The animal pound at Roquetas del Mar is to offer, until the 15^th of Feb, subsidised animal spaying for domestic pets, to help keep down the number of unwanted (and then dumped) pets. Information and participating vets available online at: http://centrozoosanitarioroquetas.blogspot.com/

Worth remembering that the pound has had its budget slashed by 50% for 2009, so they are desperate to keep the number of strays down. Any stray handed in there now has 10 days to be returned to its owner / adopted before being put down.

Roquetas town hall has taken advantadge of a renegotiation with the private company that runs its stray animal shelter to cut its budget in half, this year to only €75,000, as part of its 2009 Austerity Budget.

As a result, the management company intends to drop its time it keeps animals from 27 days to only 10 days, before they are put down. The centre will now also charge the public a flat rate of €20 to pick up animals or collect strays. The centre will also slash its opening hours, which means that if the local police or firemen catch an animal they will have to keep them in cages until the shelter opens, sometimes over the weekend.

The manager of the shelter, Miguel Castillo, points out that these cuts are the only way to keep going, and reminds us that each animal costs Roquetas del Mar an average of €70.

He’s also setup a blog where he updates us with pictures of cute animals and news from the shelter, you can see it at http://centrozoosanitarioroquetas.blogspot.com/.