Sad news on fundraising but hopefully it can continue sometime in the future .

It is with deep regret that have to report that last week Jan informed El Capricho, after 16 months of volunteering for them, she ( after a lot of agonising over the decision) will cease all voluntary work on their behalf . I totally understand and support her reasons for doing this .I know her heart will always be with the dogs in the shelter and the 2 dogs with broken legs which she is fostering.

To be honest it has been the most frustrating time of my life too , when you get involved with a dog rescue you realise it’s a bottomless money pit . Priorities have to be made and it always involves many emotional decisions to where the money goes . Does it go on taking all the dogs that need help immediately and requests for help with strays ? if not we have a pretty good idea what will happen to them . Do you turn dogs away and invest on the new shelter in order to help many more dogs in the future and make the existing residents a lot more comfortable ? Do you follow, something we all believe in, which is to spay neuter as many dogs as possible ? These are just a few of the things that need major money spending on them , there are a million and one smaller everyday choices to make and unexpected emergency vets bills . Unfortunately personal opinions vary on where the money should be spent, Jan and I get a lot of outside pressure from people that their way of thinking is the best, if it doesn’t happen we are the ones that gets all the criticism, this is despite us explaining we have absolutely no say in the matter. All these difficult decisions are made primarily by Ricardo , sometimes we find it very difficult to understand the reasoning behind some of them ourselves and even harder to explain to others .

　

I truly believe the only way to go forward with El Capricho is by a committee of at least 4 to 5 elected members . I most certainly can’t and won’t do it alone . Ricardo has said in the past that a meeting will be held with regard to the new planning permissions for the shelter , I am certainly hoping that will be going ahead and anybody that does want to see improvements will be there . Many people have asked for the annual financial report to be available , again I hope this will be done . Personally I know a lot more than we have raised has been spent by El Capricho on dogs and animal welfare in general .

Should this meeting take place and should Ricardo agree , I will be asking for a future get together to see if a fundraising committee for “ friends of El Capricho “ can be raised , should I be on that committee or not I can assure you the baton will be passed with dignity and I will help in anyway possible .

There is still a lot of car boot donations that we have been extremely grateful for. These remain the property of El Capricho and I will be asking Ricardo where he would like them stored ? He may organise future car boot sales himself and in that case I hope the same wonderful support we have had will continue .

Just to point out I will still be around helping El Capricho on a expat public relations way, for at least for a while, unless anybody would like to take over ? and after discussing it with my better half, we will still be dog walking , mainly because we both enjoy it and would miss the dogs - oh on that note we now really need somemore help with this, PM me if you are maybe interested .

Is the El Cap stall still going to be at the car boot on the first Sunday of the month?

Shiny wrote:Is the El Cap stall still going to be at the car boot on the first Sunday of the month?

Still working on it but very much doubtful, obviously when I have a definite answer I will post the decision, it isn't just about getting volunteers, It is mainly the logistics of tables, trailer, exactly where the items will be stored etc etc etc .

I know that Jan's whole world revolves around needy animals and I have no doubt most of her limited income goes on caring for them. I know for a fact that Jan paid the last two bills for Poochie, never mind the cost of petrol for his trips to the vets. I have no doubt that Jan has done that on many occasions for others. Another Friend, Carole, paid for further trips to the vet, his Frontline, Worming tablets, most of his food and sourced and took valuable items to the boot sale, Two other friends Jo and Phil have also taken him to the vets and constantly buy him food and treats. I have other Friends who donate to El Capricho on a regular basis. I suspect that all those involved with El Capricho, Especially Pat and Gordon, regularly dig deep into their own pockets on a regular basis. I am certain that Ricardo has no idea how much "grey" money has and is being spent. The loss of Jan is going to leave a big hole that will be difficult, if not impossibe to fill. Jan is without doubt the 'Mother Teresa' of animals. All those who help these animals are unsung animal heroes I don't know them all so can't name them here, but others know who they are and what they sacrifice.