Algarveanimal.com has been launched by veterinarian student Luisa Canário in a bid to provide “easy to access and useful information” about animal welfare in the Algarve.
The website contains information in Portuguese and English about where you can adopt animals or find them if they are lost, the sterilisation programmes that are available in the region, and advice on what to do if you witness cases of animal abuse or see chained animals.
Currently studying veterinarian medicine at Évora University, Luísa was one of the organisers of the animal rights march that was held in her hometown of Faro last September.
At the start of this year, she started thinking about other ways she could spread awareness and came up with the idea of a website “containing useful information at the click of a button”.
“The Algarve is beautiful and welcomes many tourists, which means that a lot of times we have visitors who really don’t know what to do when they find an animal or lose an animal,” Luísa, 25, told the Resident.
“Some may want to adopt, volunteer or donate, but don’t know where to do it or even where to start looking. With this website, I hope to make this information easier to access for everyone and my goal is that, together, we can improve animal welfare in the Algarve and help many more animals,” she added.
Luísa hopes to have posters put up throughout the Algarve, at pet stores, restaurants and tourist information offices.
“I also plan on contacting municipal councils to reach out to the local community, so they also can find the necessary information, as that is the only way we can start a real change – by having the population informed and working together.”
