It was great to speak to the very busy Mandi from Apama Nature – A.P.A.M.A. which stands for Asociacíon para la Protección de los Animales y el Medio Ambiente. Apama Nature was established in 2016, it is a non-profit organisation and a registered charity based in Abanilla (Murcia) that helps abused and abandoned animals.
Apama Nature are also known as a "Protectora" in Spanish. The team at Apama Nature work tirelessly to provide food, shelter and veterinary care to animals until they are adopted. The charity also provide support for lost animals, report cases of animal abuse and give awareness talks about animals and the environment. As with most charities, Apama Nature rely heavily on donations and volunteers so it is vital to raise awareness of the work they do in their community. Mandi works very hard to publicise all the animals that need help via social media. It is an important outlet for the charity in order to gain followers and ultimately new homes for the animals that they have rescued and care for here in Spain.
We hope you enjoy reading about Mandi and the work that Apama Nature does to re-home dogs. You will see that they work very hard to build awareness of the animals that desperately need help and would very much appreciate your support with either adopting, fostering, donating or sharing their posts on Facebook!
Yes we have 3 dogs in our house, Pablo is a Portuguese Podenco and an ex street dog from Lisbon. Then we have Sydney who is a Tibetan Terrier, she is an ex RSPCA case and was kept for 2 years in a cage in a horsebox with 57 other dogs. RSPCA stands for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruetly to animals. They are the largest animal charity in the UK and was patroned by Queen Elizabeth II. Sydney couldn't even wag her tail when she arrived because it was matted to her leg. We also currently have Romeo – who we are fostering from Apama Nature, he seems to think he is now in a permanent home!! He was left for dead on the streets and then was attacked by some of the other dogs at the dog shelter.
I've owned rescue dogs all my life and was shocked to see the amount of abandoned, abused, and neglected dogs here in Spain. I knew had to do what i could to help.
Apama Nature is a registered charity that works to rescue and re-home animals here in Spain, I started working with them in 2020 when i first moved over. I quickly became the person to re-home dogs to the UK and elsewhere using my own Facebook profile as well as the “Apama Nature” Facebook page and group.
We have had our Facebook page named “Apama Nature” for quite some time and we have over 5000 followers. Our Facebook group is called “Apama Nature Official” and is relatively new, it has only been going for a few months. So far we have about 500 members and it is growing daily. The group is a lovely community of mainly "fosterers" and "adopters" who share the progress and journeys of their dogs and offer support to each other.
My first successful adoption was Nina (Now Xena), a very shutdown frightened teddy bear of a dog with 2 broken legs and tail. She broke my heart that much i took her home so she could try and learn from our dogs that human hands could be kind. Xena soon came out of her shell, and now lives happily with her family including her 2 cat brothers. Over the last 2 years i have helped to re-home more than 200 abandoned or rescued dogs.
Our process for re-homing a dog is to post an appeal in all of the Facebook groups. Once we have interest in a dog, we send out a pre-adoption questionnaire that helps us to learn a little more about the potential family and where the dog would live. Should this application be successful we ask for photos and talk to the prospective adopter on the phone via video as a home-check, and also on normal calls. Should both parties still be in agreement a deposit to secure the dog for adoption is paid. if the dog is travelling abroad, transportation is arranged. If the dog is staying in Spain a deposit is paid and a date is arranged for the dog to go to their new home. We then complete a day 3, week 1, month 1 and month 3 follow-up checks.
Our adoption fees are €200 for an adult dog, which includes neutering/spaying, microchip, passport, all vaccinations including rabies and antiparasitic treatment. Puppies are between €100 and €150 depending on the age they are when they leave us.
Whilst we don't have the resources to carry out physical home checks in all situations, we often complete virtual home checks via video call. It is important to understand the new environment that the dog will be going to live in. We need to know that it will be both secure and suitable.
It is difficult to say that any kind/breed of dog should have priority over another. Every single dog that comes through our doors certainly does not belong here. Every dog deserves the chance of a loving happy home.
Fostering dogs is a very important role, and we would love to have more foster homes available. This is a vital stage for dogs that are not used to living with humans, or even in a home because it teaches them not to be frightened and that they can trust people. As a result, this makes it much easier to find a new home for them as they already have a better understanding of family life.
Whilst we don't pay for food in the foster homes, they are still able to use our vets and our accounts for medical attention for the dogs.
Yes, Rocky is a mature 8 year old Belgian Malinois male that lived with a female Belgian Malinois on a large estate where they were both used for breeding puppies for police dogs. When Rocky became ill with a bladder infection he was just left to die a slow and painful death. He had bladder stones that eventually burst through the wall of his bladder. Thankfully, one of the workers there brought him to us to save him. We paid for his surgery and he is now well enough to go to a new home with a family that understands his breed. He has been with us a long time and really would love a home of his own.
APAMA NATURE is a fully registered and legal Charity in Spain. Protectapet have verified their credentials as Asoc para la proteccion de los animales y el medio ambiente with registration number G73912115.
As a fully registered charity in Spain they are permitted to receive donations to their cause. i am sure they would appreciate any help you can give in the form of MAKING A DONATION. Donations can also be in the form of kindness by helping out fostering the dogs or by supporting their facebook and other group pages to spread the word, it all helps!!!
If you are considering Rocky as an addition to your world or maybe you know someone who loves Belgian malinois dogs please reach out to Apama Nature for more information.
Belgian Malinois are considered to be trainable due to their intelligence and are often used by the police and military. They are also capable of being excellent guard dogs, protectors of families and homes. Rocky will need to have an owner who is used to this type of breed and has experience in handling and controlling dogs in a firm and loving manner.
We know its not always possible to just adopt a dog... there are many things to consider. There are however, other ways you can help Apama Nature:
- Consider Fostering a dog, as Mandi mentioned this is a vital role to help with the rehabilitation of dogs. Can you offer a bit of tlc and a short term stay for a homeless dog whilst the team at Apama continues the search for a new family!
- Become a volunteer at the shelter or even just help to walk the dogs that are currently there. You can find out more on Apama Natures website which is in Spanish or message them through their Facebook Page.
-Follow Apama Nature´s social media profiles and involve yourself with the online community, "liking and sharing the appeals" is always very helpful and much appreciated.
We hope you enjoyed reading about Mandi and the work that she and the team at Apama Nature do to rescue, rehabilitate and re-home abandoned and abused dogs.
You may also like to read about:
Becky and her dog re-homing group " Just a Chance in Spain and UK"
Protectapet are trying to provide as much support as possible to charities and pet organisations that shelter and care for those less fortunate. Most pets have loving homes and get cuddles every day, shelter dogs need this too. The support may come in the way of awareness through our website, as in this article, our social media pages, our groups or just by word of mouth and promoting these articles. One of the best ways to create awareness, is from people like yourself that have taken the time to read this article, appreciate the time and effort that people put in to do this kind of work and SHARE this article to their own sources of communication. Raising awareness is a vital part of rescuing pets and we hope that you will continue to support us in our efforts to do so. Thank you from us all at the Protectapet team.
If your charity or organisation would like to take part in, or be featured by Protectapet on our website, and within our corporate social media campaigns, to create additional awareness, then please contact Tangalina and let her know of your association or animal welfare cause.
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