Help Us Give Back
We are proud to announce that a portion of our profits will go to Nica Paws Rescue Center to help build an animal hospital in Central America.
Donate directly to the cause. 100% of donations go to building the first fully equipped Animal Hospital in Nicaragua.
Nicaragua is the poorest country in Central America. Many people live on less than two dollars a day. It is common for families to rely on animals to sustain their lifestyle, but at two dollars a day, the families cannot afford vet care if the animal is ill or injured. Artemisa Animal Hospital helps local animals receive the help they deserve. This non-profit was the dream of a close friend of mine, and we are proud to announce that a portion of our profits will go to making that dream come true.
Why Nicaragua?
In 2013, I left everything in the States and Thunder and I moved to Nicaragua. I fell in love with the country almost immediately. It was such a distinctly wild, rapturous place full of natural wonder and a magnetic culture. For all the good the country had to offer, there was also some bad. One of the sadder aspects about the country is the rampant stray dog problem. People cannot afford to fix their dogs, and many of the dogs live outside where they collect into packs and roam the beaches and alley-ways. It doesn't take long for the population to get out of control.
That is where Ivana comes in, the founder of Nica Paws Rescue Center. She has been living in Nicaragua for more than a decade and since day one, she has made it her mission to help as many animals as she can. In the early days, we used to gather a group of people into a few borrowed trucks and we would drive from village to village rounding up stray dogs and paying to have them fixed. This undeniably helped mitigate both the stray dog problem and animal suffering in general, as it ensured fewer dogs would be born into a life of illness and neglect.
Sadly, many of the dogs are born into a rough life as a stray. They are starved and skinny. Many of them have old battle scars, often donning a limp leg or a poorly healed wound from an accident with an automobile. They become infected with tick born diseases like Lymes or Ehrlichia which can lead to chronic complications, fatigue, fever, and infection.
Sweet Lily before and after intervention. Look at that wonderful smile!
But the dogs are so sweet! The strays of each village are famous to all who live there. Thunder used to make friends with them and then go begging up and down the beach from one restaurant to the next with the whole pack. It ruined him, and ever since, I haven't been able to break him of his begging habit! (What can I say, he's a opportunist just like me.) It is heartbreaking to see these sweet dogs and know they will never have a Forever Home, that they will not be adopted out to a wonderful family who couldn't be happier to have them and spoil them.
Part of the mission of Nica Paws Rescue Center and the affiliated Artemisa Animal Hospital is to provide these dogs and other animals with the vet care they need and deserve. While we do our best to help mitigate the problem, the truth is the problem is rooted in a much deeper issue, one that involves economic hardship and a lack of either education or awareness. In a country where many citizens struggle to feed their families, animal care understandably comes second to human care. We have the good-fortune of being able to afford to care for our pets, to make them our best friends and part of the family. While Nicaragua is a long way from economic prosperity, we can at least make a difference by helping more animals get the treatment they deserve and using what resources we have to help educate people on the importance of basic vet care for these animals.
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