2017 was a rewarding year for us as we found permanent homes for 35 animals. What an amazing success! Each of these animals came to us with a story of homelessness, illness, abuse, or neglect and with the community's support we have been able to rewrite their tales with happy endings.
Our future looks bright and we are excited to bring you new and exciting fundraising events this year. Look for upcoming announcements detailing our 1k Fun Run, Wine Tasting Gala and more.
From all the volunteers at ARF, Happy New Year!
December Finances
December income totaled $3366.21 and expenses were $1648.85.
ARF Coupon Book Fundraiser
Coupon books are still for sale. Contact ARF or any ARF volunteer and buy yours for $25. There are many food and drink discounts for local restaurants, free hotel nights, discounts on computer repairs, classes and tours and much, much more! Coupons are valid through 2018. Thank you to all the businesses who participated in our inaugural coupon book and to those who have purchased them. We already have vendors asking about participating next year so we look forward to this fundraiser growing in value!
Featured Animal
Meet Bobby. He is about two years old and a handsome little guy. He is a very sweet and social dog and loves to be close to his human. Bobby was rescued, along with his mom and 5 siblings from the Palo Alto area from a man who was threatening to poison all of them if they were not removed from the area. Bobby gets on well with cats and other dogs. We would like nothing more than to say goodbye to Bobby knowing he's found a forever home. Come and meet Bobby and his friends at the Tuesday market
The Issue of Euthanasia
When we sent out our survey a couple of months ago, we received some feedback which we were not expecting. There were some who felt that ARF spends too much money on medical care for animals and others who argued that providing medical care for severely ill or injured animals is cruel. In the US and many other countries, people make the decision to euthanize their pets for health, behavioral and monetary reasons regardless of the viability of the animal. This, combined with the millions of shelter animals who are euthanized each year, has created a social and ethical issue with people on both sides wanting the best for the welfare of the animals but holding vastly different views about how to make that happen. The difference for animals here in Panama is that it is very difficult to have an animal euthanized unless it is suffering from an incurable or extremely painful illness or injury or if the animal has a disease which could cause a public health issue. Veterinarians are hesitant to euthanize animals that have a chance of recovery and who could go on to live a full life. While ARF has had to have animals euthanized, it has been rare. It is a decision that we do not make lightly and is made together with the attending veterinarian. While many of the first pictures of the animals we post are alarming, the majority of these animals are suffering from easily manageable conditions such as malnutrition, parasites, and skin funguses. Some suffer from more serious, but treatable illnesses such as tick fever. We see a few injuries from vehicles and some from abuse, but the vast majority of these issues are treatable and euthanasia would not be an option for these animals in Panama. Most of the animals that pass through our care make unbelievable transformations in just a few weeks with the appropriate food, parasitic medicines and fungal baths. We appreciate the comments we received and are glad to have the opportunity to be able to add some clarity. As always, if you have questions or concerns about the animals in our care, we encourage you to contact us at arf.boquete@gmail.com
ARF is the only community based, all-volunteer, non-profit animal rescue organization in the Boquete Panama area. Our Mission is to provide for the well-being of all companion animals, rescued, abused, and injured. Providing medical treatment as needed and finding lifelong loving homes through adoptions and to promote the animal/human bond through community outreach. ARF is dedicated to ensuring animal abuse, neglect and suffering is reduced and or eradicated through raising the public awareness through action, education and advocacy.
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