tula hesitated to trust this new hand that came to save her from death row. Tula never understood why or how she got there.

Fabienne took Tula to her “Refugio” in Mijas, near Malaga, a self built rescue station where dogs get food, medication if needed, love, care and, when recuperated, a one-way flight ticket to Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany or Denmark. There, teams of volunteers receive the dogs at the airport and dispatch them either to a temporary host family where the dog will be observed (how well it can adapt to its new surroundings, whether it can live in a family with children or other pets, etc…), or to its final adoptive family.

SHIN’s website is the window through which candidates can find and choose dogs for adoption. There, pictures and a brief description of the dog’s character help people find the best match and give the dogs a new chance to a good life. SHIN screens every person or family that wants to adopt a dog to make sure that adoption will turn out for the better for both parties.

After the trauma of the killing station, Tula slowly regained confidence in the people who fed and stroked her. After full recovery, at the end of January, Fabienne and her team got her ready to fly to the Belgian family who decided to adopt her and offer her the respectful life she deserves. In ten years of relentless, well organized and heartbreaking work, Tula is the 10,000th dog saved by ACE-SHIN.

Today, Tula is cared for and happy, but her story needs to be told. Only through such stories can awareness be raised about the cruel and undeserved treatment thousands of dogs undergo year in, year out... Every day and probably as you are reading this, innocent and loving creatures that could live a good life are exterminated. An urgent end must come to this state of affairs!

Animal Care España – Spaanse Honden In Nood

http://www.ace-charity.org

http://www.asielhonden.com





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