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2009: A year with light and shade for Scooby This year many things happened at Scooby, some good ones, some not that good ones und some quite discouraging ones. To start with the last ones, I want to tell you, that, for the time being, we find ourselves more and more exposed to inquiries by the authorities. We have no clue who is behind that but it's obvious that the frequency they take place is not to call normal anymore. As I told you some time ago, Spain is the country of laws not being followed and moreover some laws are so vaguely formulated that they leave a wide scope of interpretation to the officials. Although the living conditions of the animals at Scooby are as good as even possible in an animal shelter they are making our life and work very difficult these days.
I want to assume that there's no campaign against Scooby and I say, I want to assume so since I have a clear conscience and this is not going to change. The main problem about it is, that such things always cost us money and don't come in useful for our animals at all. Due to the current situation we had to retain a lawyer who's supposed to represent us against the authorities and defend our interests. Unfortunately this already caused expenses in the amount of 2000 Euros. We are negotiating about a discount at the moment. Furthermore – although it's alas normal – we lost some of our dogs which represented in a special way the work of Scooby, such as Tristón, La Loca and Santina. Lately I also lost Blanqui, my galga. She went through a long sad story caused by suffering from a degenerative disease. In the end her hind legs were paralyzed and there was no other opportunity for me than putting her to sleep. At least it happened at my home where she peacefully fell asleep in her basket while I was comforting and accompanying her until her last second.
This year was the year of the vans. The Renault Traffic is in car's heaven now and not in use anymore. What happened to the IVECO you already know and our Renault Kangoo is in intensive care at the moment to see if its life can still be saved. You also probably noticed, that in the last news, we mentioned again and again the necessity of finding homes for our mix dogs. The reason is, the number of mix dogs, placed abroad, has strongly decreased. And although the number of adoptions in Spain is increasing, we are not able to compensate the number of abandoned dogs with these adoptions. Therefore we need to find good homes for our mix dogs because they also deserve a loving family. The same is true for our cats. The number of cats is enormous and it's getting more on a daily base. We do know, the problem with the cats exists nearly everywhere but it would be marvelous if somebody would think about them, too. Please, help to spread the word that at Scooby there are not only wonderful galgos but also wonderful mix breeds and cats waiting for a forever home! To make you enjoy the rest of this update I saved the highlights of this year until last. There are a lot of interesting things to tell. This year we could experience the birth of Scooby Germany, Scooby North America and Scooby Zamora. This means our big Scooby family has spectacularly grown. The goal of these foundations is clearly to increase the numbers of adoptions abroad and to raise our means in order to be able to cover our costs here – which are unfortunately quite high. Honestly, I often feel ashamed I have to ask for money again and again but there is simply no other way. Do you remember the problems we had with the electricity at the beginning of the year and how they drove us to desperation? Well, then you probably also know that we finally cleared up the mystery and everything is working again, but do you know that there's still an open bill of 5000 Euros waiting to be paid…?
Speaking of money… Scooby negotiated contracts about accepting dogs with several city councils but unfortunately they are not paying us at the moment what they promised to pay – thanks to the 'famous' economic crisis. Therefore, we are currently near bankruptcy and had to borrow money from some private parties - including me. Let's hope this situation will be straightened out quickly as otherwise it could turn out to be Scooby's financial death by suffocation. Sadly, this could happen fairly soon. Now only pleasant things, I promise! Scooby Zamora was created to make a city shelter a reality in Zamora and to further spread our philosophy here in Spain. All these organizations continue to need more volunteers. As they are fairly new at their locations, they have a great potential to grow, and we are certain that they'll become leading organizations in their area soon. You know already that there is no stopping the Scooby philosophy! We are like a 'spot of oil' that slowly but steadily enlarges. This year was, without a doubt, a very important year for Scooby in Spain. We organized a large number of events in various cities and participated at many others where invited. We publicized the work of Scooby everywhere - our display table and informational material always came with us. The number of adoptions has increased, as well as the sales at our shop and the number of members. We are now prepared to drive to most any location and to defend the well-being of the animals there. As Scooby was fortunate to acquire more volunteers, we a were able to create some new divisions. There is now a strict protocol for follow-up after placements with their own e-mail address seguimientos@scoobymedina.com. We also developed a division that deals with the reports on animal abuse, and we now have a lawyer who helps us with it. Their contact address is denuncias@scoobymedina.com. In addition, we can be contacted at rp@scoobymedina.com to get help with behavioral problems of Scooby dogs. Dog behaviorists/trainers can assist you there with positive reinforcement advice. And finally, a Scooby Newsletter was developed for our friends outside of Spain (in addition to the one already available to our Spanish friends).
There are more and more Spanish volunteers and I'm so pleased to see how they communicate with our helpers in other countries and to witness the universal level of understanding they share regarding the protection of animals. We are happy to report that some Spanish veterinarians have joined us who volunteer their time for Scooby. This does not mean that we do not need the services of our out-of-state veterinarians any longer; the more vets we have, the more animals can be helped. Our board has been changed this year and has more international representation. We are from four different countries now and also from different cities. Thanks to modern technology, we are able to conduct regular meetings via PC. I know it has become a lengthy article again but in closing I want to express my gratitude to you. A sincere 'thank you' to:
And, like they say so nicely in the Coca Cola commercial: thanks to everyone who made it possible to make a 20 years old dream come true, which is hard to describe in words. From the bottom of my heart: thank you. Your humble servant who will always love and never forget you, Fermín |
