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With Christmas just about upon us and numerous celebrities exhorting us to remember that a pet is not just for Christmas, but for life, I was invited to La Linea’s Prodean animal rescue centre to see for myself the plight of the hundreds of abandoned animals taken in by the centre’s dedicated staff.

The sight that greeted me was staggering, this is not so much a dog shelter, but more like an animal refugee camp, around 450 of them in total, with more arriving every day, although thankfully the traffic isn’t all one way as the policy of the centre is to find homes for the cats and dogs, but more about that later.

The centre was set up in 2005 by Prodean (Associación Protectora de Animales Pro-Derecho de los Animales) and is run by Dutch couple Peter and Madeleine Koekebakker along with a number of volunteers of all nationalities. The centre is situated next to La Linea’s municipal dog euthanasia centre. The municipal policy is for all stray dogs rounded up on the streets of La Linea to be kept for ten days, after which all those without microchips or which haven’t been claimed are destroyed and cremated.

Since the rescue centre was founded the ‘death centre’ has been emptied on a weekly basis, and the dogs have been given sanctuary in the refuge. Despite the fact that this action has saved the municipality of La Linea a fortune in extermination expenses, the Prodean refuge doesn’t receive a single cent from the town’s treasury by way of support.

The centre also receives many animals, some 30% of its intake, from British owners who are returning to the UK at short notice. Unlike most other Europeans who can quite simply stick the animals in the back of the car and take them with them, the UK import controls still require a programme of actions to be taken before an animal can enter the country. This process can take up to six months, which for many is too long, so the animals are abandoned at the centre.

The centre and its staff have recently been involved in the Puerto Real Dog Pound scandal in which the authorities had to step in after complaints from a number of animal welfare organisations about the cruel practices being carried involving the use of antiquated and agonising methods for putting down unwanted dogs. The action resulted in the closure of the pound and the arrest and prosecution of the vet who was subsequently barred from practising animal medicine. As a result of the closure the La Linea centre collaborated with a number of other shelters to take in the animals form the Puerto Real pound.

They also have a daily intake of animals which are left tied to the centre’s gates each night, many of which are old or ill, and their owners either can’t or won’t afford the vets bills. These are just another burden of expenses borne by the centre.

Whilst on the subject of expenses, the hard facts are that this operation costs 300,000 euros a year, none of which goes on frills and fancies, but every cent of which is needed to fund the project.

Of this 300,000 euros, half is raised from payments made by families which have adopted animals, around a thousand each year, many of whom live in Holland, where the centre has an arrangement with a Dutch animal charity to take a regular shipment of dogs from the La Linea centre.

The rest comes from donations, fund raising events, sponsorship, and even 30,000 euros from the Koekebakker’s own personal funds.

How you can help

“So what can people do to help?” I asked Peter. “Plenty” was his reply “First and foremost is money, mostly for vets’ bills. We are constantly in debt to the vets who treat our animals, whether for treatments, vaccinations, or the host of other services they provide for us, it is a constant juggling act to keep them on side”.

“Next are volunteers, we always need helpers at the centre, to clean out the kennels, exercise and play with the animals. We also need handymen who can help us maintain and improve the animals living areas, currently many of the kennels desperately need refurbishing and concrete floors built to make them more secure and easy to clean. On this same subject, surplus building materials also come in handy, if people have bricks, blocks, cement, wooden pallets, etc. we are always grateful to receive them.”.

Other items that are needed at the centre are: collars, blankets, towels, dog and cat food, flea drops, antibiotics, toys for the animals, etc. They also need plastic dog houses and travel cages to transport animals to their future owners, for example in Holland.

Adoption costs around 150 euros for each animal which covers the costs of an international passport, a treatment against worms (that has to be repeated after approximately. 2 weeks) vaccinations, cocktail shot, vaccination against rabies, microchip, medical exam and a blood test. The dogs are also neutered.

The Prodean association also runs a stall on the Sabinillas Sunday market, where they sell a wide range of second hand clothes and goods. So why not pop along and support them with a purchase, or why not donate those unwanted items for them to sell.
Local vet Thomas Hinz, next to the Costa Natura in Sabinillas, is willing to take bedding, unwanted or resaleable goods and animal food for use at the sanctuary or for sale at the market stand.

Fund raising

During the coming year Janet Hunt from Manilva will be organising a programme of fundraising events starting in January with a Bring ‘n’ Buy Sale (with a difference), on January, 25th from 10 am outside Bailey’s Café Plaza in Plaza Vicente Espinel (behind the taxi rank) in Sabinillas. Bring dog food with you and buy something from the stall. There will be a free slice of cake with every drink, along with a raffle. But more details nearer the date.

If you want to make a difference and help this essential facility contact Peter on 607 742 741 or email This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . You can also visit their website www.animalinneed.com where you will find more information about the shelter and what you can do to help.