La Protectora Sara, dedicated since 1986 to sheltering animals, mainly dogs and cats, was founded by Germans who came to Lanzarote. They called it Sara, after the first dog that the association took in and who was brought by a woman who helped animals on the island.
"We continue to receive help from Germany, especially to help us find families abroad for animals that are adults," says Obelesa Hernández, one of its volunteers. It should be noted that, in matters of adoption, “we have to learn from the Nordic countries, they are light years ahead of Spain”, informs the volunteer.
"We are full with cats especially," reveals Obelesa. "When it comes to abandoning an animal, there is no distinction between summer or winter, if you have an excuse and you don't want it, you have it all year round.", she says.
Services and facilities
The shelter consists of five zones, A, B, C, D and E. In which inside they have a shelter in which they host around 150 dogs and 120 cats, along with veterinary, food and daily cleaning services for each animal. In its facilities they have the dog area, distributed in three sectors depending on the size and age of the dogs: six large patios for large, small and puppy dogs, with their respective 48 cages.
For the cats, they have seven zones with cat flaps, along with places enabled for cats with contagious infections. In addition, they also have a hospital area installed to care for animals that arrive injured or sick, a veterinary consultation and a reception for visitors who come there.
Until "we have an area enabled for wilder dogs", she highlights. Animals that are "taken care of by specialized volunteers", she argues.
To carry out an adoption, the protector follows certain steps to guarantee the well-being of all animals. "When they arrive, the necessary tests are carried out and if they have any problems, they stay here until they recover and then, the adoption process begins", she collects.
"We seek that animals that have some "different" characteristic can have a home and not die in a cage"
Also with the Permanent Foster Plan, "we seek that animals that have some "different" characteristic, whether due to age, physical appearance, etc. can have a home and not die in a cage", says the caregiver. Therefore, "the person who offers to collaborate will take the dog or cat into their home, permanently, without a completion date", but with one condition, "the protector takes care of the food and the necessary veterinary treatment", she adds.
"Cats with asthma, "grandparents", with diseases such as AIDS or leukemia, among others, are the ones that fall within that foster plan", clarifies Hernández. An important reception to "end the stigma of these diseases in cats, about which many people think that they are transmitted to humans", she adds. "And that is not true", she reveals.
In order to speed up the operation of the protector, "to all the animals that enter from minute zero we give them a name and make their file", she comments.
A problem that arises in some cases with dogs is the use of them in fights or as trainers for other dogs to learn to fight. That is what has happened to one of the dogs they have in the shelter called Carolina. "They used her as a sparring partner", she says. "She has bites all over her body due to the activity", informs the volunteer.
"After a police arrest or even a warning from citizens, we can rescue the animals", she says. Although, "we try to do it in a friendly way by going directly to talk to the owners and getting their signature to give us the dog", she adds. "We try to make the animal suffer as little as possible, that is why we avoid doing it judicially, since our main interest is to achieve well-being as soon as possible", she acknowledges.
Another of the outstanding events on the island produced five years ago was the Noe Case "of which we still have two seized puppies", she says. "It was named after a lady from Playa Honda who suffered from Diogenes syndrome and lived with 50 dogs in her house". "We took care of ten of them and baptized them with the names of streets in the municipality", she confesses.
As for the breeds, "the Podencos are the ones that are most often abandoned", she includes. "They use them as hunting tools and when the season ends, they release them, tie them in the field to die of inhalation or shoot them", among other things.
"Not everyone is capable of dedicating themselves to this, you have to be very psychologically prepared"
As for the staff, "we have a small number of workers here at the shelter", she collects. Then, "most of us are volunteers", she reveals. "We also have occasional volunteers to walk dogs, show the animals to interested people, etc.".
"Not everyone is capable of dedicating themselves to this, you have to be very psychologically prepared", she confesses. "There are very hard cases and on many occasions the animals cannot be saved", she laments.
"To be a volunteer there are no requirements, you just have to be constant" since "it takes a lot of free time from your personal life", confesses Obelesa. "I dedicate myself to it daily despite having another job and I have had to stop training to be able to come", she comments. Although "some volunteers come for seasons, they may spend three months without coming and then return".
"Many children ask their parents to bring them in their free time, thus also educating them in the respect and well-being of animals", she declares. In addition, "many retirees come here to walk the dogs", she adds.
"Something that we appreciate and makes us have hope that there will be a better future for animals", concludes Obelesa.
