This is Spanish dictionary translation of a story which appeared in a Tenerife paper last month. It’s a story all too common for the podencos of the Canary Islands.
No one wants to take Betty, the dog who fell from a window
To Betty, they don’t want to adopt it. The belief that it is only a dog away from the homes and apartments of individuals, not hunters, not taking into account that the podencos as Bety remain dogs. Not so furry or ‘monkeys’ as others, but just as caring and faithful.
Bety was abandoned by her original owner, a Hunter in the upper area of La Victoria, one month ago at the Teide. I didn’t want it. “It’s a dog’s shit that is useless.” After roaming a place like Las Cañadas, where she was just thrown scraps, she was found by a neighbor of the calle Heraclio Sanchez of the lagoon.
Bety came through the window of the second floor of an apartment block and fell, being saved by people who caught her, cushioning her fall with a blanket. Today she is in the hostel Comarcal Valle Colino, barely weighing 15 kilos 200 grams when normal for a healthy hound its size would be 25 kg. “When she arrived she wanted to eat up to the plate,” tell us at the hostel. She has only risen somewhat more than one kilo of weight and you could say that it is all bone and skin. The image of Bety impresses. It is very sad but it contrasts with their curiosity and their behavior. “It is very good.” Allows us to caress but is still scared.
Adriana Naranjo, Director of Valle Colino, recounts that finally they will move her to an animal protection of the Federation Canaria associations protective of animals and plants (FECAPAP), where she will be until the end of her days with all the care she needs, if she is not adopted. At the moment she is sharing space with two other dogs that gets along very well, is very quiet and taking weight little by little.
WORK of awareness
Currently Valle Colino welcomes 58 cats and 250 dogs, with the joy that the adoptions in this first quarter of 2017 have increased over the previous year. In 2016, of approximately 2,500 animals 1.546 had a second chance. The situation continues to be complicated but from the hostel and the FECAPAP they try to raise awareness from school age empathy and respect. “With the money we get from donations, it is that it is, we give talks in schools in Tenerife.” Children are increasingly more involved. They sometimes surprise us because they say that you must not use animals for their skin or for experimentation. Years ago they didn’t have as much information. We see that they are capturing it and hope to adults remember these talks,”says Adriana.
LACKING shelters in TENERIFE
This hostel is the only one that has an effective collection of animals in Tenerife and usually meet the problem of residents in the North and South of the island who, after finding a dog or not can already take care of yours, do not find shelters in your area to let them. “There is no any Center in the North and in the South either have a schedule, or are full or are simply impossible to find”.
To this must be added that some municipalities of the island do not have agreements for collection of animals or shelters. “It is a binding of the municipalities Act. They have to charge and answer for abandoned animals, but sometimes call us people saying that Local police tells them to let the dog where they found it is because there is no where to take it,”said Naranjo.