The animals living
in the Equine Shelter Altarriba/ADE come from abandonment and/or
ill-treatment, and had usually been confiscated by court.
Here they regain
their strength and recover from serious physical and psychological
problems. When they are already fantastic, then can be adopted.
A single
healthy horse in good conditions costs us about 120 US$ a month.
If extra cares are necessary, then it could be 250 US$.
Donations
Membership
Club 500 and
Club ADE
Membership
fee for Fundación Altarriba:
Minimum
fee:
- Spain 7 €/month or 84 €/year
- Europe 10 €/month or 120 €/year
- Other - Europe 12€/month or 144€/year
Membership can be tax deducted in Spain: individuals
25% and legal entities 35%. Please
check tax deductions if you do not live in Spain.
Sponsoring
Sponsoring
an animal of the Equine Shelter:
30 euros/month
equines. 12 euros/month
other animals.
Sponsoring can be
tax deducted in Spain: individuals
25% and legal entities 35%. Please
check tax deductions if you do not live in Spain.
Do
you want to adopt or sponsor an animal of the Equine Shelter?
ADOPTION
Only
some of our equines can be adopted. The other ones we prefer to
stay here, as Pocho, who needed a long time to
forget so many years tied to a tree, and here he began to feel
a new animal and discovered the real life of a pony. Moving him
again would have been a disaster.
We have to point out that
our equines can be adopted ONLY in CATALONIA due
to control process and for court instructions.
Animals
to be
THAT
Do not make a contribution
to their pain:
- In some riding clubs,
in summer, horses are saddled up full time, and their skin ended
up stiking, along with several other health problems. They have
no shower or rest after every "use". If you
go riding, please check their skin under the saddle
and, if needed, lodge a complaint or even make
a formal one.
- Do not buy horse
meat. If you see in a butcher's, tell them that
you do not want it and that you feel really uncorfotable there
for that reason.
- There are eye-catching things, such as belts, cushions, etc.,
made from colt skin.
Look at Kismet
and Vinci above and think about the products
they were supposed to be.
Along
with equines, we have other range of animal, as we are such a
smashing shelter... for instance this one, is it a horse? NO,
it is an emu -do not ask about...
Mmmmmmmmm,
Ok, just to be good kids we let you know: we were waiting for
some confiscated horses, when the police phoned us to say the
horses had dissapeared, but there were nine emus and, well, er,
could it be possible that... and it had to be possible, so they
all landed here with their nine beaks and their eighteen bulging
eyes. A narrow escape from any slaughter-house to have been turned
into an emu dish in gastronomy fashion.
They
all are already adopted, and they cannot believe it. Neither we...
so many weeks bustling about.
ADE,
Friends of the Equine Defence, was founded
in Barcelona in 2001 to protect equines, and integrated
into Fundación Altarriba
in April 2003 to join forces and strengthen activities
in favour of these needy animals that, as many other
ones, deserve a protective action to be rescued from
ill-treatment and cruelty.
Even
though fondness for horses has increased in the last years,
the horse world is still unknown for many people.
A
fondness that has not come with a higher awareness of the
shameful conditions they use to live in, and the fact that
in the end of their physical strength they use to have a
sad finish, covering that way a battered path the best description
of which is "a disposable life".
THE
WAY THEY ARRIVE TO US
Our shelter
is a care and rescue center for equines. They come from
ill-treatment and usually have been confiscated by a court.
We receive animals abused in riding clubs, or abandoned
in the middle of a miserable nowhere waiting to be taken
to a slaughter-house to deal in their bodies. These cases
of "dealers-in-horse-meat" are regular enough
to be frightened.
A private
person -someone living near the animals or discovering them
from a train, calls us and starts our rescue procedure,
this including legal actions. Not always is easy and, the
worst, not always is fast. When administrative proceedings
extend more than the animals can wait and survive, we feed
/ water them and keep watching daily.
This poor animal is May. The picture itself
is enough: she was so hunger that standing was just a miracle.
She is more than 30 yeras old, and we rescued her along
with other horses and dogs last June 19th 2006, from small
enclosure in Montblanc. Her friend Beauty
stayed behind because we did not got there in time. May
walked out the place stoically to get an assured extra lifetime
in love and welfare.
When
they finally arrived to us, we have to face up to a really
hard challenge: give them back their own physique; their
noble nature and our cares help them to overcome the terrible
shock they use to suffer.
They arrive with bloody
wounds and/or ulcers covered by insects -sometimes even
warms, so the first aid is a immediate and massive disinfection.
Extreme cases like that
one in Montblanc require also a gradual process of feeding
and watering. Our veterinarians can describe the cruel
conditions suffered by most animals before arriving to
our shelter.
Bongo
was forced to such a brutal breaking-in that he
rebelled against riding for ever. Every time he
was saddled up, broke into a run out of control,
banging against any object in his way. Once he even
jumped out of a high slope. And the most terrible:
we had to give him a new name, because when listened
his original one he ran away in panic and threw
against the walls to bang his head on.
The
hooves of Barry
and Pocho are a reult of
many years tied and wihtout walking.
Kismet
and Vinci, two little colts, just a few
weeks old. We had to hospitalize them right away.
THEY LIVE
The best we can say about them
here is that they "live", because up to then they
had just "survived". Pocho for instance;
he arrived suffering from ringworm and lung aedema, starving
and covered by parasits. And then also his hooves, in the picture
above on the right, that sort of ram's horns, one of which had
pierced the leg and got hooked on a bone. A security guard working
near the place called us. Pocho is 35 years
old, and even a pony lives longer than a horse, he looks really
old. Heat is not easy for him, and we have to look after him
closely because he easily deteriorates, but the love he feels
for Samba keeps him alive.
Along with her, he takes part
in the daily life of the shelter: feeding, vet cares, free runs
in the forest, trots into the wide enclosure, individual turn
to be scratched and brushed.
Not
always we can save them, and have painful
cases as Xiquet's, who arrived
from Valencia suffering from enormous tumors. Here
he could stabilize to live his last weeks free,
protected and happy for the first time in his life.
And Inka, who had just time to
arrive to die in our arms (see picture) with the
first food in many weeks into her mouth. You can
hardly imagine how far human cruelty against horses
can arrive ...
Please,
if you see a case of negligence, ill-treatment or
abuse, make a formal
complaint: call the police, call
an animal protection association, call anyone, but
this has to finish. It is impossible not to see
them, we
prefer a visit in vain than arriving too late.
CHAOS?
But this
place is the most, because just horses in a horse shelter could
be a little bit redundant, so in the course of time we have
progressed beyond the simple horse shelter. What do we mean?
Dogs, cats, hens, goose, ferrets, goats, sheeps, parrots and
even a cow -yes dairy, all of them with a name, and all of them
necessary collaborators on the animal din.
Dalai and Gordi
The first one really stroppy and affected, and the second
one right unbearable: you exist only if approach her with
food.
Manchi, suffered from enteritis and
was dehydrated and starving: a shepherd had abandoned
her as she was so weak to follow the flock. Esther
was in Castilla La Mancha for holidays and saw her,
so holidays finished and the sheep was rescued and
saved.
The Okis CESC, PEP, and PITU -the
males, are rather unpleasant, but really "watchducks"
with visitors. Ladies are calm. Little Ann
is blind and usually becomes disorientated.
Jorge Negrete. Like other
ducks, a great walker and, as his name reveals, a great "singer":
it is impossible not to notice where he is at any moment.
He announces himself with no stop.
Martini was saved from a slaughter-house.
The poor cow have had an abortion after a treatment with
hormones, and her milk decreased under profitable levels
-45 liters/day. Months of red tape were necessary to take
her out of the meat/milk or slaughtering circuit. Now
she is in our shelter.
Martini
likes to be in company and runs towards Leonor as soon as
see her. The first time Leonor was frightened: it really
sacres a cow running towards you at full speed, even if
the cow is Martini. She loves caress so
much that used to follow Leonor butting her to ask for scratching.
A radio playing classical musical was suggested, but decoy
butting came to an end when Manchi arrived
to be her friend.
Trasto is a love of dog -and never
better described. When a horse or a donkey arrives
he runs to give him "welcome kisses". He
used to kiss horses when we were trying to save Chiqui:
he made his own effort to help her by licking her
face while we massaged her heart and neck. In the
picture, with Xiquet (already dead).
His only lack is a great liking for wandering in the
mountain, and as he is a leader the other ones follw
him.
Happy, is very affectionate but in
summer becomes independent. She is back in our warn
home just with the first cold days.
Olimpia.
We rescued her in 1989 from a summer riding club,
where she was really abused to be the best horse:
the tamest and the fastest. They rode her more than
12 hours a day and kept saddled up for the whole
summer. When Leonor rescued Olimpia and took the
saddle off, the skin of the mare was also removed
and her back was raw.
Olimpia,
now a real beauty and completely recovered. Fighting for
these animals impels us to wake up every morning; knowing
that they can count on us and on those who help us to
give them back their life, is the best alarm-clock.
Through
the lateral links to sponsor or adopt yoiu can meet most
of our animals.
Come along,
visit them face to face. It will be an unforgettable day
...
TANIA, BEUTY
Last November 9th 2006, Tania went to other grassy fields, to dream under other clouds. We feel sadly alone, and miss her really, really much.
Minimum
fee: 
Dalai and Gordi 
