Charity celebrates animal magic
Animal charity APASA marked two decades of rescuing animals with a special reception at Javea town hall on Friday – a day before its 20th anniversary.
Mayor Jose Chulvi greeted members of the team of volunteers and presented charity president Mandy Conway with a glass plaque to commemorate the occasion.
The Associacion Protectora de Animals de San Antonio, which is supported by the council and fulfils the local authority’s obligations regarding strays, has rescued 11,000 dogs since it was founded in 1999 – it has also offered sanctuary to cats, pigs, foxes, a seagull and a ferret.
A short video detailing the charity’s history was played. It showed the first of the charity’s buildings, with kennels for 23 dogs, to a guided tour of the present refuge – of the escaped, lost and abandoned dogs arriving at the shelter over the 20 years, 5,560 were adopted and 3,961 were returned to their owners.
Mayor Chulvi congratulated volunteers for their work and said the charity had a “very impressive record”; he added animals deserved to be helped, cared for and respected.
“APASA has had more than 400 volunteers of dozens of different nationalities over the years; you can be really proud of your actions which have such a good impact on our society; your work is essential to help Javea be a much better place.”
And Councillor Doris Courcelles said: “APASA deals with dogs, cats, even pigs, and I remember I saw a municipal seagull once.
“Thank you volunteers for all your work and also the APASA vet Jose Luis Genoves; I know you are all doing a good job. And Gunther, he has been taking care of the puppies for years in his own house; he is so successful they have all been adopted – I have to mention him.
“I think it is fair today to pay this homage to you, to all the people who work in APASA. If everyone could have the feeling, dedication, devotion and the love of animals you all have, the shelter would be empty; unfortunately, it is not the case because there are people who do not love animals like all of you.”
The charity itself marked its 20th birthday with a sponsored walk of rescued dogs on Saturday morning and a party in the evening.