When you want to help, there are no excuses. Not even the high temperatures on Friday prevented the group of 15 volunteers from Antenas Juveniles de Mijas from giving their time, attention and, above all, love to the dogs that Suspiros de Cuatro Patas cares for. First thing in the morning they met at the shelter of the association, which is located in Camino de Campanales in Las Lagunas. There they were told about the work the association does in rescuing, looking after and, most importantly, finding a permanent home for these animals.

This is the second year that this initiative has been carried out, in which the group of young volunteers collaborate with the collective by dedicating a couple of hours to the animals. "We have dog walkers every day, but rarely do all the dogs go for a walk, because only one or two people come in each shift and take out one or two dogs. So we have prepared a group walk, we are taking them to the area around the schools and María Zambrano, which has more shade", explained Emi Jiménez, a board member of Suspiros de Cuatro Patas, who was in charge of coordinating the day. 

Aaron Carvajal is one of the young volunteers from Antenas Juveniles who participated last year and has continued to collaborate with Suspiros ever since. "The good thing is that there are many ways to help them: if you have time, like me, you can be a volunteer, you can help by feeding the animals, playing and walking them; you can also donate food and money, to help them with their treatments and the things they need", said the volunteer, who acknowledged that "coming to the shelter brings me a lot of happiness: arriving and the dogs coming to me, jumping on me, working with them, because some dogs are more affectionate, others are more fearful, but it really comforts me to be with them because they are my passion".

For María and Aitana it was the first time but, they say, it is a very rewarding activity. For her part, Aitana said that "if I had the time, I would walk the dogs more often". Meanwhile María said that "this activity helps both the dogs and the people to feel accompanied". 

Worrying situation

Suspiros de cuatro patas cares for an average of 40 to 50 dogs, including those in the shelter and those in foster homes, although this figure currently exceeds 60 and, what is worse, is still growing.

We have had a very bad summer, because adoptions have come to a halt, but there are still a lot of calls and warnings to which we had to say no, because we don't have the capacity to help more dogs, we have a waiting list even for rescues", lamented Emi Jiménez.  

The situation, therefore, is quite complicated, while helping them, she tells us, is quite simple, "we need, to begin with, that people are responsible with their pets, that they neuter their pets and do not have unwanted litters, because those litters are the ones that end up on the street and in the kennels, or run over in the ditches. Currently, for example, we have 18 puppies", insisted the representative of Suspiros de Cuatro Patas, who concluded by reminding us that "there are always many ways to help, there are many shelters that are always looking for volunteers, walkers, foster homes... so I ask everyone to get involved, to break the ice, to make a difference and to go to any of the associations that are close by to lend a hand". 

Suspiros de Cuatro Patas (https://suspirosdecuatropatas.org) is a non-profit animal welfare organisation that works thanks to donations and volunteers. At the moment they need, above all, volunteers to walk the dogs in the morning and afternoon shifts.

Share it with this link: https://mijasint.com/?a=31732