I don’t know too much about the organisation yet, but it seems to have been developed from/by Petsworld Dog Hotel where the owner, Marisa Traen and her team have been looking after abandoned animals in addition to running the boarding kennels that she opened early in 2001.

Since then, it would appear that together they have cared for over 200 abandoned and rescued dogs and now La Esperanza Del Sur has become a non-profit registered charity here in Tenerife.

Most of the rescue dogs they have, but not all, are Podencos (Hunting) dogs.  If you have a look at the section “Our Dogs” on their website you can read about the dogs, how and where they were found.

Please visit their website for La Esperanza Del Sur to learn more about what they have been doing and how you can help them to continue with this fantastic work.

Tenerife is a beautiful island, there is no question about that.  Unfortunately however, it suffers massively with neglected and abandoned animals – predominantly dogs.

One way to begin solving the problem is to introduce a complete ban on the sale of puppies in pet shops.  This was adopted in England several years ago but here in Tenerife such sales are still allowed.

Another way, perhaps easier to introduce and promote, is to re-home and foster dogs that were once cherished pets but have now been cast aside due to owners relocating or, sadly, in a lot of cases sheer neglect.  My view is that if each person does their bit, then we could start to make positive changes here.

Some months ago we decided to rescue a lovely Doberman from one of the many refuges on the island.  We didn’t intend to have a fourth dog but when we saw him we just couldn’t leave him there!

Then, in January 2010 we took in another 4 dogs – a Pointer, a Podenco, a Labrador X and a small mix.  They were living in squalor, rarely got to eat and sadly one of them had been regularly beaten making her extremely timid.  We wanted to give them a chance at finding a home, something which they wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.

The first port of call was to go to the vet and get everything done for these dogs that they had never had done before; microchips, de flea, worming, Heartworm test (luckily all negative), and all their vaccinations for the 7 canine diseases, Rabies and Heartworm.  They were painfully thin and absolutely stunk so they all got bathed (several times) and given a hearty dinner.

With much campaigning the first 2 were rehomed almost immediately.  The Pointer now has a fantastic home on the Golf del Sur and the small mix went to a nice family on the coast.

This still leaves us with the Podenco and the Lab X (Zuri and Lina).  They are both wonderfully fit and healthy, at their correct weight and, having been socialised ‘to the max’, are just amazing dogs and so willing to please.

We have had some hurdles along the way, people saying they want one or the other (or in one case, both) and then backing out, but it doesn’t dampen our spirits.  Somewhere out there is a home for Zuri and Lina with people who will give them the love and attention they deserve.

They have even hit youtube, local papers, Facebook, Twitter, various forums and I even wrote to the BBC (still waiting on that one)…….still though, they are looking for homes.

One of the problems we are finding is that people still (think they) want pedigrees, hence the Lab X remaining un-homed.  If people looked past the fact that she doesn’t come with papers they would be blessed with an amazing dog.

Fostering is something I wish to continue doing.  No one said it was going to be easy and, in a house of 6 large dogs, it has its struggles, but these dogs deserve so much better than they had and if more people could come forward to re-home on a permanent or temporary basis then we could start to reduce numbers in refuges and on the streets.

No dog deserves the lives they have sometimes and ultimately it is us who have put it on them, we now owe it to them to change the situation.

So, please, next time you are walking past a pet shop with cute puppies in the window, keep walking.  If a dog really is for you then go to a refuge or a foster carer like myself and allow a “second hand dog” into your heart.

Thanks, Steph.  It looks like you are doing a great job there, let’s hope you find a home for these guys very soon!  Steph’s contact details are shown at the end of the YouTube video, just click on the YouTube link above.

Could you provide a home for Zuri and/or Lina?  If not one of these two, maybe consider one of the many others that could benefit from being brought in to a warm and caring home environment.  Leave us a comment to let us know how you think you can help.

They are part of the way there, due to several generous benefactors, but construction costs will not be small, so there needs to be a fund raising initiative too.

How affordable is this then?  Could you, buy a square metre of land for Live Arico?  Well yes you can, at just €5 per square metre!

For this you will receive a certificate from Live Arico confirming your purchase and once the centre is completed your name and the number of square metres that you bought will be included on a “Roll of Honour” in the welcome centre at the new refuge.

This sounds like a fantastic initiative and should be affordable for most of us animal lovers.  For more information and to find out how you can make your purchase please call Debbie Gibson (on +34 637 918 158) or Suzy Q (on +34 629 388 102) as soon as you can or if you are in the UK and would prefer not to phone an overseas number, let me know and I will make sure the message is passed straight to them.