picking up a the donkey sanctuary newsletter at the fatacil was very sad to read of the story of Joana ...a donkey who they had to drive 600 kilometres to rescue as the son in law of the owners delighted in torturing this poor animal by shoving sharp instruments down its throat and making it vomit..hitting it on the head...he also kicked the dogs of the family...although they rescued the donkey it died after two months from internal injuries.

the donkey refuge did sterling work...they get no help at all from the gnr or any camara...for those who complained on an earlier posting about "their rights" in not accepting a charity box..might like to keep in mind the above story when next time some one asks for 5 sq cms of bar space to raise funds for such work ans the dinkey sanctuary and others as well do on behalf of what we call a "civilised society"

the son in law is to be prosecuted... but knowing how long winded the law here is dont expect any justice for poor joana

Guest i,m replying to this post purely to try to put the message across as it was meant..i can understand how distressing it can be for people like yourself to see an animal suffer as would most of us on the forum..but when your involved with say one charity you can get very passionate and focused so that when somebody doesn,t share the same passion it can make your blood boil..in cases like that one no matter how you feel inside you simply smile ,thank them for their time,express the hope that they may change their mind in the future ,walk away and then FORGET THEM.You must not publicy slag them off..because it is so counter productive you cannot imagine the harm that it will do to your cause..nobody ever decided to support a charity because of this but you may be assured you,ll find people that will decide not to,By the way wouldn,t you hate one of your family to meet the said son-in-law on a dark nite somewhere.

It really sickens me the way some people treat animals and that is a very sad story. The welfare of animals is something I do feel strongly about.
I support some animal charities and charities of other natures too.

However, not all charities or causes make me feel so passoinate about them. Even if they did, I could not possibly support all charities that I feel deserve support as its just not possible. I guess that is the reason people do have to say no as you just can't support them all and I wouldn't take it personally.

An elderly English lady I knew once in Algarve (she'd lived there for many years)
said to me,
" The Portuguese beat their animals and spoil their children. In UK it often seems the other way around"!
Much as I abhor the illtreatment of any animal and like Deb I belong to and support many animal charities,Im more concerned for the protection of our children. I believe figures show that every week in the UK a child dies from abuse/neglect. A shocking statistic. But how much outcry or protest do you see or hear?

First of all I'd like to think that beating up animals is something that the older Portuguese generation does or used to do. Unfortunately it may not be that way. I have a few childhood traumas from seeing animals being abused and maybe that's why I am so dedicated to my dog. I love him to bits.
Check him out

http://toffeethedog.textamerica.com

Hope it works.

i agree with gerry cullens point but equally i still must say that whilst an organisation is cashing in on tourism ii regret i still cannot see why they should refuse 5 sq cm of bar space...however let us not get into that debate again....regard to cruelty to children ..is there nothing worse in this world than to hear the screams of children or animals being hurt ...the only difference in terms of help is that children do have social services and police and others helping them...i do not think with regard to animal welfare here in portugal there is much concern....any one walking past a "circus" will see the most tragic views of lions and tiger baking in 120 degrees and then at night floodlights turned on them so that our locals can gawp at them...any mention of disgust receives a look as though one were discussing nuclear physics!!!

one local animal charity was going to bring a private prosecution against a man having sex with his dog..but he threatened to sue them for invasion of his privacy..so sadly as they did not have any funds for some long trial they had to drop the case.

yes for those who think the algarve is so wonderful..always remember the words of that great agatha christie book...there is always evil under the sun