Bree Norton

Bree Norton, a wonderful lady from Australia, spent as volunteer in October 2009 some time with the dogs and she is now one of my best friends. You can contact her for any questions in case you want to volunteer or want to help us with the website or want to help us to get more donations or are interested in our Sponsorship program.
We really need this help.
We have in the moment 140 dogs and they would love to play with you. You can see some of them on the page "Our dogs".

Please take also a look at our page "Sponsorship".

We want to start a program to help people to get healthy again with the help of a dog. A dog makes us happy and heals our soul. Our body will be healthy with a healthy soul! Please ask for more information. We have guestrooms in our house. Our environment is peace and you will come to a family.

Bree Norton wrote an article about my work:

In Costa Rica you will be hard pressed to find a person more generous and caring than Helene Wirt. Helene has lived in the small town of Piedades Sur de San Ramon, approximately 65kms west of the capital, for the better part of 18 years. A large portion of that time has been dedicated to caring for Costa Rica’s canine inhabitants. At the time of writing Helene was caring for 90 dogs. That is not a typographical error although it would be easy to assume as much. Helene takes dogs off the streets or off owners that can no longer care for them or are neglecting them and gives them love, care, attention and also importantly food, shelter, vaccinations and any medical attention that is required. The dogs are spread between her two properties which are only half a mile down the road from each other. The dogs are separated into spacious pens, each with play equipment and a shelter where every dog has its very own bed. There are between 25 and 30 dogs that live with Helene in and around her house, a lucky 10 or so that are allowed the run of the house and an even luckier few that share her bed of a night.

Helene and her husband moved to Costa Rica from Austria in 1991 to retire and live a quieter, simpler life in the lovely Costa Rican climate. A few years later Helene and her husband divorced and a friend gave Helene an abandoned dog, her first ever, for comfort and companionship. Helene became so enamored with the dog she named Baldwin, and now dogs all over Costa Rica are reaping the rewards. Not only does Helene (now 63 but with the exuberance and energy of someone decades younger) provide a loving home for the dogs on her property, she is also known amongst locals as the ‘go-to’ person for all dog related matters. She is called upon to taxi other people’s pets to and from the vet, particularly for spaying and neutering which Helene subsidizes and is a big advocate of. Others might call upon her to nurse their dog back to health from an ailment or to help them find a home for their or a friends now unwanted dog. Helene’s huge heart means she can rarely say no and is constantly looking for ways to improve and expand her properties to accommodate more of the dogs she loves so much.

Caring for 95 dogs creates more work than one person can cope with. So as well as taking on volunteers, Helene also has some paid, dog loving staff. I came into contact with Helene through a house sitting website. She had placed an advertisement for someone to come and live with her, free of charge, in exchange for helping her with the dogs and the general chores that consume all of her time and her energy. Helene takes genuine pleasure in the work she does and when a dog is suffering Helene also feels their pain. The dogs are also where she gets her energy and zest for life and they love her equally in return. Helene recognizes a different personality and endearing qualities in each of her dogs and knows them all by name. In the three weeks I spent with Helene I was so overcome by her generosity and her fierce love for these animals that I have been moved to help her in any way that I can.

Helene has been entirely self funded since setting up and has recently undergone the administrative necessities to become an official and registered not for profit organization, called ‘Association Elena –Dogs They Found Me. An adoption program exists and Helene has adopted out dozens of dogs to owners and homes that meet her rigorous screening criteria. Another arm of the organization that is only now getting off the ground is Helene’s dog sponsorship program. This program will allow Helene to keep her dogs in the manner to which they have become accustom while affording others the opportunity to ‘own’ a dog without all the day to day chores of actually owing one. For between US$10 - $20 per month, sponsors will be provided with photos and updates of their dog and of course are welcome in Costa Rica at any time to meet their pooch. Sponsorship is perfect for dog lovers whose circumstance or living arrangements make it impossible for them to own a dog or for anyone wanting to support a fantastic woman doing a self less and thank less job.

My hope for Helene is that people will jump aboard her sponsorship program and she will receive the financial assistance needed to keep her operation running. Helene lives in a stunning part of the world, from her balcony you can look across mountains and valleys and see the Pacific Ocean in the distance. At times clouds roll in across the valley and envelope the house. When they clear the greens and browns of the mountains and the blue of the sky feel therapeutic just to look at. My other hope for Helene is that she receives enough support to be able to take some time to enjoy these beautiful surroundings herself.