Cereco is an animal recovery centre, a private company that is operated for profit, not an animal sanctuary. Approximately 40 Town Halls pay Cereco up to 1400 Euros per month each, plus an extra 106 Euros per animal they pick up outside normal working hours. Included in each contract is the facility to tour the area once every week and collect any animal found wandering the streets as well collecting animals from Police Stations and the Veterinary surgeries in the municipalities that have a contract with Cereco. They are picked up by this companies vans and taken to its holding pens in Crevillente or the massive new installation that they have opened recently in the campo near to Albatera.  In the Crevillente installation they are confined to a cage. If they are not claimed within 10 days they are destroyed. If an animal has a chip and is not reclaimed by its owners within 30 days it too is destroyed.

Here you will find Newspaper Articles regarding Cereco

Coco's Story

http://www.costablancaleader.com/news/article.php?article_id=5570&article_section_id=1

Update on Coco (please read the 2nd letter down)

http://www.coastrider.net/editions/237/letters.htm

Molly & Bruce Story

http://www.costablancaleader.com/news/article.php?article_id=14613&article_section_id=1

Countdown to Execution......Four days left

http://www.coastrider.net/editions/233/news_main.htm#execution

Saved at the last minute

http://www.coastrider.net/editions/234/news_main.htm#puppies

Letter to the editor (first letter on the page)

http://www.coastrider.net/editions/234/letters.htm

Cereco Death Pound Update

http://www.coastrider.net/editions/235/news_main.htm#dogs

Here are a few more stories of the animals K9 Club rescued from Cereco:

Mitzy

When we went to rescue Bruce & Molly (see Leader Newspaper article) we saw this beautiful girl begging for us to notice her, she was to be the first one of many dogs we have managed to rescue from Cereco. She was handed to us by the scruff of the neck and was soaked to the skin. When we got her home we bathed & dried her immediately (the smell of Cereco is sickening). She stayed at our own home for a couple of hours then went to her new home later that day. It was a few days later when we noticed all our dogs coughing and sneezing, they had been infected with something from Mitzy and all of them needed antibiotics.

All have fully recovered now and Mitzy now called Molly enjoys nothing more than being an adoptive mother to abandoned kittens that need bottle feeding.

Princessa

This is Princessa, she looked very sorry for herself when we noticed her in Cereco. We rescued her and brought her home to live with us until a permanent home could be found, again she had a terrible cold and kennel cough which we immediatly treated her for. It didn't take her long to learn how to play and after a day she would steal our dogs toys and not allow anyone to play with them.

A week later Princessa found a new home where she could have as many toys as she liked and no other dog to defend them from. It wasn't until 5 weeks later her new owner noticed how fat she was getting and so we made an appointment with the Vet, she was pregnant. When the Vet examined her more closely he could see that there was 2 puppies and they were so big that it would have killed her to give birth to them. She had been mounted on in Cereco and because small dogs are penned with large dogs the outcome was inevitable. She was operated on a few days later and is now a very happy little girl with a mummy all to herself.

Jimmy

This was heartbreaking to see. When we went to rescue another dog from Cereco we noticed this little Chihuahua. He was so small that he couldn't reach the water or food bowl. We asked if we could take him but he had only just come in and we would have to wait 10 days before we could collect him. After many sleepless nights the day came for us to go and collect him, thankfully he was still alive, he had survived by drinking the other dogs urine. We immediately took him to the Vet where he was treated for pneumonia and put on a special diet to gain weight, he weighed just 1.9 kilos.

Jimmy came home with us until he found a new owner a few days later. He is still underweight but each day is an improvement.

Update 5/09/08: We are happy to say Jimmy is finally putting weight on.

Newton

Newton is one of a 12 dogs that had been in Cereco for 7 months because of a court case. We have managed to rescue every one of these dogs and Newton is one of the last. He was unable to walk out of the cage he had been in for 7 months and had to be carried out to the car. He came to stay with us for a few days and we all fell for his charms, unfortunately with having 4 other dogs and 2 cats we were unable to keep him and set about finding him a new home. After a few days he had to go into a kennels and await a new owner there.

It took 2 months before a home was eventually found but I think if he could speak he would say the wait was well worth it as he now lives with a beautiful young female Catalan Sheepdog who worships the ground he walks on.

See, happy endings can happen!

The Bichons

K9 Club have been rescuing dogs from a Cereco for 9 months, it was done quietly until 3 dogs needed to be rescued and K9 did not have the funds to cover the Vet bills. A local newspaper run the story of the Bichons and thankfully we had offers of help. The following week K9 Club went to Cereco and claimed the Bichons and 2 other small dogs. Their stories are continued below.

These 2 Bichon x Maltese are in a horrid dog pound called Cereco in Crevillente. We want to rescue them but before we can do anything we need foster homes and funds for Vet treatment. We are very hopeful to have them in a loving home very soon.

K9 Club got the bichons out of Cereco. This is them receiving urgent Vet treatment. They had a terrible cold, chronic diarrhea, rotten teeth and both have heart problems. One also had an eye waxed shut and had been like this for many months.

Along with the Bichons we got this 1 yr old girl out. She also has a terrible cold and is very frightened. She was taken immediatly to San Anton Vets where she stayed over night to recieve treatment payed for by the K9 Club

And another one to escape the death pound was this little old girl. We saw her getting attacked by 3 larger dogs in the kennel and we couldn't just leave her there. When we got her in the car we saw that she has no teeth and couldn't defend herself. Sophie also stayed in San Anton Vets where she received treatment for a bad cold and diarrhea, this was also payed for by the K9 Club.

A few days on and the Bichons are relaxing with their new adopted family. Their diarrhea has gone and only have a slight cold now. They have just started their heart treatment but it will be a month or 2 before they can be operated on for their teeth.

This was love at first sight. We took her with us to the bichons adopted family and they had a friend there who fell for little Izzy straight away. She is now very happy with her new best friend....a poodle!

Another love story was the same ladies who adopted the Bichons, they took one look at Sophie and said they wanted her also. She is now the boss of the house.

Here are a few more dogs rescued from Cereco.

A big thank you to two special people, Ralf and Gisela of Finca Lucendum.

Link to the Facebook Group against Cereco:   Close Cereco Dog Pound, Crevillente

Link to a petition to close Cereco down:   close Cereco down.

To view more pictures of the horrendous conditions animals have been kept in by Cereco please click this link:

http://www.galgo-in-not.de/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=93