I’m writing this just after Three Kings celebrations have finished. It’s pouring with rain and as anticipated we are back into a regional lockdown. Not a particularly good start to 2021, but this won’t deter us from continuing our work to help neglected and abandoned animals in the Mazarrón area.
We were lucky to have a window over the Christmas and Three Kings period when we were able to put on some fund raising events. Karen’s Quiz Night kept the grey cells moving, while Alex Tipping from the Jersey Boys serenaded us with songs from Michael Buble, Elton John and Sir Tom Jones. The ever-popular Bazz Norton and Moya entertained us on Three Kings and as usual they didn’t disappoint with a fabulous performance. Although most of our team live in the Cartagena area, we were still hoping to continue with the planned events for January as luckily the wonderful staff at Zambuca Beach Bar and Restaurant were happy to run these fund raisers for us. Unfortunately this was curtailed with further restrictions. It is going to be a very hard time ahead for everyone.
With permission from the local police we still continued to transport dogs to safety and to their forever homes. Although Brexit has caused some issues with taking dogs to the UK, FMA and the fabulous organisations we work with have worked hard to ensure that all the correct regulations are put into place. Working in animal rescue has its ups and downs and although we have to remember the vast numbers of animals we have saved from neglect and suffering, there are times when animals have come to us too late. With these cases we just have to remember that at least we were there to help them through their last days and provide love and care in their final hours.
Another issue facing us is the number of our dogs testing positive for Leishmania. They are all currently receiving treatment and are healthy, so it is a shame that there appears to be a stigma attached to this very common Mediterranean disease preventing them from finding homes as quickly as others. The vast majority will go on to lead perfectly normal healthy lives and we will not turn our backs on these dogs as they deserve a happy life like any other dog and we are happy to discuss this condition if people would like further information.
Thank you as ever to all our supporters, fund raisers, donators, knitters, bakers, fosterers, adopters, transporters – you are all part of our FMA family and we couldn’t exist without you.
Fund Raising
We still have numbers available in our 100 Club and if anyone has any ideas for fund raisers during lockdown please contact us. Keep following our Facebook page for all our news and events at Friends-of-Mazarrón-Animals