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Come help us with our many rescue dogs in Lagoa, Portugal🐶🌿

4.5
(9 reviews)9

The experience

We run a private farm in Lagoa in the Algarve, where we have puppies and dogs coming from killing stations, born on the street, puppies disposed in the garbage or dogs that are simply not wanted anymore and end up in the shelter. We are not a shelter in the classical sense, as we have the unique opportunity to let the dogs run free on our spacious fenced yard with numerous social contacts with the other dogs and different people.

What you offer

30 hours of help per week

Animal Care: Help look after and take care of animals.

What you get

2 days off per week

Private Room: You will have a bed in a private room. In other words, a room just for you.

Shared Dorm: You will have a bed in a shared room, which means you will share the same room with other travelers.

Breakfast: You are entitled to a free breakfast, every day of your stay.

Lunch: You are entitled to a free lunch, every day of your stay.

Dinner: You are entitled to a free dinner, every day of your stay.

Free Laundry: You can use our laundry room freely.

Pick Up: We will pick you up when you arrive, and take you to our property.

Use our equipped kitchen: Feel free to use our kitchen and make your own delicious food.

Basic Internet Access: Basic speed internet for you to work remotely

Requirements

Intermediate German or Intermediate English

Between 18 and 50 years old

Only hosts solo volunteers (doesn’t accept couples or partners)

What's not included

Flights, Travel Insurance, Internal Transportation and Visa

Program Details

We run a private shelter in Lagoa in the Algarve, where we have puppies and dogs coming from killing stations, born on the street, puppies disposed in the garbage or dogs that are simply not wanted anymore and end up in the shelter. We are not a shelter in the classical sense, as we have the unique opportunity to let the dogs run free on our spacious fenced yard with numerous social contacts with the other dogs and different people. We always host about 50-70 adult dogs and many puppies at the same time. The dogs are rescued from emergency situations and municipal shelters (where they mostly have spent many years), are provided with medical care, vaccinated and castrated if they are old enough. Later they are conveyed to Germany, the Netherlands and England via different animal welfare organizations. Without our help, many of the dogs would have no chance of a life in their own family.

Activities & Shift

A very important part of the work is to socialize the dogs and teach them the first things they will need to know later on as a pet in Germany, England or the Netherlands. This also includes, for example, intensive trust work (frightened/traumatised dogs), leash training and getting them used to car rides or busy areas.

We are looking for very very animal-loving people who would like to help out for a few weeks or months and support this great project. Currently, we can help about 100-120 dogs a year to a new family.
A big part of our work is also to have dogs castrated who stay in Portugal to rule out that they continue to multiply. This also includes offering self-help services to local dog owners.

Rules

We expect HIGHLY MOTIVATED, SELF-RESPONSIBLE, and DEDICIOUS volunteers who are primarily concerned about the dogs and the cause. Our top priority is to ensure the welfare of the dogs and to find suitable families. Should you be concerned with travel itself, recreation, exploring the country and its people, beaches and surfing, large international communities, campfires, self-discovery, spiritual experiences or cultural exchanges, we are definitely the wrong hosts. We only care about the welfare of the dogs and that they get a real chance to become a beloved future pet with a family abroad.

With us you can't spend „holidays with meaning"- the daily routines are simply too intense for that. We are the right place for you if you want to make a difference, are a team player, love dogs and are ready to take responsibility for other living beings. If you want to look back after a stay of several weeks and say, „Wow, what we've accomplished in the last few weeks and how many dogs we've helped in different ways…“ Then we are just the right hosts for you. :-)

According to the motto: You can't save all the dogs in the world, but you can save the world for one dog. We have a lot of Workaways who come back again and again for a few weeks and many friendships have developed through this platform.