Dec, 2024.- It has been six years since Ismaray Rocío Marrero Badía, 39, has been managing Ángeles Callejeros (Street Angels), an animal shelter located in the Number 1 neighborhood in the Camagüey municipality of Nuevitas. At the beginning of her project she did not expect the current results, but now she cannot imagine a life without her furry friends, she admits.
“The idea came years ago, with a girl named Lenna; she wanted to set up a group of people to give shelter to animals during storms and other natural disasters. People joined who were willing to lend their house as a temporary shelter, among them was me. I always had a big yard so I offered it to make the shelter and from there we started this work, little by little”.
Not only does a project like this take a lot of time and effort, money is a major concern.
“Keeping afloat is not easy, although we received help from volunteers and the collections they make, it is not enough to support all the animals. There are many small cats that need milk to subsist; people donate us food and sometimes money because we buy the food at the same price as everyone else.
The veterinary clinic was also built as part of our project; we managed to raise the funds and bought the premises, in exchange for the veterinarian's free care of the shelter's animals. The money paid by the pet owners for the vet service guarantees the medication of the rescued animals”.
“The number of cats residing in the shelter is a little difficult to determine, but there are about 30. There are 12 dogs, two of them with their legs amputated, clear signs of the violence they were exposed. They also have hutias and have raised flying species such as owls, in those cases they were bought in food sales sites or for religion”.
While she tells the stories of her furry residents she becomes sensitive. Ismaray mentions that whenever possible she is willing to rescue any creature.
“In these recent years we have achieved to clean up the streets, but there is another problem: many times, someone reports an animal in terrible conditions but its owner appears and tells us that it is his pet; then we can't do anything. We have no authority to take the animal away, nobody sanctions it, but it is his and therefore there is nothing to do. Sometimes the owners send them to be killed; they do it even knowing that there is a place in the municipality that can take them, but it is easier for the owners to slaughter them, which they should not do because it is illegal.
I had a puppy that was bought for dog fighting, his name was Dante. As the days went by, he began to present problems due to a calcium deficit. The owner took him to the vet and when he noticed that with that condition the dog could not fight, he cut off the toes of his hind legs with a machete, the animal was then locked in a sack and abandoned on the train line; we found him nearly bled to death. Fortunately he survived but not everyone has the same luck”.
Stories like Dante's are, unfortunately, frequent. Her principles make her doubt about the humanity of these people who are capable of harming a defenseless animal for no reason. This situation will not get better until each person becomes aware of it, assures Ismaray.
“These kittens come from homes for the most part. Instead of sterilizing the cats many people choose to abandon the newborns to their fate, the worst thing is that not all of them are left in the shelter, many are abandoned in busy areas where they can easily die. There are also the cases of those who buy animals, use them to procreate, let them get sick and then do not want to spend money on veterinary care; they end up abandoning them.
Until there is a collective awareness of animal care I don't think the situation will improve.”
