With the closing of K’s Path later this year, NES has partnered with a small domestic animal rescue center, Save a Soul. It is managed by ex-NES student Aliss, so we thought it was fitting to support Aliss in her work.
Aliss is a passionate animal activist, supporting many initiatives aimed at highlighting the abusive and cruel treatment of animals by their human protectors.
Aliss funds her shelter personally and runs a facility from the basement of an apartment block in Mahboula. The facility is small and she can house a maximum of 20 dogs at any one time. She has two permanent members of staff who care for the dogs on a daily basis; seeing to their daily needs of food and water, short walks, exercise and keeping the dogs and the facility clean. The situation is not ideal but it is run efficiently and effectively. The dogs get 4 – 6 hours a day of “play-time” in an indoor enclosed area. However, for the remainder of their day, they are in an enclosure.
Aliss rescues dogs abandoned by their owners, some of which are in extremely poor condition after serious abuse and neglect. The first port of call for a rescue is a visit to the vet. The animals are kept at the vet for a minimum of a week for a general check-up, observation, and their injections. Many are in need of operations and Aliss spares no expense in getting the animals back to full health.
As you can imagine, Aliss’ vet bills are extremely high.
Once the dog is in good health only then will they be brought to the shelter. Now starts the long road to finding them homes. This is quite a process as the dogs need to be socialised again. After being on the streets, neglected and often abused these dogs need to be trained and learn how to trust humans again. And this is where the NES volunteer group is here to help.
Our first group of 23 volunteers went out to the walking area near Mahboula beach on the 14th October. Aliss brought 10 dogs to the area and the volunteers paired up to teach the dogs to walk on a lead, take treats after they learn to sit and generally to get used to human contact again. What a success it was, the volunteers walked the dogs initially in an enclosed area and once the dog got used to their handlers, groups of dogs were taken down to the beach for a dip in the ocean. Both dogs and volunteers had a wonderful time and were quite exhausted after 2 hours of training.
Well done NES on a most successful day! We thought it would be nice to introduce some of Aliss’ success stories, dogs she has brought back to health and who are now happy in homes – Belle & Beauty & Maggie. This is what we, as NES volunteers, hope to be part of; the rehabilitation and the re-homing of these dogs.
