Lois Landau Leeds from New Jersey, U.S. started helping the animal rescue organization New Life for Paws in 2015 and has transported more than 20 puppies to the U.S. and fostered many. She is a loyal visitor on our island for over 30 years. “Here on the island many animals are treated very badly and most visitors do not see this while going to their fancy dinners and out shopping at Louis Vuitton or other upscale stores. My wish is to create awareness for the animal foundations on the island. Rescue is a top priority with me, the goal is to have visitors help out, spend the morning or afternoon with one of the organizations. The puppies need you.”
She drives puppies to their new homes in the U.S. or fosters them herself, pays for the puppy’s airline ticket (about $ 100-150 dollar) and assists in many more ways. “I am here now with eight family members. Four dogs are allowed on the plane at one time so we will be travelling back to the U.S. with four puppies that will be available for adoption and will be on the New Life for Paws Facebook page. Travelling with a puppy is happening in a carrying case that is placed under the seat in front of you. It feels so good to do it and we received so many enthusiastic reactions that we even got people signing up for adoption already at the airport.” She is also helping out other organizations but mainly New Life for Paws. “This is a wonderful organization on the island rescuing puppies, spaying and neutering the animals. Founding member Natalya is amazing.” The mission of New Life for Paws is to rescue as many stray, neglected and abandoned dogs as possible while spaying and neutering to reduce the overpopulation of street dogs in Aruba. They provide shelter, food and veterinary treatment for each of the rescue dogs that they save. New Life for Paws have joined forces with Aruba Flight Volunteers, a chaperone service to connect Aruba rescues with new ‘fur-ever’ families in the United States.
Bad treatment of animals
Lois: “My love for animals has been for my entire life. As a child I found kittens in a sewer in New Jersey near my home and brought them to my house. Here on Aruba I saw the way people treat their animals and it got to me. The kill cage that was recently closed was such a horrible situation where people drop their puppies and adult dogs to get killed.” Visitors need to realize that we have a huge problem on the island with the way animals are being treated, she states. “Many dogs are chained in people’s backyards and never brought into the house. Across the street from my house here on Aruba there are two dogs chained in the backyard. One of the dogs on a short leash that is constantly tangled so he is not able to get to his water or food. The other dog is tied to a tree. I am going over every day to make sure they have water and food. This is so sad.” Her other neighbor had two dogs tied to trees in his backyard for over ten years, those dogs are no longer with us. One strangled himself trying to get to his water, the other one died last year because of age and deplorable condition.
Carry puppies’ supplies
“Dogs are being born in the middle of the desert -this is a desert island- we get calls every single day about this. Natalya goes in her van to pick them up. They are in bad conditions with fleas and ticks all over them, their mams are very thin and do not have enough milk to feed the puppies. Sometimes there are too many also so we get them and feed them with formula bottle milk.” There are only a few foster families on the island so the organization needs people from the U.S. and Europe to carry puppies’ supplies for them. Lois: “We need puppy pets, puppy formula, dog food, carrying cases to transport the animals from the island to their ‘fur-ever’ homes, blankets, towels, everything is welcome. We have a wish list on Amazon for people to bring stuff down here when visiting Aruba.”
Lois explains that New life for Paws is a non-profit organization, all donations go to the animal care. “Our vet bills are over the top. Any donation is welcome. If visitors would like to reach out to us they can also go to PriceSmart where they sell bulk food and buy big bags of puppy food for us.” Visitors are also more than welcome to spend a morning or afternoon at the organization. Lois: “You can help us with bathing the puppies, cleaning out the cages, feeding them and just loving them. We need a consciousness about the animal situation on Aruba. Spend a day with the puppies or even take one home. You won’t regret it.”
https://www.newlifeforpaws.org/
