1 CUL Donation Ocean Acres 2

Cost-U-Less “Pawsitively” Supports Ocean Acres Animal Sanctuary with Donation

Cost-U-Less “Pawsitively” Supports Ocean Acres Animal Sanctuary with Donation

1 CUL Donation Ocean Acres 2

The economic fallout from Covid-19 has resulted in less money in some households forcing some people to abandon their pet animals overwhelming animal shelters. Cost-U-Less Barbados has given one shelter, Ocean Acres Animal Sanctuary in St. John, ample reason to celebrate with a donation of food and litter products for the 135 dogs and cats currently housed there.

Ocean Acres Sanctuary founder Karen Whittaker noted the space now has around 75 dogs and 60 cats, many of them coming to the space in the last few months.”We have more dogs than ever, COVID has hit some people very hard and we understand that. This has resulted in them not being able to feed their animals, and they don’t know what to do. A lot of sanctuaries are full so people think they have to abandon (their pets)…”

The sanctuary has been taking in dogs almost too fast to process. In addition to providing housing for the animals, the shelter has been providing pet food to some owners to allow them to keep their animals, while the sanctuary tries to find new "<em>forever homes</em>."
The sanctuary has been taking in dogs almost too fast to process. In addition to providing housing for the animals, the shelter has been providing pet food to some owners to allow them to keep their animals, while the sanctuary tries to find new “forever homes.”

Whittaker and her colleague Katie Thompson happily received many bags of dog and cat food, as well as kitty litter from Cost-U-Less staffers Darren Riley and Ramon Henry. Whittaker commended the Cost-U-Less management for thinking of supporting the sanctuary, adding she hoped other companies would follow suit.

Cost-U-Less store manager Bruce Scruggs said, “We’ve always given our support to where it would make a significant impact. Ocean Acres Animal Sanctuary is making a huge difference for homeless pets across the country. Barbadians are more aware of the importance of spaying and neutering their pets, but we can still do more to ensure this practice is common and the quality of life for our four-legged friends is good.”

Whittaker noted the non-profit space now provides the opportunity for Barbadians to use part of the space for family picnics, they provide dog obedience training for rescue animals, they are developing a school’s programme to teach children about animal care and, they will be teaching composting vegetable matter and bee care at the sanctuary as well. All these activities will allow both adults and children to interact with the animals in the sanctuary. “Ill-treatment of animals is a societal problem. We see a lot of cruelty, animals that have been stoned, puppies left tied out to die from exhaustion.

These programmes will allow people to see the animals and to reinforce how important it is we give these animals due care, and that care is human and humane.” Whittaker noted the space needs everything from a laptop to paving stones, as well as more volunteers to help it keep running but for the shelter, a major victory would be seeing a reduction in the amount of abused and abandoned animals across the country, and that more people open their hearts and homes to our furry four-legged friends.

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