Come and join us on the day if you can. Always a happy fun day for all ages!

Where has 2023 gone? Time certainly goes more quickly as you get older!
2023 has been a year of highs and lows. The lowest point obviously when Ted our little chihuahua died suddenly and unexpectedly in May. He came to us as a dog who was “waiting to die”  but then had a further 5 wonderful years with us for which we are so grateful. RIP little Ted, still so very much missed.
The highest point being Alana and her determined battle to good health. Just over a kg when we took her from the pound 6 months ago and at one point given no more than a week to live due to the pain she was in, she has now come through the first operation and surprising everybody, our little miracle girl, albeit a very naughty one! The veterinary and specialist care and support for her have been incredible!
Over the last 12 months we have rehomed another 50+ dogs and puppies in and outside of Spain and receive so many wonderful updates and photographs it makes all the hard work worthwhile. 
As always we have so many people and businesses to sincerely thank for their ongoing support, too many to name individually in this post but I do try and mention in our posts on Facebook. We also remain very grateful to our friends, family, supporters who have helped in so many ways throughout the year. Special mention to our friends in Finland who work so hard to help us home our dogs in wonderful new homes, helping too with financial donations. SOS Charity Shop once again have provided monthly donations towards our vet bills, thank you so much.
Our online shop and market stall have also provided funds that have helped enormously towards the cost of caring for the dogs and puppies at Pawsawhile. The generosity of the donors and buyers has been constant, thank you all.
We hope to continue our rescue work throughout 2024 and if more foster families come forward, perhaps the number of dogs homed will be even higher.

Wishing everybody a Happy, Healthy and Peaceful New Year. Carl & Anita

I am a little late posting an update but we have been so very busy I seem to be constantly playing catch up. 2022 was very much a year of highs and lows and brought many challenges. We still managed to rehome over 50 dogs and the wonderful updates from adopters continues to grow. The amazing support from our friends, family and supporters has been incredible and definitely got us through the difficult times! Our little troop of dogs that will probably see their days out with us has grown, but that is ok they are happy here and certainly earn their keep meeting and greeting the new arrivals and teaching them some social skills!
The olive trees were not as bountiful this year but still produced enough to cover the cost of milling and sufficient oil to sell a few bottles and have enough to be able to add to the dogs/puppies food for the coming year. Due to the generous donations received from so many friends/supporters and even people we have never met, we have been able to keep our head above water and provide whatever treatment/vaccinations the dogs and puppies need. The lack of new foster families coming forward has and will impact on our ability to help as many as we want to. We do not have kennels and all the dogs/puppies live as part of the family while they are here. This provides we hope a positive experience for them but limits the numbers we can help at any one time. 
The online shop has also provided a welcome additional income and now with the market stall our friend runs for us, we may never be a rich rescue but it certainly all helps! Fundraisers went really well and the monthly meat raffle has become extremely popular! A special mention to the SOS Charity Shop who throughout the year have donated a generous monthly donation to our rescue. 
Thank you all so much. As I say we really could not do this without you!

As usual it has been a busy few months and so far we have been able to rehome over 40 dogs. Some before they even reached us or indeed were even born! Work has finally been completed on the large puppy run in time to receive Tasha’s 8 husky pups! Five puppies have homes and will travel when vaccinations allow, others are reserved so hopefully we will have more good news. We have also been able to help much older dogs whose owners were no longer able to care for them. Little Chica, aged 8, came to us with so many different health issues and it took nearly 4 months to sort them all but she found the most loving home. So happy for her!

The meat raffle provides a regular source of income and we have been so lucky with support from CHAIN and SOS Charity shop both of whom have helped with veterinary costs.

We hope to hold fundraising events later in the year, meanwhile the support from our followers has been incredible, sending donations by fundraising, donation tins, sponsored events etc. We remain as always incredibly grateful. We could not do what we do without the support. Thank you.

Well 2021, we survived!
This is what I posted on our facebook page.

As we reach the end of 2021, we wanted to take the opportunity to thank all our family, friends and supporters who have helped us in so many ways throughout the year; all our foster families, fund-raisers, donators and adopters. Without all of you it would not have been possible for Pawsawhile to have rescued and rehomed nearly 70 dogs/puppies and help many other dogs whenever or however we could. We may not be the biggest rescue but we certainly have the biggest hearted and kindest people supporting us! Sincerely wishing each and every one of you a very happy and healthy 2022. Carl & Anita xx

We start 2022 with an abundance of abandoned/unwanted puppies including Lily and her 7 beautiful pups. There has been quite an interest in the puppies so I am hopeful they will all find their forever homes very soon.
Changes in some of the legislation here is Spain concerning treatment of dogs looks promising but to be effective it will need to be policed. More to come regarding neutering later in the year. I live in hope!

Free entry! Over 30 stalls confirmed. Come and join us!

As 2020 comes to an end and the pandemic continues worldwide we still have much to be grateful for. Adoptions have continued, with our dogs being adopted here in Spain, Finland, Denmark and UK. We await the impact of Brexit on adoptions to UK in 2021 and will update the website and facebook with the facts asap. Our ability to hold fundraisers continued to be affected by restrictions including travel. However we have managed to hold a quiz night and a Christmas Fayre with both events raising very welcome funds that enabled more dogs to be vaccinated and receive veterinary care. The monthly meat raffle, online shop and online fundraisers have also provided a steady income. We are indebted though to our family, friends and many supporters for their financial, practical and emotional support that has kept us going over the last few testing months in particular. Support from not just within the UK and Spain but other European countries too, has been amazing and our circle of support has greatly increased. We are also very grateful to our special foster families who have provided love and care for many of our dogs. Finally to all our adopters, thank you for giving our rescue dogs a home. We always say, our dogs don’t just have good homes, they all have WONDERFUL homes. Wishing you all a very happy, healthy and peaceful New Year.

The last few months have been a whirlwind of activity particularly with adoptions. Sometimes before a dog has even reached us they are reserved. Wonderful for the dogs but a logistical nightmare at times! All our Pointer pups have been adopted. They were with us for so long it was hard to say goodbye but all have found such good homes and we receive regular updates. Carl even flew to Finland to deliver Billy and Tilly and a little dog for another rescue. We had to raise funds for 2 of our dogs, Daisy and Hugo who both needed major operations to repair old injuries to their legs that had been left to heal without treatment. No fundraiser events were possible but the generosity of our supporters meant the €2000 needed for the operations was donated, and we are truly grateful to each and every one. The online shop has been very successful and played a crucial role in providing funds to help towards the ongoing costs of food and veterinary costs etc. The monthly meat raffle continues to be popular and we have our bumper Christmas draw to look forward to. We have more dogs leaving us in the coming weeks, Ruby, Oscar, Teddy, Teddy2 and Hugo. Yesterday evening Star, a 4 week old puppy joined us with the possibility of her siblings arriving soon too. Watch her development on our facebook page as she grows and starts to explore her surroundings, always a joy to see. As we approach the end of the year we are still unsure what impact this will have on adoptions to UK. As soon as there is any definite, confirmed instructions I will post on here. Reduction in flights within the EU is also having a negative affect on adoption numbers. Meanwhile a 4 week old puppy is calling for her food……..

The last 3 months have been tough! But here we are at the end of June and we have survived! The easement of Lockdown restrictions has certainly been noticed! Adoptions are happening and lovely homes found for some of the dogs in our care. Bonita, Rosie and Daisy were the first to find new homes. Billy and Tilly are off to Finland as soon as flights allow. Boomer is on his way to UK as I write where he is assured of a very wonderful welcome. Our Jenny is now living the life on a finca close by where she has settled so well. Little Barney was in and out in a matter of days and living the life with Daisy. Nina (Jenny’s daughter) has also been reserved pending home check in UK and we are delighted for her! Just a few days ago we took in little Lola, abandoned and just a few weeks old. She has a bad eye injury but receiving the best care in foster – watch this space. Now as for Frank, well. a few months of TLC, training and medication and he has turned the corner! He will start his vaccinations next week and soon be available for adoptions. We are also waiting to receive 2 Podenco brothers who have spent the last 5 years in poor conditions. They will need rehabilitation before they head off to new homes in Finland. Busy times! We have started a facebook page called Pawsawhile Online Shop https://www.facebook.com/Pawsawhile-Online-Shop-106714787726046 and thank everybody who has either donated items or made a donation to buy them. This has really helped ‘keep us afloat’. Last but not least to all our family and friends who have supported us financially, emotionally, practically and in any way they can, we so appreciate you being there for us and the dogs! Thank you.

A comment was made on our facebook page by a man criticising us for castrating the dogs in our care.  It upset me as I remembered all the dogs/puppies/cats/kittens we were unable to save. All the poor animals that are still in need of help and the people in rescue who work so hard to help them. The thought that any of us would put an animal through an operation if it wasn’t absolutely necessary is absurd. So I responded with the following words.

Why Sterilise?
Collected 6 unwanted puppies from the pound today
Unwanted babies so given away, 6 more will follow
In a few months time, as the Mother breeds yet again
But the owner says, why sterilise?

Took in day old puppies, umbilical cord still attached
Left in the rain on a piece of cardboard
Fed hourly and held close, one too weak to survive
Tears shed, but why sterilise?

A cat too young to give birth has a kitten, so both discarded
Mother infected from her time on the streets, kitten dies
Cat cared for and loved but had to watch pass away
Many more tears, but still asked why sterilise?

Found thrown on top of a bin, just a couple of days old
Left with the rubbish, unwanted so discarded
Hourly feeds, hot water bottles and clean bedding
Only 3 survived, but why sterilise?

A young dog swollen with milk, cries for her puppies, snatched from her,
Left with the rest of the pack, she’ll get pregnant again, too soon
Too weak, her body can’t cope with another birth
Too late to call the vet, but why sterilise?

Thought she was too young to get pregnant and gate was secure
Don’t know how it happened but she’s had 8 puppies
Can you take them, now please as I can’t look after them here
You’re a rescue aren’t you? But why sterilise?

Spend a day in the pound, killing station or rescue
Spend weeks trying to rescue a dog/cat
Open your eyes and listen to the horror stories
Then, ask me again, why sterilise?

The impact of Convid-19 continues but we have remained positive! Work on the exterior fencing and protection against flooding has been completed thanks to the generous donation from Reynold’s Training Services. Attention then moved to repairing and replacing some of the internal fencing to increase the height and prevent the dogs jumping over to the other side where the ground is lower, and injuring themselves.

Thanks to the other generous donations received from family, friend and supporters we have been able to have Benji, Billy, Boomer and Harry castrated. Lucy has been spayed and the last of the Pointer puppies, Linda will be visiting the vets in 2 weeks. Nina developed a skin complaint and after extension tests it has shown to be caused by an allergy although we are not yet sure for certain what has caused it. At the moment she has been put on special food and although more expensive her skin is healing well so well worth it!

Thanks to ongoing help and support from Jennah the lovely Jenny is now going for walks on the lead. Her confidence grows daily as does her chances of finding her forever home. Nice to end April on such a positive note!