By PAULO SILVESTRE [email protected]
Financial difficulties have put the offices of Pravi, an Algarve-based non-profit animal association, at risk of closure.
The association has already saved more than 1,500 cats and dogs this year and needs financial support to continue helping abandoned animals.
Pravi coordinator Marta Correia said that the association is at risk of closing due to a debt to veterinary centres of more than €4,000.
She told Lusa news agency: “We call on all citizens to help us. One cent given by every citizen living in Faro would be enough.”
Pravi does not receive any public subsidies to combat the increasing number of abandoned animals in the region.
“Every day we receive dozens of requests to help stray animals and we are facing financial problems, which make us feel powerless, because we have neither the means nor the money to take action,” said Marta Correia.
She said there are “hundreds of animals abandoned on the streets of the Algarve and the few local kennels that exist are overloaded and some are illegal”.
Since the beginning of this year, Pravi has arranged for 308 animals to be sterilised and has more operations scheduled.
The association has also saved several animals from Faro docks, where they are abandoned every day and represent a threat to public health.
“Many residents like to go to Faro docks for a walk or a run, but they run the risk of being attacked by hungry and sick animals. This is a public health issue. We have already spent about €5,000 on dealing with abandoned animals in this area,” said Marta Correia.
Pravi pays between €100 and €250 for the sterilisation of a stray animal, and Marta Correia said that the situation is “becoming absolutely unbearable because the association does not receive any subsidies and relies only on charity from people.”
If you would like to help Pravi, please email [email protected] or make your contribution to the bank account with the NIB number 0033 0000 4530 8483 78 805.
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