Heartless Landowner Balked By Animal Need Foundation Expat Volunteers And Givers

After a heartless landowner sold land rented by the Animal Need Foundation without giving them a chance to raise the money needed, expats rallied and donated enough to start anew.

Following an appeal for donations by the English language Olive Press newspaper, the Spanish animal rescue centre was attempting to raise €165,000 by August 31st to buy the land after an agreement with the landlord on the date. Without giving any notice, the greedy landowner raised the price and sold the land, informing the shelter via a brief note. Problems with the landowner had begun after the shelter’s founder died, when volunteers found he’d only had a verbal agreement with the landlord.

As a result, hundreds of dogs as well as horses, birds, donkeys, pigs and a pair of bulls faced being killed, and there are far too many rescued dogs to be rehomed in such a short period of time. As if the shelter’s founder’s death wasn’t bad enough, the landlord put a ‘for sale’ notice on the property one day after the funeral took place. The La Linea site has sea views, and its short distance from Puerto Atunara makes it a prime location for a tourism development.

When the heartbreaking news became public, the Olive Press started an appeal and the shelter’s volunteers began planning charity events to raise enough money to lease another parcel of land and rebuild the facility. A spokesperson told the media donations are coming in, adding the volunteers will need all possible charitable gifts in order to be able to build a new shelter. The volunteers now have a lawyer who is working to block the procedures necessary to transfer the land title to the new owners, with the action intended to give the shelter time to reconstruct elsewhere and save all the animals’ lives.

In a recent update to the shelter’s website, the amount raised to date is an amazing €126,000, and the search for new premises is under way, with the generosity of those who’ve donated showing up the greed and mendacity of the landowner who now has a legal fight on his hands.