SCAN Spring Newsletter 2024

Welcome to our Spring 2024 E-Newsletter!

2024 is already proving to be a busy year for the Shelter and we are seeing lots of animals coming through the doors of the El Verger centre, since the New Year.

Things move at a fast pace and we are shortly leaving to take another group of animals to our friends in Guernsey, where they will start new lives with loving families.

We are also busy organising many fun social events to raise extremely important funds, to support the work of the charity. See the dates for your diary section for further details. (Page 9)

We will also look back at some of the incredible events that took place in the last six months and some of the key moments for the shelter and volunteers.

2023 Adoption News - Dogs

Another busy year at SCAN finished in December 2023, with a total of 81 dogs entering the shelter and 73 being adopted. Sadly3dogsdiedafterentering the shelter, due to various conditions. 4 dogs remain in long term foster. We are

year-on-year maintaining our high percentages of dog adoptions. A few dogs have now been in full time shelter care for more than a year and they are our priority for adoptions in 2024.

19 of our adoptions last year were organised in conjunction with our friends at Little Black Dog Guernsey, plus we have arranged for adoptions of SCAN dogs across Europe, including to Portugal, England, Germany, Holland and Finland, amongst other destinations.

We continue to take in abandoned animals from our local area and we have also worked with other charities to repatriate dogs from various perreras and give them another chance.

Sadly, we continue to deal with serious neglect and cases of animal cruelty. We remain committed to being the voice for these animals; finding legal justice for them, where appropriate.

Barry would like to thank most sincerely all theDogvolunteerswhoworkedtirelesslyin 2023 and make recognition of the incredible contributions they have made to the work of the shelter.

Rayo, who arrived in December 2023 and went out for adoption in February 2024 Gentle girl “Chica” who is now thriving in long-term fostering with her new dad.

2023 Adoption News - Cats

The amazing cat team has had a brilliant year, through their hard work and dedication to our shelter animals.

Molineux who arrived in March after being abandoned.

It was another busy year for SCAN Cats in 2023. In total, 132 cats and kittens arrived at the shelter and 121 feline adoptions took place during 2023

Some statistics for you of the 121 adoptions:

• 44 adopted locally

• 4 went to other parts of Spain

• 4 went to the UK

• 1 went to Holland

• 1 went into long-term foster care

• 14 cats went to Germany

• 46 cats were adopted in Guernsey

• 7 other

The 14 cats that were adopted in Germany, went with the vital assistance of “Animal-Help-Espania” andweextendour thanks to all our friends at AHE for their ongoing collaboration.

46 cats were adopted to Guernsey and yet again we extend our thanks to Little Black Dog Guernsey and also to Steve Corley of SCAN Cats Guernsey, who enable us to get the fantastic adoptions there, undertaking the home checks and providing follow-up help and advice where necessary.

Pam Caulfield would also liketo personally sendherhugethankstoSueTaylor-Walker, for her untiring work ensuring our overseas adoptions are so successful.

In addition, Pam would also like to thank all the amazing Cat volunteers who give so much to looking after our cats and kittens and to the Team Leaders who stepped up incredibly, when she was unavailable at the beginning of last year.

She would also like to welcome Stef Stansfield, who took on additional duties at Team Leader at the very end of 2022.

Anubis before he left for his new home in Germany.

CCTVUPDATE

There was much investment towards the end of 2023, when we saw the installation of much needed new CCTV security systems at the shelter. This was as a direct result of the break-ins at the shelter and the impact, most poignantly on the shelter cats and the cat volunteers.

Ten camerasarenowinplacecoveringall areas of the shelter, including: campo areas, roofs, office doors, exits and public areas. There are also now more motion detectors, which provide an alert if activated ‘outofhours’ tomobiledevices, which are monitored. Barry can also view all of the camera images at any time, via his mobile phone.

In addition, there is a new high-quality camera monitoring the front of the shelter and the street, which is capable of taking sharp images of cars and in particular number plates, which can enable the local police to track down anyone who has potentially dumped an animal at the shelter.

This kind of investment, whilst costly, is absolutely essential to ensuring the safeguarding of all the animals at the shelter and provides a major deterrent. It has only been made possible through fundraising and donations made to the shelter during 2023. We are extremely grateful to everyone who has contributed and made this work possible.

NEW ANIMAL WELFARE REGULATIONS2023

Asmanyare aware,Spainhaspassedand introduced new animal welfare regulations, which came into effect on 29 September 2023

This huge piece of legislation covers a wide range of animal related issues designed to improve all aspects of animal welfare Whilst we hope in the future to see Animal Welfare regulations being extended to include hunting dogs and bulls (used in fighting), we welcome the changes as they stand and in particular Article 22 which confirms who is responsible in the event of animal abandonment.

At SCAN we are very pleased with the clarification of the responsibilities surround abandonment, as this is of course is an issue close to our hearts.

Article 22. Collection and care of animals.

1. The collection of lost and abandoned animals and their accommodation in an animal protection centre will correspond to the municipalities. To do this, they must have an emergency service for the collection and veterinary care of these animals, available twenty-four hours a day. This management may becarried outdirectlybythecompetent municipal services or by private entities, without prejudice to the fact that, whenever possible, it is carried out in collaboration with animal protection entities.

The message here is: If you find an abandoned animal, the responsibility for this initially rests with your local police and the town hall or their nominated employee(s). This mayeventually result in an intervention from SCAN, but the shelter should not be your first point of call.

LATEST ADOPTIONNEWS

We cannot mention all of our recent adoptions, but here are a few that have taken place since our last report to give you a flavour.

PEPE…off to England!!

Pepe on his new Dad’s lap

SCAN helped to facilitate a move for little Pepe from a shelter near Valenca to his new home in the South of England a few months ago.

Pepe transferred to SCAN for a fewweeks, before being collected by his new family for an exciting drive across Spain and France to board to Channel Tunnel.

Hehasfittedintothefamilylikeahandinto a glove. He now has a home with a lovely secure garden, alap tosleepin andlotsof lovely long walks in the countryside.

FRENKE….off to his new life

We were so delighted when just before Christmas, our wonderful Frenk was collected by his new family.

What a great fella Frenk is too. Beautifully behaved, friendly and loving. Moving to live near La Xara, Frenk now finds himself

at the centre of a lovely family and has two new human siblings to play with.

They all love spending time outdoors, in the campo and on the beach. Frenk has really fallen on his paws, after being found unwell, abandoned and alone in the campo near Benidoleig, earlier this year.

It was truly a little Christmas miracle for a beautiful and loving dog. Everything he deserves too!

If you ever need evidence of the wonderful work of SCAN and it’s team, look no further than the total life transformation of the beautiful Nina.

NINA…..off to live her best life

Nina was not abandoned by her owner. It was far worse. As a young dog she was experiencing a living hell, in a 2m square metalpen,with afesteringmaggot-ridden back wound. We can only imagine the pain and suffering for Nina in that environment.

Without doubt, Nina is one of the worst cases of maltreatment in our experience. Despite her awful experience, Nina proved to be loving and gentle, loving nothing more than human company, cuddles and walks.

Lana, one of our volunteers, took it on herself to spend lots of time with Nina, to care for her and help settle her in. As soon as Nina was cleared for adoption, Lana knew that she did not want to be parted from gentle Nina, as they had grown to love each other.

SNOWY HAS GONE TO BELGIUM

Snowy, came into the shelter, after being rescued from a life on the street. We don’t know if he had been lost or abandoned, but he had no microchip and nobody came forward to claim him. He definitely needed some TLC, some grooming and feeding, plus some work from our vet for his ear infections.

Snowy was spotted online and he was picked for adoption in Belgium. He has now travelled and has a new name “Richard” . Good Luck to his new family –they are very lucky to have him!

CARLOS & WINSTON HAVE GONE TO GUERNSEY

Carlos came into the shelter at the end of September last year, as a young kitten, after becoming stuck in a car engine. After spending some time in one of our

fantastic foster homes, he became ready for adoption. Despite being in foster with several other kittens, 2 adult cats, 2 dogs and2humans,Carloswasatimidboywho wanted to be brave!

Carlos was spotted by a lovely young couple in Guernsey, who decided to offer him and another SCAN cat, Winston a fabulous home, alongside their older cat Smudge. We are eternally grateful to this incredible family, as they took in Winston, when his previous adoption opportunity in Guernsey could not go ahead at the last minute.

Interestingly, Winston also originally arrived at SCAN after he was trapped in a car.

The boys are settling in well and Winston’s confidence is slowly starting to rub off on Carlos, and although he’s not quite ready for fullon snuggles,he is regularlycreeping into their bed at night to be close to them.

Plus we are delighted to hear the boys are slowlywinningoverSmudge,tobeonebig happy family.

SUGAR AND GORDON HAVE GONE TO GUERNSEY

Gordon & Sugar, Now Pablo & Lola, were surrendered to the shelter by their owner after she had to return to the U.K. and was unable to take them with her

They took a while to settle into the shelter environment, but once they did, we could see their sweet, loving characters. The siblings travelled to their new home this month,andafterhidingawayinitially,they have both started to relax and enjoy snuggles and playtime with their new family.

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR WONDERFUL ADOPTERS. WE SALUTE YOU!

EVENT

HIGHLIGHTS AND FUNDRAISING!

Lots of events have taken place since our last review. Here are a sample of some of the fantastic and fun things that have been happening to raise vital funds for SCAN.

SCAN Christmas Lunch 2023

Yet again, one of the highlights of the SCAN social calendar, was the annual Christmas Lunch, celebrating with our friendsandvolunteers,atthelovelysetting of La Bresca, in El Verger. Everyone enjoyed an amazing tasty and delicious meal, serenaded by Andy and Debbie (The View) with some amazing music.

A great Raffle prepared by the events team was completely sold out, with a hugely impressive 405€ raised for Scan.

The Xmas cake Auction would have given any Stock Market trading floor a run for its money, amassing 115€ for SCAN’s Cats and Dogs. Thanks to everyone who came and supported this excellent event.

Curry Night at La Palmera Orba

One of our first fundraising events of 2024 was our Curry Night, supported for the first time by our new friends at La Palmera Lounge Bar in Orba (a brand-new venue for the town of Orba, which opened in November).

We raised over 400 € for SCAN! What an excellent evening; brilliant food, lots of friends and great company; all accompanied by the live sounds of our friends "The View".

There was an excellent choice of dishes on offer, with sides and we are extremely grateful to our hosts for the evening at La Palmera, Claire, Darren and their team, who supported SCAN and made a very generous personal donation to help support our Cats and Dogs.

We look forward to working with this wonderful venue again in the future and many more fun evenings.

Easter BBQ and Animal Blessing

The weather on the original date for our 2024 Easter BBQ and Blessing was a damp squib, but fortunately, we were able to postponetheeventverysuccessfullyfor24 hoursandeveryonewasfreethenextday!

What an incredible day we had, with lots of supporters arriving to sample the delicious BBQ and listen to our great

friends ‘The View’ who came to support us yet again.

As you can see, there were some very impressive Easter Hats on parade this year. Thanks, as always to everyone who

supported this event and who helped to make it so successful again.

Golf Fundraiser for SCAN

Huge thanks from everyone at SCAN to our friend and long-term supporter, Celia Cronin.

In her last game as (outgoing) Ladies Captain of the Pego Golf Society, in December 2023, she raised the huge sum of 1000€, which she nominated to be donated to SCAN. We send her our very best wishes and thanks for her generosity

La Concordia Secret Garden Fundraiser

We would also like to thank our friends at The Secret Garden – La Concordia – Gata de Gorgos, for holding a fund-raising eventforSCAN,whichincludedsome very impressive raffle prizes.

We give thanks for their generosity and continued support of SCAN.

Pet Portrait Fundraiser

We are so grateful to the brilliant artist and SCAN supporter, Christine Wintle, for her huge generosity in donating a free PERSONAL PET PORTRAIT, which was offered as a top prize at our Christmas Raffle.

The prize was raffled and we sold an incredible number of tickets, raising over €400 for SCAN.

In the end, SCAN volunteer and long-term supporter, Aileen Morgan won the Pet Portrait and had a portrait of “Pickle” presented to her this morning by the artist Christine at the SCAN Charity Shop, with Laura our shop manager in attendance too.

Our congratulations to Aileen, on this welldeserved prize. I am sure you will agree with us that the portrait of Pickle is incredible.

Thank you again to Christine from everyone at SCAN.

If you are interested in contact Christine to commission your own pet portrait, she has her own Facebook Page "Christine Wintle Art" or you can email her on chriswintle@hotmail.es

UPCOMING EVENTS

Some dates for your diaries

Volunteering is very rewarding at SCAN. If you are interested in joining one of our friendly and sociable teams and making a different to dog’s lives, then why not register your interest? There are two shifts aday,sevendaysaweek,365daysayear and you can do as many shifts as you like!

To find out more about joining our friendly, dedicated team of volunteers, please contact us on 626 550 864 and come along to see our centre, have a coffee and a chat.

FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WORK WITH AMAZING DOGS LIKE “JIMMY”, DON’T DELAY, VOLUNTEER TODAY!

SOCIAL MEDIA AND ADVERTISING 2023

We havenowjoined Instagram and you can view our update, videos and stories on our Instagram Page. @scan.protectora

We are also now starting to use our new Fundraising QR Code, so you should start to see this on our advertising and social media pages.

ADOPTION STORIES

From some of our wonderful supporters.

GARY

Gary was adopted by Michelle, who lives in Yorkshire. Michelle met Gary when she was visiting family in Javea and volunteered at the Shelter. She fell in love with Gary and then decided that she did not want to leave him behind.

Here's what Michelle has told us about Gary. (Thanks Michelle!)

‘How hasmylife changed since Garyhas been in mylife.

I’ve been going over what I wantedtowriteto explain what an impact he’shadon mylife. As I’m going over thewords inmy head, I look downat him on the cold night, with histail wagging andthe friendlyfacelooking backand I’m just filledwith love.

My life before him seemsa lifetimeaway. I wasworking from home every day onmyown. Sometimestherewere days I didn’t speak to anyone, so it wasa struggleandlonely.

Gary cameintomylife not only ishe perfect company,hehasthemost lovely temperament. His main goal inlife isto make friends. He loves everyone, dogs and humans. The feeling is mainly mutual especiallywith humans!

Now, because of him, my pool of friends has increased. Ihave people totalkto every morning and Garyhas somanyfriends too that he loves toplaywith.

He’s perfect in everyway; so easytowalkloves his cuddles andalso thinks he’s a lap dog. He just wantsloveand to give it. I couldn’t have asked for a better dogand best friend’ Michelle, Gary’s mum

If you would like your cat or dog to featureinthenexteditionoftheSCAN Newsletter, please send photographs and some comments to: scanmarketingteam@gmail.com

Thanks to resident photographer, Yvonne Bouma for use of her brilliant photographs and to all the SCAN Volunteers

SCAN is a registered charity in the northern Costa Blanca rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming abandoned cats and dogs. Many animals arriving at our Shelter are abused, sick, starving, and some have been only hours away from death. Animals leaving our shelter go to caring, loving forever homes, never again to be maltreated.

SCAN has a NO KILL policy for healthy animals. From the moment an animal enters our Shelter, it is given everything it needs to recover and to thrive. We keep the promise we make to every cat and dog that enters our shelter: “You're a SCAN animal now, you're safe.”

We work closely with the local authorities, the police and the local vets. Everyone involved is focussed on the welfare and Care of Animals in Need. Our mission is to protect those who cannot speak for themselves.

SCAN Centre

Poligono Industrial

Calle Alcoi (sn)

Esq Cami Cremadella El Verger 03770

General Enquiries

626 550 864 Details on donating can be foundonourwebsite:

https://www.scancostablanca.com/donations

FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WORK WITH LARGE BALLS OF FLOOF, DON’T DELAY, VOLUNTEER TODAY! WOULD

SCAN is looking for volunteers to help us look after our cats and dogs, or to work our Charity Boutique.

Whatever you can help us with, whatever amount of time you can give, in the shelter or shop, your work will help our animals on their journeys to new, brighter lives.