After I had tied up all my loose ends in England, I boarded the plane that would take me to my new life. I had left everything behind and had nothing but free time in a new country with my new man. I knew I would have to figure out what I was going to do for work while living in Spain, but in the mean time finding animal shelters to volunteer at was first on my list of things to do.
ADANA ESTEPONA
The closest rescue centre I found was Adana, so the first chance we got we went to check the place out. It’s about a 15 minute drive inland from Estepona, up into the beautiful mountains. The setting of this place really is stunning, and the view from being so high up is so amazing!
When I asked if they needed any help or volunteers they told me that they always need people to come and take the dogs out for a walk, so thats what we did! Obviously, I wanted to take home every doggy we met. I felt so bad putting them back in their enclosures after the walks.
Adana is an animal charity run by volunteers. Their aim is to promote love and affection for animals, they provide facilities and care for abandoned, sick and injured dogs whilst seeking new homes for them. Adana never puts down a healthy animal, love that!
They are finally allowed to start adoptions again now with new social distancing guidelines and there are lots of sweet doggies in need of a loving home.
TRIPLE A – MARBELLA
There is another dog shelter called Triple A in Marbella. They take all the dogs from the shelter on a walk every Saturday and you can make an appointment to volunteer to help with the walks by emailing voluntarios@tripleamarbella.org.
Triple A is run mostly with volunteers, they are dedicated to the care of abandoned and abused animals . They give them love, shelter, medical care and when possible a new home so that they can have a second chance at a happy life. Most importantly, they have a no kill policy and will never put down a healthy animal.
During this pandemic they have been in extra need of donations so if adoption or volunteering isn’t an option for you then making a donation is also a great way to help out.
We went there one day and were so close to adopting a gorgeous German Shepherd puppy but decided against it at the last minute it as we really weren’t sure of our plans yet. We had been brainstorming travel ideas so didn’t want to commit to becoming fulltime dog parents just yet.
FOSTERING
As we weren’t ready to adopt a dog yet, something we could do was foster. So, we went back to Adana and asked if there were any doggies in need of a temporary home. There was one called Choco who we had walked before, he was very very afraid of everything and had been at the shelter most of his life with his brother. Then Choco’s brother was adopted meaning poor Choco was in there alone. He was definitely a boy in need of some special attention so we took him home with us and fell in love with him instantly. It was so amazing to see him gradually get more and more confident around us and other people.
We discovered the nicest walking trail to take Choco, it’s so beautiful we still go there now even though its not that close by anymore. It has a stream running all the way along the trail, with little water falls and shallow rock pools that make the perfect place to cool down mid-hike.
Click to go to trailhead on map
We had him for a few months until he found his forever home with a lovely couple nearby who were actually members of Adana and they already had a real soft spot for him. We dropped him off there and saw their lovely big garden and another doggy for him to become best buds with. It was a bittersweet goodbye, but all for the best in the end.
OTHER SHELTERS IN THE COSTA-DEL-SOL
I have listed below and linked other shelters in the area, all in need of volunteers, donations and loving new homes for the animals they care for. Something I should note is that you don’t need to live in Spain to adopt from these shelters, in a lot of cases they rehome animals all over europe.
KIMS ANIMAL RESCUE – FUENGIROLA
COSTA ANIMAL SOCIETY – EASTERN COSTA-DEL-SOL
Have you ever fostered or adopted a doggy before? Let me know in the comments below x
The Indi Blog 
We’ve adopted 3 dogs and a cat from Spain! They are so different from the dogs here but they’re all extremely social and speak dog language so well! 😊
LikeLike
Thats so awesome! Different in what way?
LikeLike