Cat beaten to death by Santa Maria restaurant owner

Some stories are so shocking it is hard to believe they are true and so horrific they are painful to read.

Last Friday, in front of horrified staff & diners, the owner of Restaurant Funana d'Vila in the town square of Santa Maria (Sal Island, Cape Verde) brutally killed a cat that had the misfortune to wander into his restaurant.

According to eye witnesses, the owner, Walter Dahringer, a German national, enticed the cat by offering it food, before snatching it up and throwing it in a blue plastic carrier bag.  He then repeatedly beat the bag on the stone pavement, ignoring the screams of agony of the cat inside.  When the cat was finally dead he simply tossed the bag inside a rubbish bin near his restaurant.

A volunteer retrieves the cat's body from the bin

Since animal welfare laws in Cabo Verde are unclear (they only protect owned animals which are classed as your property), it seems unlikely that there will be any action taken by the authorities.

The bin is near a trailer used by the restaurant.  Ironically 'Cretcheu'  is a term of endearment, such as 'sweetheart'

The restaurant Funana d'Vila.  The volunteer is blacked out for fear of reprisals

However, businesses like this survive by their reputation and we invite you to make your feelings known by boycotting this restaurant and spreading the word amongst others who live on or visit Sal.

You may also like to express your feelings to Mr Dahringer via email.  The address can be found on the internet.

Let's send a message that this kind of behaviour is unaceptable.

You can also sign a petition against the poisoning of cats and dogs in this country here. Stop poisoning cats and dogs in Cabo Verde.

Sign the petition, stop poisoning in Cabo Verde

If you believe in the humane treatment of all living beings and understand that cruel poisoning is not the solution to controllling dog and cat populations please sign this petition.

Despite agreeing that poisoning doesn't work (and has never worked on Sal) and committing to supporting neutering programmes (the only proven solution), the city hall, health department and tourism department still threaten to kill innocent animals in this cruel way to solve a problem that has a better solution.

The petition will be presented to these authorities.  Tourism is the most important industry in Sal, please help us to demonstrate that visitors do not support this practice.

Dogs and cats don't have a voice but you can speak for them.

Stop Poisoning Cats and Dogs in Cape Verde

Câmara Municipal do Sal support the end of poisoning

The Câmara Municipal do Sal demonstrate their support for the humane reduction of cats and dogs on Sal by publishing a report of the January sterilisation clinic.

The article states that poisoning causes a great deal of suffering and is, in the long run, never effective.  The article can be read here.

Final Sterilisation Clinic reports published

The full reports of the successful second sterilisation clinic on Sal can be downloaded or read in Portuguese, Italian and English by clicking on the following links.

Portuguese


Italian


English


 Once again a huge thanks to all involved.

Vets prevent the birth of an astonishing 80,000 unwanted dogs on Sal!

By neutering a total of 206 female dogs in Santa Maria & Palmeira (& 436 in total) the birth of an incredible number of dogs destined to live on the streets of Sal have been prevented.

Over ten days (7 in Santa Maria and 3 in Palmeira), the veterinary team from Germany performed an amazing 510 operations.  74 of those were the removal of painful hernias, cancerous tumours and amputations and the remainder were sterilisations.

	Santa Maria 14-21 Jan	Palmeira 22-24 Jan	Total
Male dogs	128	41	169
Female dogs	136	70	206
Male cats	23	6	29
Female cats	29	3	32
Total	316	120	436

So how does that work out to 80,000 prevented dog births?

Well, if you take the original 206 females and assume that they have two litters of 8 puppies each but that only 70% survive that is 2,307 born in the first year.  Of those 50% are female and they will also have two litters of 8 puppies of which 70% survive, so that is another 15,228.  Of those 50% are female.  They, plus the females from years one and two will have 16 more puppies each of which 70% survive and between them in year 3 they will birth to a truly remarkable 62,558 more puppies.  Put it all together and you have an exhausting ....

Puppies born & survive year 1	2,307
Puppies born & survive year 2	15,228
Puppies born & survive year 3	62,558
	80,093

But what it really adds up to is an incredible job done not only by the vets but by all the dedicated volunteers as well.  Thanks also to all the wonderful people who wanted to improve the lives of their animals and who waited patiently, sometimes all day, adding to the indescribable atmosphere of part veterinarian surgery, part carnival!

Thomas & Nicky, licensed to spray

It costs €15,000 to castrate this many animals and the funding was all raised by one amazing person, Monika, who not only did that, but who worked tirelessly during the clinic.

Thanks also go the people who made a donation either in person or through the internet, we raised €362 here in Sal and €426 on the internet.   These much needed funds will help to pay the cost of expenses such as the rental of the premises for the clinic, volunteer tshirts, banners and signs, boxes for transporting and separating the animals and miscellaneous medical supplies that were bought during the clinic.

The main objective for running this clinic and with luck, the next one, is to reduce the number of dogs in Sal.  We saw the strong affection that people here have for their animals and everyone agrees that fewer, properly cared for dogs and cats benefits not only the animals themselves but the people on this island as well.

Events were held in schools to teach children how to care for  animals.

The last day in Santa Maria

We could write a book about all the things that happen each day at the clinic.  Yesterday the majority of animals at the clinic had been collected by volunteers from the street or from areas with a lot of strays. Nicky and Marika spent a lot of time collecting cats from Djadsal Residence where the cats are under continual threat of poisoning by the management company and other residents (hiss....)

Neal and Laura tried to collect dogs from the Paradise Beach construction site but the dogs were very spooked, in the end it was left to the security guards who the dogs know and trust.  They managed to get three pregnant girls and one sad looking boy with a very bad eye infection.  Untold puppies have been prevented.

Two caring tourists brought a puppy that had been living around the Morabeza and had terrible mange.  It's such a shame because there is no reason this poor little fella had to suffer for so long, mange is so easily curable and Dr Fatima will treat street dogs for free.  The little boy, called Surf, got a nice ride home with Jayne.

And here is one of our regulars, he has become a star around the clinic as he waits patiently for his turn to see a vet and tolerates the indignity of having half a bottle on his head.  His usual spot is sitting under a chair near Thomas making sure Thomas is giving the correct doses!

Day 7 at the clinic

It hardly seems possible that it is day 7 already - but so much has happened.  The vets are averaging 40 sterilisation operations a day plus other miscellaneous ones such as tumour removal and dental work.  As anyone who lives here knows, a lot of the dogs have problems with their teeth and jaws with many having a funny little underbite.

The tumours are usually a form of cancer found on the genitals of both male and female dogs that is spread by sexual contact, something that is becoming more and more common here and another good reason to castrate.

Felicity is one of the saddest cases, brought in by a tourist staying at the Novorizonte Hotel, she was red raw on her back end.  It probably started out as a simple case of fleas but must have been driving her so crazy that she has scratched and chewed until the skin is all gone.  She is staying with one of the volunteers at night and being the guest of honour at the clinic during the day.  Once she is all healed she will go back to the beach to be looked after by the kind tourists at the hotel.  Oasis Atlantico, the owners of the Novorizonte are very supportive of the programme and are not one of the hotels that poison.

During the week we have had visits from government officials, including the Vareador do Ambiente & Saneamento (Counciller for the Environment and Sanitation) who is responsible for this type of activity.  Then a couple of days later the President's dog arrived and was collected by the President himself later in the day.  Today we expect a visit from the Department of Health who in the past have been responsible for authorising poisoning campaigns.

It's almost the last day in Santa Maria, tomorrow we pack up early and head up to Palmeira.  Palmeira is the main port on Sal but is really just a small village.  Sadly it has a lot of street dogs and cats living in terrible conditions.  Every time I go to Palmeira my heart breaks, so I am absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to be involved in something that will improve the situation.

Once again thanks to all our lovely volunteers, it's been loads of fun so far.