A Note From PAWS

You may already know that our amazing Tulemar homeowners have some organizations near and dear to their hearts that they collectively support. These amazing organizations help keep Manuel Antonio the special and safe place that it is.

One of those beloved organizations is PAWS – Pets of Aguirre Welfare Shelter.

Like many others, PAWS has been through a lot of ups and downs over the past couple of years. An up: have a record year of adoptions! A down: losing their rescue and adoption center.

If you’ve already been to Manuel Antonio, you may be aware of how important PAWS is to the area. Without them, the population of stray, unhealthy, and potentially dangerous animals on the streets multiplies.

Please take a moment to read the note from PAWS below outlining some updates for the upcoming year and a request for donations:

In 2021 we have a record year and great success with our PAWS spay/neuter and vaccination program. We are happy to report that we have organized and financially subsidized the spay/neuter of over 2600 dogs and cats already in 2021. We are so thankful to all  those who donated to us so that all these surgeries could happen this year and we are grateful to the five local Vets who perform all these surgeries for us.

Sadly a few months ago we had to close our rescue and adoption center and that was a big blow to us as an organization. We had to close because the Veterinarian who owns the property and facilities there and who had been helping us run our rescue operations there told us it was too much for her and that she wanted to do something different on that land. Now the property is being turned into cabinas to rent to tourists which is sad to us but there is not much we can do. These days our PAWS dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens are being cared for in our seven PAWS foster homes and given in adoption either directly from the foster homes or at our weekly adoption events in Quepos. We do have reason to celebrate here as well though because we had a record year with rescue and adoptions. 533 PAWS adoptions completed this year as of today. That means 533 dogs and cats and puppies and kittens taken from bad situations and made healthy, vaccinated, spay/neutered, and then given to the most responsible owners we can find. We are so happy we were able to help all these animals and we thank everyone who donated to us to allow this to happen.

If you are impressed with our work this last year and want to see these efforts continue in 2022 please consider making a donation to us. All that we accomplished in 2021 was all thanks to the generosity of those who have donated to us this past year and for that we and the animals we serve are eternally grateful. Financially, at this moment, we are sweating because we know we do not have the money we will need to pay our December Vet bills which we are currently accruing. We are a small group of volunteers and we receive no government assistance to pay our bills. We rely 100% on donations to keep going.

Donations can be made on our website www.pawscr.org or via paypal (donatetopawscr@gmail.com). If you are in Costa Rica and prefer to donate to us locally please let me know as we have a bank account at Promerica.

Thank you for your consideration! Sincerely, Dominique & the PAWS Team  Remember you can also follow our work on Instagram @petsofaguirrewelfareshelter