Costa Rica: A sanctuary for dogs

Balduin started it all

Helene Wirt adopted Balduin when she was newly divorced and living in the large home she and her husband had built together. An acquaintance had found a female dog and two puppies on the streets. The female and one of the puppies were taken to a rescue center while he brought the male puppy to Wirt. Balduin arrived in a box, “a small white puppy (half black, half white in the face) looked out of this box. I was very surprised and touched and when he asked me if I want to take this little boy. I answered ‘yes’ in one second,” Wirt recalls.

From that moment she and Balduin were always together; they watched TV together, they slept together, Balduin followed her everywhere. She was no longer alone.  It was because of Balduin that Wirt discovered a passion for helping homeless dogs.

She began noticing homeless dogs wherever she went. Wirt developed a need to help these dogs and began taking them home with her. She now has 128 dogs in her sanctuary, including 13-year-old Balduin, and can’t help but bring home more. When she meets a homeless dog she listens to her heart “… I see a poor dog and my brain [stops] and my heart [speaks] and I think not [for] one second and I take the dog with me.” It’s these dogs that she heals back to health and rehabilitates. For her the most important thing is watching the dogs she has saved lead happy, healthy lives.

The sanctuary grows

Wirt takes care of 128 dogs, which she refers to as her “beloved dogs,”  with the help of a vet, regular workers and volunteers. The dogs are all given thorough medical care upon arrival to the sanctuary. Wirt and her vet make sure all of the dogs are spayed and neutered, updated on vaccinations and given acupuncture treatments.  She spends her days taking care of her dogs and promoting Meet Your Dog via the Internet. Wirt’s Facebook page is filled with photo albums she has created for her sponsors and there are overwhelmingly warm comments sent to her daily.

Wirt’s shelter was a nonprofit that relied on volunteers and adopters, but in November 2009, Meet Your Dog became an association – Asociacion Elena: perros que nos encontraron (Association Elena: dogs who found us) – she can now get financial support through donations. She also gets support from SASY – Stop Animal Suffering Yes – the money she receives from SASY goes directly towards spay/neuter of her dogs. At the moment no other organizations sponsor Wirt and her fight to save homeless dogs.

Sponsoring around the world

Wirt developed an international program, Meet Your Dog Sponsoring Program, which allows people from all over the world to sponsor dogs through donations. MYDSP is tailored to families who love dogs and want a dog for a pet, but do not have the time or ability to take care of one. The idea is to choose a specific dog to sponsor by donating money via PayPal and in return sponsors receive monthly updates and photographs of their sponsored dog.  Sponsoring helps Wirt provide dogs with food, homes, spay/neuter and veterinary care.

A place to call home

The shelter is a two-hectare sanctuary that houses all 128 dogs taken care of by Wirt, her mother and  volunteers. There are separated yards throughout the sanctuary where dogs are placed six per yard, based on size and personality. Each yard has a shelter or dog house that is large enough for feeding areas and six dog beds. Outside of the shelters are cemented areas with benches, tables and umbrellas to shade from the hot sun and allows enough space for the dogs to run around and play and also allows prospective dog owners a place to play with the dogs.

It’s not easy for Wirt to adopt out her dogs, she is very selective in the people who adopt a dog, but she knows that there is a home for every one of her dogs.

Wirt keeps in touch with all of the families who have adopted from her shelter and posts updates on her webpage. When Wirt came upon a dog who had been in an accident and was in pain and unable to walk, she brought him home, named him Alex and treated him with acupuncture. Within six sessions Alex was fully recovered and able to walk on his own without pain. Wirt healed him and was successful in adopting him to a woman in Playa Tamarindo, who has since adopted a second dog from Wirt’s shelter. She and Wirt keep in touch with each other, send updates on the dogs and visit each other.
 

To help Helene Wirt’s fight to save homeless dogs or become a part of the Meet Your Dog family please visit:

www.MeetYourDog.com

www.queridosperros.com

Or send check donations to:

Asociacion Elena: perros que nos encontraron

Apartado 191

CR-4250 San Ramon de Alajuela

Costa Rica

Centroamerica

You can also donate using PayPal to the account of Helene Wirt at:

www.paypal.com

Photos courtesy of Mariana Carvajal