Because nearly 7,000 unwanted cats and dogs are eutanized each year by the veterinary Services – abandoned by their owners in the designated kill cage, adjacent to the animal shelter in Wayaca – Bucuti & Tara Beach Resorts took the decision to earmark considerable fund for a nation Spay & Neuter campaign.
It was super successful and a grand total of 4,450 surgeries were subsidized by the resort since the program was rolled out in December of 2015.
As of February 2017, the program entered a new phase, surgeries of all registrations that are less than 6 months old, go on as usual, but new registrations can now only be made by the legal rescue foundations that are helping the homeless dogs and cats on Aruba.
The rescue foundations, eligible for surgery subsidy are: ARA, ARF, AARF, Sgt Pepper’s Friends, New Life for Paws, Animal Shelter, Nisi Cannis (Crioyo Trappers), and Cas di Animal.
Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort has invested over Awg 375,000 so far in the program and received some financial contributions from ATA and the Tourism Product Enhancement Fund, to be able to continue the program, this year. Total contribution so far is Awg 200,000.
I personally took advantage of the generous offer to subsidize cat operations when I found out my neighbor was harboring 34 cats, as they were reproducing out of control. I registered the cats with the help of Yessy Arends, a Veterinary Technician Assistant at Animal Health Veterinary Hospital, and she scheduled the surgeries, I paid part, Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort picked up the balance. We couldn’t have done it without them. I found homes for some of the kittens, and the rest went back to the neighbor, fixed and well-behaved.
Incidentally a few weeks ago, my neighbor showed up with the cash, and refunded my out of pocket expenses from last May. It took him a while to save that amount, he explained, but he is a man of his word, and he wanted to pay his debt; the cat situation is under control now he assured me.
Gotta watch it. Under normal circumstance, one pair of dogs, can become 11.000 in five years, so in principle by spaying and neutering 3,760 dogs and cats, Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort prevented the suffering of 41 million animals in the next 5 years.
“Stimami Y Sterilisami,” processed more than 6,330 registrations. Naturally, the system was abused, many dog owners who could afford the operation, registered their pets as strays in order to obtain a 50% subsidy on the surgery, but at least the pet got fixed. At present with the donations from ATA and TPEF, all registered pets will be invited for a session with the vet until the list is finished.
Bucuti & Tara Beach Resorts hope the program helped educate locals about the importance for the surgery, and that it help create more responsible pet owners of strays and pedigree dogs. Amen!
