Hello, I’m setting up this just giving page after finally realising that I cannot tackle this situation alone and I really need help. I live in the south of Italy where domestic animals are often left to fend for themselves and sterilisation is either not known about or frowned upon for being against nature. This is mainly due to a severe lack of education about why these animals are not able to survive without human support and that they really don’t want to reproduce, they want a home, shelter, love and lots of food 😄

There is very little public money available for volunteers and animal welfare associations so often it is down to locals like myself to buy food and medicine for them, but often the best thing you can do to help is take on the responsibility of a rescue yourself. I’ve already taken in 28 cats, some have stayed with me, some have found loving homes with friends and others just didn’t make it despite the time effort and love that they received. I currently have 11 cats and 4 kittens, plus 8 six week old puppies along with the pack of feral and abandoned dogs that eat in the area thanks to a few of us in the area.

To be able to continue caring for these dogs we need the funds to catch, sterilise and then continue feeding them. I’m trying to raise the 8 puppies with the mother, which as you can imagine is a strained and potentially dangerous situation because she is totally feral and I think can't decide if she wants to kill me or thank me, but anyway I don’t believe in taking animals from their mothers prematurely. Once they reach 10-12 weeks they can go to new homes, but again we need help getting them to various locations in Italy, Europe and the UK.

The biggest and most urgent challenge is educating the locals to sterilise their pets (rather than throwing newborn puppies and kittens in the trash or just leaving them out in the cold or locked up in cages). Stray and street animals are the collective responsibility of all of us and it doesn’t take much to rectify the situation if everyone does their bit to, very least, not add to the problem. So I will keep talking and explaining and posting and paying for other peoples animals to be sterilised, I’ll take their pets to the vet for them if they can’t manage it, I’ll help them with fleaing and worming and administering medicines, whatever is needed!

The problem is I’m already spending all the money I have and I have never considered asking for help, but a wonderful friend of mine convinced me to create a justgiving page knowing that with help I can do so so much more.

So I thank you in advance for your help. Homing these 8 puppies and sterilising the female strays that roam my immediate area is my current priority but there are always little projects on the go like sterilising someone's cat or dog for them or rehoming kittens to responsible owners.

Follow my new instagram @villa.puglia.pets to get daily updates of what I’m up to.

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