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The people behind the SPC effort

(Originally Clube dos Vira-Latas)

Here’s our background:

As the name says, it’s all about stray pets, mostly dogs and cats, that urgently NEED our care and support in order to survive and attain the dignity and the right to live every living creature deserves.

That said, we are pleased to introduce ourselves to you, not without a tinge of pride for all the years of service and hard work we have put into every one of our voluntary actions and creative solutions towards our loved pets' problems. And these have not been few either. As you can imagine, to cater to the dire needs of often sick, starving, lice-ridden, abused and scared animals that were altogether abandoned to their fates by their ignorant and irresponsible owners, is no mean task as it is a commitment that demands our best efforts and nothing less than putting our shoulders to the wheel, so to speak, just to keep their heads above water!

We are a non-profit organization from Ribeirão Pires, a modest sized city located in a bustling and industrious region in the state of São Paulo (SP), Brazil (South America). A city which is just 45 kilometers from its famous capital city to one side, the world metropolis of São Paulo and just 75 kilometers from the equally famous port of Santos on the other. There's a map for your convenience here.

We are an NGO then, in every legal and moral sense, an institution that caters to the zoological, ecological, educational, veterinarian and enforcing aspects of the legal and moral rights of innumerable previously abandoned and ill-treated dogs, cats and some other pets from our community, an organization that has been doing its job now for over 4 years. Our main and older website, in our native language Portuguese, can be seen here: www.clubedosviralatas.org.br and this website where you are now is our sparklingly new English version, an html message-in-a-bottle to cross the cybersea.

And here are some of the results we are proud to share with you:

• We have fought for and obtained from our City Hall the approval and implementation of a Municipal Domestic Animals Records and Registration procedure which was then put into practice back in July 2002 and has remained in effect ever since.
• We devised and held the successful First Animal and Environment Protection Seminar of Ribeirão Pires in August 2003.
• We championed and obtained the approval of the municipal law that forbids circuses that employ animals as attractions from settling within our city limits, a law which has been in effect since December 2003.
• We have toured our public schools, sharing our knowledge and giving talks on the Responsible Ownership of Pets, sensitizing our kids to the REAL PROBLEM of animal abandonment and lack of care.
• We have organized and supervised periodical Adoption Fairs in our town that encouraged, guided and managed to bring about a gradually increased awareness to the cause and get some stray pets responsibly adopted in the process, too!

Why are we online?

In a word: our pets NEED your help!

At this time of writing we are caring for some 250 dogs, 27 cats, a couple of horses and other pets that demand some 3 tons of good grade animal rations a month, plus vet care and overwhelming daily sanitation procedures just to mention the most obvious. Aside from this, there’s staff management and legal requirements that must be met to overcome every difficulty. Difficulties our pets cannot understand but feel all too acutely nonetheless. Check out some photographs here.

We also support voluntary labor costs and time to promote the cause, defend the interests of our loved pets, encourage awareness programs, help and tutor underprivileged pet owners, publish occasional paid advertisements, promote seasonal programs, occasionally print supporting materials, devise educational campaigns, pay gasoline and utility bills, conduct responsible sterilization and vaccination campaigns, strive for decent living conditions for our stray pets which often means bearing remodeling and construction costs for better and larger pens and enclosures, maintain essential servant salaries and so forth while constantly on the lookout to reduce operational costs without sacrificing quality and scope. Now, you know how these things can get huge and out of hand without the vital assistance and support of those who understand and CARE.

We also believe that a major part of this equation is community education and awareness that can gradually change the picture in favor of a more responsible ownership and support.

YOU can help.

Even if you don’t live here, as feelings towards the suffering of animals and its elimination, replaced by a decent, joyful life is a universally appealing trait we all share and look forward to. Nothing more needs to be said.

Please check our Donations page for a choice of donation options.

Thank you for listening, thank you for caring.

For more information, visit the Contact Us page

Stray Pets Club / Brazil (Clube dos Vira-Latas)
Registration number CNPJ: 05.299.525/0001-93.
Since July 27^th 2001.