Respostas da ANIMA

Fiz algumas perguntas à Doris Mitchel, provenientes de dúvidas de vários madeirenses. Aqui está a resposta dela e da ANIMA:

"1. Anima adopt animals from Madeira because they want to help the animals, they don't want them to be killed. Seeing abandoned dogs and cats is very upsetting for people coming from northern Europe. Many tourists get in touch with Anima after their holiday in Madeira and ask if we can help this dog or that cat.

2. It is a strange idea to ask whether it is easier to adopt animals from Portugal. Do these people think Germany wants those animals? Do they not realise how much effort and cost is involved in sending animals from here to Germany? Germany has more than enough dogs, does not need any from Madeira. It is purely to help the animals here because there is no legal protection for them in Madeira. In northern Europe there are no abandoned dogs out in the streets. If a dog is abandoned, it gets picked up by people or the police and taken to the local animal rescue centre. They then find a new home for the animal. It does not get killed. In Germany it is illegal to kill a dog or a cat unless it is terminally ill. No vet would do it. Animal legislation is put into practice. If you are caught abandoning a dog or ill treating it you go to prison or pay a fine of at least 5000 Euros.

3. Puppies have a better chance than older dogs to find a home here on Madeira. In Germany, once people are over 60, they don't want a lively young puppy. They prefer to know that the dog will not live longer than the owner because they worry who will care for the animal once they themselves have died. People who come to Anima to adopt a dog are people who want to help an animal not people who just want a dog.

How does anybody know that Anima only wants dogs 4 or 5 years old? Anima takes dogs from SPAD in date order, the ones that have been there longest. SPAD generally does not keep dogs much older than 5 years because nobody on Madeira adopts them. So Anima sometimes says that many people in Germany prefer a slightly older dog. Once they are 8 or 10 years old it is also very difficult to find them a home."