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In 2017, we were asked to take on the plight of cats on the Senegalese island of Gorée. Gorée is located off the coast of Senegal. The island became known as a symbol of the abduction of slaves. The island has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1978. Gorée covers only 36 hectares and has around 1600 inhabitants.
Work permits, premises, fishing equipment and medicines first had to be organised, which was a real challenge on an island like Gorée. Numerous authorities had to be contacted until all the necessary authorisations were in place for our team to operate in Senegal. We also had to clarify in advance where we could order the necessary medication and what equipment was already available from the local animal welfare organisation Ligue pour la Protection des Animaux (LPA). It was not possible to bring everything with us from Switzerland. Fortunately, Dr Cissé, a vet from Dakar, committed animal welfare activist and lecturer at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Dakar, offered his help.
The first mission finally took place almost a year and a half after the first contact was made – in January 2019. A second mission followed in April 2019.
At the time, the LPA assumed there were 150 cats. However, it turned out to be many times that number. In addition to neutering and providing medical care for the cats, our team focused primarily on training local vets and final-year veterinary students. The aim was to enable the local animal welfare activists to continue the program independently in the future.
The conditions in Africa cannot be compared with those in Europe. Many things have to be improvised. The premises are spartan, there is always a lack of electricity and water, and the unrest in Dakar also makes the project more difficult.
After the second mission, 80% of the island cats had been neutered and several vets were able to continue neutering independently and to a good standard. We left some of the equipment we had sponsored and brought with us on site, in the expectation that the project would now continue and could serve as a role model for Africa.
However, unrest and ultimately the coronavirus pandemic threw a spanner in the works. Gorée was completely sealed off during the pandemic and the cats multiplied more than ever.
In 2023, we therefore decided to carry out a third mission on the island. In May, more cats were neutered and a special focus was placed on training and education, which was carried out in collaboration with the University of Dakar. The pandemic had clearly left its mark. The political situation must be described as unstable. Unrest, demonstrations, looting and various disruptions to public life are unfortunately part of everyday life. Nevertheless, we are staying on the ball and trying to convince the students at the veterinary university in Dakar in particular (who come from various African countries) of the importance of sustainable castration programmes.
After we had repeatedly provided the local team with training, support and material, the initial help for self-help was successful. It was agreed that a local team would regularly trap and neuter cats on Gorée in future, under the leadership of Dr Cisse and under the patronage of NetAP, LPA and the University of Dakar. Shortly after our team left in May 2023, there was unfortunately renewed unrest in Dakar. But just three weeks later, the first pictures arrived from Gorée: the first day of operations with the local emergency services had been a success. 8 female cats and 5 male cats were neutered. Subsequently, there was further unrest and no more missions took place.
Since then, we have endeavoured to remind the local partners of their promise to continue to ensure that the cat population on the island remains under control. Unfortunately, the local teams did not carry out any more missions until the end of 2024 and we therefore had to suspend the programme. As long as the local animal welfare organisations cannot credibly demonstrate that they can and want to continue the activities independently, we will not continue this project for the time being.
Since 2016, our involvement in Portugal has been limited to the island of Madeira, where we support local animal lovers in rescuing and neutering street animals and protecting other animals. As there is a local programme that generally provides free neutering, we only finance neutering in exceptional cases, but help with further treatment and provide regular support with supplies such as antiparasitics, milk powder, special food and other essential items.
At the invitation of the Maltese government, a neutering operation took place on the island in September 2013. In collaboration between NetAP and the German animal welfare organisation ETN e.V., around 600 dogs and cats were neutered during this operation. Our vets worked together with the vets from the ETN in a specially provided veterinary practice. The campaign was supported by the government and announced in advance. Animal welfare organisations as well as private individuals were allowed to bring their animals to the clinic for free neutering and registration during this week.
Thailand is the number one dream destination for many tourists because of its fantastic nature: pristine jungle, impressive mountains, fantastic beaches and magnificent wildlife. No wonder tourists love the country.
However, anyone with a heart for animals will soon be confronted with the darker side of Thailand.
You come across begging, sick, injured or dead dogs and cats everywhere. Street animals with whom fate is not particularly kind. Following their nature, these animals reproduce uncontrollably despite their history of suffering and thus multiply the misery. Many puppies die from disease or accidents, and those that make it through have to survive somehow and continue to reproduce if this is not prevented.
We have been working with local animal welfare organisations for many years. Our partners include the Soi Dog Foundation and Lanta Animal Welfare. The most effective way to combat the suffering of strays is to neuter them!
On the one hand, we finance neutering and medicine every year, and on the other, we also provide vets for assignments on site. For some European vets, an assignment in Thailand is extremely exciting, as the situations they encounter on site are something they would never experience in their day-to-day work at home. In addition to neutering, wound care plays a particularly important role, as even a small scratch is enough for flies to lay their eggs there. The maggots that develop from this then quickly eat large holes in the flesh, and if no help is given, the animal will eventually die miserably from blood poisoning.
Of course, education also plays a major role. On the one hand, tourists should be made aware of the problems of the animals, because if anyone donates anything at all in Thailand, it is usually the tourists. On the other hand, the locals are also involved and educated. Time and again, we succeed in convincing a Thai that his dog is better off with castration and professional wound care. Hotels are also informed that they not only tolerate cats, but actively take care of their health and of course ensure that they are all neutered.
Countless street dogs live in Palestine, mostly under poor conditions. The country does not yet have an animal welfare law and the castration of animals is largely unknown there. Most dogs in Palestine are used as guard dogs (e.g. in the olive groves of the West Bank) or as working animals (e.g. as draught animals in Gaza). According to a study by the Palestinian Animal League (PAL), the dogs live in very precarious conditions: They are often malnourished and sick and are generally driven away, poisoned or shot by the population and the police.
In 2015, the Palestinian Animal League (PAL) became the only animal welfare organisation in the country to successfully launch a pilot project in Tulkarm – a village in the north-west of the West Bank – and neuter, vaccinate and provide medical care for around 450 dogs. However, neutering and vaccinations alone are not enough to sustainably improve the situation of street dogs. As long as the population’s attitude towards dogs does not improve, it will be difficult to make a lasting change. In Islamic societies, however, this is not easy as dogs are considered ‘unclean’.
For this reason, in addition to its valuable practical animal welfare work, the animal welfare organisation PAL wanted to place greater emphasis on educational campaigns to raise awareness of the need for a change in the relationship between humans and dogs. To this end, PAL needed a professional education and awareness-raising campaign with sufficient image and video material. We financed this campaign for PAL. It is unique in content and form, as there has never been anything like it in Palestine before. In addition to the practical animal welfare work of neutering and providing medical care for dogs, it aims to win over Palestinian society to a new and positive relationship with their dogs – an understanding that no longer sees dogs as ‘unclean’ animals that can be driven away and killed, but as living beings that have their rightful place with and alongside humans.
