Saving strays – the work of our new ambassador in Portugal
We are delighted to have recently recruited Ana Sofia Róis, as a World Animal Day ambassador for Portugal. Ana Sofia Róis is the CEO of the Associação Animais de Rua (which translates to the Association of Street Animals). Animais de Rua is dedicated to humanely addressing stray overpopulation in Portugal, namely through spay and neuter programmes.
What Animais de Rua do
The overpopulation of strays is a huge problem in Portugal. Animal rescue organisations and shelters often do not have the financial or human resources to tackle the fundamental problem of the hundreds of thousands of dogs and cats that continuously reproduce within the public domain. Sadly, these animals live without access to basic health care, sufficient food, shelter or comfort, and they are victims of hunger, disease and abuse, condemned to short and sad lives.
Animais de Rua was created to try to alleviate the suffering of these animals and prevent others from being born under the same conditions. They direct their efforts and resources not only to the promotion of animals’ welfare but also to the defence of public health, as well as people’s safety and comfort.
In partnership with municipalities and the colonies’ caretakers, Animais de Rua have implemented a nationwide mass neutering program. Due to their consistent work carried out over the last 15 years, Animais de Rua received public utility status in 2023.
How they do it
Animais de Rua mainly use the Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) method to manage stray populations throughout Portugal.
What is TNR?
Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is a humane and effective method of controlling animal populations and reducing the stray population. The process involves trapping all animals within one area, neutering and vaccinating them, marking them for identification purposes, deworming and, finally, returning the animals to their territory of origin, where they are fed and protected by their caretaker.
Whenever possible, docile adults and younger animals still of socialising age are removed from colonies and sent for adoption.
Educational Program
In addition to the work done directly with animals, Animais de Rua also has a programme to raise awareness of animal welfare amongst children and young people in schools: Da Rua para a Escola – Associação Animais de Rua Educational Program.
The organisation knows that only with education and awareness will future generations be more respectful and considerate of animals and the environment.
As part of their educational work, they approached the school community to raise awareness for actions for primary, basic and/or secondary school children, with the presentation of stories from three books:
- The book “Pimpão – Uma História de Amizade” was their first published book.
- The second book, “Aqui há gato” / “Here there is a cat!” was recommended by the National Reading Plan, and with it Animais de Rua wanted to continue their education and awareness project, designed specifically for future generations.
- Livro “Cão que Leu” was their latest book, published in 2023.
Political lobbying
Animais de Rua also work to ensure that animals are represented within politics. The organisation is a member of EuroGroup for Animals, and is a Cats & Dogs Working Group partner.
Animais de Rua was also the creator of the recent Marathon for Animals campaign (in partnership with Associação Abrir de Asas) where themes relating to animal welfare were discussed with various political parties. This was a European and national campaign (as part of the European elections and Eurogroup For Animals’ #VoteForAnimals campaign) that aimed to bring animal welfare issues (in various aspects) into political discussions:
- improved policies for companion animals
- improving live animals transportation
- improving animal welfare within the food industry
- prohibition of animal breeding for fur production
You can find out about the project here.
How you can help
Animais de Rua is a vital organisation for animal welfare in Portugal. With a consistently high intake of stray animals, the organisation is appealing for donations for their Trap-Neuter-Return work. If you would like to donate to support this work, you can do so here.
Videos of Animais de Rua’s work