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HOW THE ASSOCIATION WORKS 

The Association CYD Santa María Works “SO THAT ONE DAY WHAT WILL SEEM STRANGE WILL BE TO NOT REPORT CRUELTY”. Even in this modern day and age a lot of people are afraid to report instances of cruelty or abandonment. They falsely think that it’s a complicated process or that their neighbours will think ill of them. What they don’t realize is that, most of the time report is all that law abiding citizens can do. Also, sometimes, the authorities depend on information supplied by citizens to be able to take action. With a simple telephone call you can save a life.

The association follows three lines of work:

Acts of the CYD: “SO THAT ONE DAY WHAT WILL SEEM STRANGE WILL BE TO NOT REPORT CRUELTY”, you have to preach by example.

By making a simple telephone call, the Association takes care of investigating the truth as to abandonment or cruelty, assists the animal in question, reports the case to the official organizations and takes care of following up of all legalities be them administrative or judicial.

 

Latest reports

Information:

The laws that protect animal rights are fairly new in this country for this reason the Association CYD Santa María knows that one of its main objectives is to inform people of the existence of said laws. A lot of people still don’t know what responsibilities owning an animal entail and neither do they know that their acts towards said animal could cost them, should they ever be fined, up to 30,000€. Their behaviour sometimes is due to ignorance and not malice. In this sense associations and the media should work together to maintain the public informed as to what their rights and responsibilities to animals are.

A Day At The Centre

The CYD Santa María association has a recovery centre, that is situated in Málaga (Spain), the Centro CYD Santa María is recognized by the Junta de Andalucía as “Albergue para caballos maltratados y/o abandonados”(Shelter for ill treated and/or abandoned horses).

The Centro CYD Santa María is the place where the animals that the association collects are it due to accident, illness, ill treatment or abandonment recuperates.

The association and the Centro CYD Santa María work together protecting the best interests of these animals. Being aware, as we are that there are many horses out there that urgently need help, we know that our doors should always be open to shelter new animals and this is one of our aims. However at the moment it’s not necessary being a completely private, that doesn’t have any institutional help, our priority must be- although it hurts us daily as we receive new reports constantly- assure that we are  going to be able to maintain the animals that we have already collected in good condition.  For this reason, often we are obligated to stop collecting animals but however in certain cases one arrives (Roca, Torrente, Don Bombón, Cleopatra…) that makes us open our doors again, as if we didn’t they would simply die.

Hence the way we work is marked in a way by the history and the paths of the animals that come our way.

In this section we would like to tell you what a normal day at the Centro CYD Santa María is like, so that you can see the work that we do and understand us better.

08:00 h. The day commences when the horses are fed, at eight in the morning. From that time on the centre’s mechanism starts to work like a “nearly” perfect Swiss clock. Whilst one person cleans the stables, another is responsible for the water, and others have to take charge of starting to take the horses and other animals out one by one. The Centro CYD Santa María’s policy is that the animals should spend most of their time outdoors, exercise, relate to the others, in actual fact the same as people. Frequently we ask the volunteers, especially the younger ones. Would you like to be enclosed in your bathroom for a whole month? Well that’s the time and sometimes much longer is the time that some owners leave their horses closed in a stable without going out because they haven’t got time for them and neither do they want to pay somebody to do it for them.

10.00 h. At about ten in the morning and depending on the weather it is decided whether to take the horses rugs off or not. If it’s summer they will keep the anti-fly rugs and the mosquito nets all day. At this same time treatments and dressings are applied. Every horse is different and its illnesses and injuries have to be treated.

                         Volunteer rugging up                   The same volunteer supervises horse’s injuries.

Some animals wander freely around the centre and others receive the sponsors’ and volunteers’ fuss and attention.  Manzanita usually wanders around the centre alone not missing a blade of grass. Roca however needs to be accompanied by a very patient carer… As due to having four bad legs she takes about an hour to advance the same space another horse would in only ten minutes.

12.00 h. At about twelve o’clock the centre is again reorganized. The animals that were in the bigger paddocks go back to their habitual enclosures. The weaker ones go back to the stables. And all of them receive their daily ration of hay or alfalfa and/or vitamin supplements depending on their malnourishment or the illnesses they suffer then rest time.

13.00h to 16.00 h. Between one and three at the centre all that prevails is calm. Many sleep, especially if its summer complete calm though only lasts a couple of hours, sometimes less. In no time at all activities are resumed and the same operation as in the morning, more or less is carried out, the horses are taken out again. The volunteers take them for long walks and brush them, they check the horses they are assigned wounds and they should notify staff at the centre if they observe anything strange.

A whole family of volunteers taking Caliza for a walk

17.00 h. The afternoons are also applied to the upkeep of the centre. The rains, the sun and the animals themselves deteriorate the materials and infrastructure. Cleanliness is another aspect that we all have to take care of; we have to remember that we are in a place where there are many sick and weak animals. Hygiene is very important for all the professionals at the centre. Some volunteers come specifically to help us clean the exterior paddocks. It’s not the most gratifying work but, without a doubt, is the one we most appreciate and is also indispensable.

19.30 h. At seven thirty its dinner time served with the last kisses and caresses for the day.

NOTE: Whilst Reading over this text, we’re trying to figure out why it is that if dinner time is at  seven thirty, some of us never leave before ten, eleven… Well it’s because amongst other things, materials have to be taken care of: wash the rugs, put the ropes, head collars and brushes back where they belong, water the centres plants and trees, go over the paddocks and remove rocks so that none of the hoses injure themselves, put he night rugs on, refill the baths, prepare the medication for the following day and disinfect the materials used and programme the places and people to be investigated the following day or visits to the horses that have been adopted.

HOW THE CYD REACT IN AN EMERGENCY

normally all urgent calls are taken by the Head of the association. If the call is from an unidentified citizen our first step is to confirm the veracity of the claims made. If the call is from an institution (Policía Local, Guardia Civil, SEPRONA, Ayuntamientos…)(Municipal Police, Civil Guards, Nature Protection Services, Town Halls…) the appropriate vehicle is fired into action, usually the centre’s van. It goes to the scene, the situation is analyzed and if the animal can get on the van, it is taken to the centre immediately. (If that’s not possible first aid is administered in situ). In the meantime a suitable place depending on the animal’s illness or injuries is prepared at the centre. Once at the recovery centre a veterinarian explores the horse and determines how it is and what treatment we must start to administer. That is in the better cases, sometimes the veterinarian (with the centre’s team) have to attend to the horse for hours, due to its poor condition it arrives in until in the end it dies.

Normally upon arrival the improvement is apparent immediately, we usually say that this is like a Paradise for the animals that are lucky enough to be rescued. We get the feeling that, once they get off of the van, the other animals explain in a subtle language that all is well, that now they don’t have to worry about a thing anymore and that they reassure them that the humans that work there can be trusted.