In Portugal, cats and dogs are abandoned by their owners everyday, particularly before summer and Easter holidays or even on Christmas. Some have been abandoned because they are sick or old. Others were simply an expense or a burden when the holidays came. All appear to have had the misfortune of being adopted by those who realised too late that they were a living being with needs and a personality rather than a toy.

They roam the cities and the countryside dirty, full of parasites, hungry and sick. Their sad pleading eyes tell stories of loss, violence, trauma and confusion and show a desperate need for love. The dogs search landfills for food, run along the roads, with hanging tails, lost and disoriented, being trampled and sometimes attacked by those who call themselves humans. The cats get fearful after some more lessons on cruelty, gather together in colonies, attempting to find food, shelter and, the braver ones, some human cuddles and love. Many die without help.

There are several volunteer groups across the country trying to help stray cats and dogs. They all struggle to raise enough funds to tackle this enormous problem. One of the issues is the lack of well-known and easy to set up platforms for crowdfunding such as Just Giving. Our goal is to start small with setting up a local charity in the town where I grew up, Agualva/Mira Sintra (not far from Lisbon), and help the cats and dogs there. We hope that having local groups would motivate more people to participate and be aware of the issues in their area. Doing it on a local basis would also make it easier to engage political will and schools.

Our long term goal would be to have these groups throughout all districts, each with their own shelter, feeding, treating, sterilising and caring for the stray animals in the area. The ultimate aim is to get animals back to health, trusting people and to find deserving humans to adopt them. We need resources to feed and care for strays, educate people, ensure that the law protects animals and is enforced. We want communities with happier animals. Please help us to fund our dream, no matter how little or how large your donation is, it will be appreciated and we will inform you of how the funds we obtain are being used. Thank you so much!

£5/10 would help us stop a cat/dog from starving for a week

£15/30 would cover the cost of an X-ray for a cat/dog that has been hurt

£50-200 would cover their treatment

£30/60 would fund the sterilisation of stray cat/dog

£120 would cover the sterilisation of a small colony of 5 cats

£200 would feed a medium colony of 10 cats for a month