There was something that brought each one of us here to dedicate our time to be volunteers to help in one way or another these animals that need us so much and that others have already failed them. That something is what we want our most faithful volunteers, those who have been with us for so long, leaving other things that many consider indispensable aside, to explain to you first hand, and here you will be able to see their story. A story that they have explained to us about how they got here and why they prefer to be surrounded by these wonderful beings to those other things that others believe to be indispensable.
Why volunteer?
Flavia Baridon.
Volunteer since 2007
First of all, I want to start by thanking the immense love I have received as a volunteer of Sara… for all those unforgettable moments that fill my heart. Moments of intense happiness and also of deep sadness but, in any case, true moments that made me grow as a person in this inalienable and wonderful belonging to life.
Since I was a child I was lucky enough to have a home where animals were part of the family, most of them picked up from the street.
Shortly after arriving on the island (7 years ago), I decided to call SARA to report the disappearance of some stray cats. I was attended to by Raquel, who very kindly provided me with assistance. So I decided to go personally to the shelter and help. My first visits consisted of walking dogs and cleaning the cattery area. I remember that the first day I spent almost an hour holding a cat that was stressed because someone had left it there a few days ago and it was adapting to its new home.
From the first day I couldn’t let go of my volunteering. Today, I spread the work of the shelter in schools and associations, because I want to bring the message of love for animals and to speak for those who have no voice.
My work at SARA is one of the most important experiences I have had, because there we love those animals as our children. You see them every day: how they play, get angry, get sick, look at you, ask you, wag their tail, purr. My vision of animals and their behavior has grown. I have learned from them so much…. And I have also learnt that life is NOW, there is no past or future for a dog or a cat.
I remember Mescal, who arrived with a fractured skull… Not a week had passed when one afternoon, I was coming to the shelter to clean and I saw him waiting for me at the door wagging his little tail. That image is still indelible in me. I could not believe that that animal in the state he was in, could tell me something good: “I am happy even though my head has been broken”.
My boy Berto, who was euthanized because his illness had no cure and he was already suffering too much. I will always remember Berto, a dog who showed joy despite his pain.
My Rudolf, who enjoyed walks so much! He loved the water. He would jump into any puddle and roll around. One day he ran away so strongly that he let go of my leash and I fell to the ground. When he saw me between the ground and the rocks, he came back running towards me and he didn’t stop licking my face… That was Rudolf, a hyperactive hunting dog, but one that would never leave you. DEP dear Rudolf.
Siemens was a cat that arrived in the worst possible state. When he was already recovering, he ate with our help, he didn’t chew, he could only manage with a syringe, but he had such an appetite that he took the syringe with his front legs. Seeing him eat so hard lifted your spirits and your hope. His desire to live…What memories I have of that wonderful Siamese cat!
Every day is a new learning experience at SARA, from both the joys and the sorrows. Because the animals show you that you have to move on, that they don’t understand the resentment, nor what is beautiful or ugly, if an animal has pedigree or not, if it is a puppy or an old animal. They live the present, they give you love without expecting anything, even though you get angry with them, they really forgive you and this is something we should understand once and for all.
The energy you feel there in SARA is inexplicable. It is the mutual love of those of us who defend life with commitment and a smile on our soul.
I hope that one day SARA will not be a necessity for the island and that we respect animals as they respect us. I hope one day we will understand life as those animals without a voice understands it.
Please don’t miss this opportunity to volunteer!
Nazaret García
Volunteer since 2012.
I had long been aware of the situation of abandonment on this island. It was something that concerned me, but I was reluctant to live it more closely and feel powerless, until one day in 2012 I left home and I tripped over a ball of hair that could barely move. People passed by with great indifference, but I could not, and I discovered that under that blanket was an animal who needed help. So I did not think twice and I took him to Sara. Golbert, that was how he was baptized, made me go to Sara every weekend to see him (I needed to know how he was doing). Little by little I got involved in the tasks of the shelter: walking dogs, cleaning the cattery area, doing the laundry, working in the different markets that are organized to raise funds, etc. until I first foster an animal: my Leo. And I say “my” because I fell in love with my little Leopard and I ended up adopting him , ha ha ha …. Then came Slippers , I knew she was already adopted , but while the date came she needed a home and she was very cuddly so it was hard to leave her (but I can not keep them all ).
Today I realize that the qualms I had in getting directly involved in this reality. It was just a blindfold that I was putting on myself and I am happy for the decision that I made to help, to be part of this family. Because not only the four-legged souls you find in the shelter are spectacular, but also its workers and/or volunteers.
Thank you guys for letting me be part of this great family.
Marga Sánchez.
Volunteer since 2013.
“My story has nothing new. Maybe it started differently. I came to Lanzarote from Tenerife in 2009, but it was not until 2012 when I became pregnant, and YES, I start my story at this point because when my little girl was born I already had my little dog Sune and also a puppy of hers. It was a very difficult period, because with a newborn girl, who cried practically day and night, without sleeping, with a 4 year old dog and a puppy of months running around the house… well, yes, it was crazy.
All this led me to look for a trainer for my Lira (any option before leaving her…). Class after class, my daughter was growing up which led me to become more and more involved in this world, in this reality of which I was not aware. A reality in which we live such hard moments but it is so satisfying at the same time…
I started in 2013, (also thanks to another volunteer, Sergio) and like almost all volunteers, I started walking the dogs. Walks that are so grateful whether short or longer because of the human contact.
I also started making washing machines so that their blankets and towels could be up to date, cleaning, working at the office … Whatever it takes, we go through that practically all volunteers. We do everything, everytime is needed…
…and not only the internal work of the shelter, but also the external work: helping those we meet, giving them shade, water, food, helping them, and collecting what we can so that they have the minimum they need, until they find a home where they can enjoy themselves…
It is a quite enriching work. I do not know if it is me who gives love to them or them to me…(almost the second). And being part of Sara’s people is the best decision I have made in a long time. I encourage everyone who has doubts to come, you will not regret it. THANK YOU”.
Carmen María.
Volunteer since November 2010.
“My beginning was something I had been waiting for for a long time, as I have loved animals since I can remember.
One day I saw SARA’s website and decided to stop by and see the shelter. At first I just walked the dogs but little by little I started doing more things and now I would do anything for these “little bugs” because they have made me realize that my world is the world of animals and on top of that the love they give me I can’t even describe it to you.
Many dogs have passed through my house but I have two stories that have marked me with difference. The first is the reason why I became a “faithful volunteer”: One day at SARA I found out that it was necessary to find a temporary home for some puppies, the Telma, who have been abandoned and are weak, in poor condition, and needed a bottle everyday, so I offered. There were 6 of them but when they came into my hands there were 5, after a few hours 4 and finally only 2 survived. That’s how I realized how important we volunteers are.
The second story is the current one. Goldberg was found in a pitiful state on the day of the festivity of the Dolores Virgin and after a few months at SARA I decided that his last days would be at my house since he was an older dog and he had not known what the true warmth of a home is.
I tell you these stories because they are part of the shelter but also part of me. Don’t think about sadder stories, but think about the fact that together we can help to make things better. So from here all I can say is that you are important in SARA.
Become a volunteer !!!!”
Nuria Camañes.
Volunteer since November 2010.
“Well, it all started with these two little brothers who came into our lives almost by chance ….. Since I arrived in Lanzarote, I knew that I wanted to actively help in some animal shelter, so I started to search on the Internet and I found out about SARA. So I sent them an email to inform me ….
I had never had cats before…. The truth is that I did not know much about their habits and customs, but these two brothers who had been left needed me because they could not stay in the shelter because they did not have nails on their front legs and that meant that they could not defend themselves against any attack….
They arrived home on Saturday, November 6, 2010 and in a few days they stole our hearts and it was already impossible to get them out of the house… I wouldn’t know exactly what it is that unites me to these two animals, but it is a feeling of peace and tranquility every time I see them looking at me… it is something difficult to explain….Most of the time they transmit more to me with a single glance than a word from a person…. because I know that what they do they do it from the heart.
At first it hurt me to think that litters of kittens arrived at my house, barely a few days old and after “raising them” I had to take them back to the shelter so that they could go to their new family…. But with time I have understood that this is my task with the shelter… to make them stronger and help them to move forward. Those babies usually arrive newborn, sick or just with a thread of life….
But I really encourage people who like animals to get involved in some way because it is a very rewarding job.“
Anabel Díaz.
Volunteer since 2010.
“I’ve been a volunteer since 2010 when I arrived at the shelter looking for a way to sort of escape from reality after some frustrated examinations. I started walking dogs, little by little. I started walking them an hour one day, another day two hours, until the Jury puppies came into my life. There were many of them and they needed to leave the shelter because there was no room; so there I was offering myself to take in temporarily two of them. At home I had a dog of almost 10 years but it did not matter, I was sure that she would accept them without problems.
And so up to 36 dogs have passed through my house in foster care, of which I have photos of all of them of course, hehe.
Then I started to go daily to the shelter, I cleaned, I gave love to the little bugs… Well a little bit of everything. There comes a time when you make symbiosis with people and animals of the shelter.
And then Mallorca arrived, my Mallorca. A little dog tied up in a dilapidated house without water and without food that a volunteer found and brought to us. She was terrified so she would not come out of her kennel, but as if it was something magical, Mallorca on the second day was already coming out of its kennel when I arrived. She was so comfortable with me to the point of walking with me without a leash.
It was magic for me, spectacular. And then she left….. but to Germany to a house where they love her madly (that is the price of being a volunteer: the little piece of your soul that they take with them when they leave, but that you recover with the next animal that arrives).
In between all this, first Bimba and then Dobi, my two suns, came into my life. Of course adopted at the shelter.
This has been a little long, but it has been almost three years of happiness, and I hope that there will be many more. The days when I was saddest, I went to the shelter so that the dogs would comfort me, and that was the way it was, there all the sorrows go away, I forget all the problems, just by seeing those faces waiting for you to walk them, to pamper them, to give them sweets, that is priceless. And I will always be grateful to the people of the shelter for welcoming me in such a great way, to all the volunteers who are always there helping, who are great. I have met great people, friends who today I love very much. So THANK YOU for letting me be part of Sara’s family.
And if after reading all this stuff you don’t feel like being a volunteer, you don’t know what you’re missing, DON´T HESITATE, we are great people, hehe”.