Argentine shelter offers animals a better life through alternative therapies
By Julieta Barrera
Buenos Aires, Jan 12 (EFE).- A gentle but elderly cocker spaniel dog receives an acupuncture treatment to help reduce the pain in his joints.
The “little man” is one of the over 200 dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, horses and pigs who have been rescued by Argentinian NGO Aprani after being abandoned, mistreated or left behind because of behavioral issues.
The Aprani shelter, in which the animals can roam free in a two-hectare plot of land a few kilometers from the Argentine capital, provides shelter and food to the abandoned animals as well as veterinary care, homeopathic, anthroposophic and immunotherapy cures in a bid to provide them with their “best possible life”.
“When we rescue them we try to cure them, take out all the evils from their lives on the street or in zoonosis centers before giving them up for adoption,” founder of Aprani, Alicia Barreto, tells Efe.
The shelter is also one of the few places which takes in dogs with aggressive behavior, which are usually isolated from others and often end their days in cages of zoonosis centers while waiting for euthanasia.
But at Aprani, the dogs are taken care of through educational behavioral therapy and get a second chance, as well as space to play, run and feel free to interact with other dogs.
“Animals are not bad by nature, they have been treated with violence and that is why they behave like that,” Alicia says.
Although the NGO has generated some projects like a cemetery for dogs and cats and both holiday and permanent boarding houses, the contributions generated by these initiatives are sporadic and do not cover the high costs of food, maintenance and salaries.
Some people help with money and others with materials.
“Anything is always good for us,” says Alicia. EFE
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