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Race against distemper - support for «Hope 4 a Street Dog» in Costa Rica

Many thanks for your support, which meant we were able to complete the project successfully.

Project SummaryLena has witnessed a lot of animal suffering during her time in Costa Rica. Now she wants to support a local animal shelter with the heart project. You too can support the animals with a donation!

Background

In Costa Rica, many dogs live on the streets and there are numerous diseases circulating. One of them is the highly contagious and mostly fatal distemper, which is currently on the rise again in the Central American country and claims numerous victims. I had to leave my two dogs Lila and Nacha behind on my unplanned return to Switzerland due to the pandemic and knew they were in good hands with my husband's aunt. Berta is the founder of the local organization "Hope 4 a Street Dog", which puts its heart and soul into helping homeless dogs and cats - whether sick, injured or healthy - by taking them in, nursing them back to health and, in the best case, finding them a new home. In addition, she regularly organizes discounted vaccination and neutering campaigns in the surrounding towns to counteract the proliferation of street dogs as well as diseases. These campaigns are very important, as these treatments are expensive and the veterinary clinics/veterinary practices are often too far away for the coastal inhabitants*.
Until the introduction of vaccination in the 1960s, canine distemper was considered the most destructive disease in domestic dogs in Germany, for example. It attacks the stomach and intestinal tract as well as the lungs of the dogs and makes its way into the brain of the animals. I have also lost one of my bitches in Costa Rica to this disease and would like to fight with my project against the spread and for the health of the animals.
More information about distemper

Idea

You can donate a one-time amount or accompany me with a sponsorship and donate a self-selected amount per kilometer. The collected amount must be paid to my project on there-for-you.com or directly to me no later than March 15. I will upload your donation in your name on there-for-you.com. The distances I cover are recorded by Garmin and uploaded to Facebook.
You can find me on my profile "Lena's fundraising run against distemper".
With our help, Berta and her team from "Hope 4 a Street Dog" should succeed in vaccinating as many dogs as possible against diseases such as distemper and rabies, and in treating both injuries and diseases such as worms in the heart and lungs of the animal, which are widespread in Costa Rica, and tick fever, as well as the resulting skin diseases and fungal infections. It is equally important for me to support the organization financially in its general activities so that it can continue to carry out its valuable public work and carry out the extremely important vaccination and neutering campaigns. "Hope 4 a Street Dog" can do its work exclusively with the support of donations and volunteers. It does not receive any government aid.

Implementation

After almost two years, I can finally fly to Costa Rica again at the end of March and am happy to round up the final amount collected and hand it over to Berta from "Hope 4 a Street Dog". This way administrative costs are saved and the team behind "Hope 4 a Street Dog" can use the biggest possible part of the collected donations for medication and treatment of the animals.
To give you an idea of the cost of the necessary vaccinations and treatments in Costa Rica at the moment, I will give you some examples below. Costa Rica is a developing country and most of the local population in the coastal regions earn USD 3.- per hour. The following costs are per animal:
Combination vaccination against rabies and distemper, parvovirus, adenovirus, parainfluenza (3 vaccination doses in puppies, from adulthood annual booster): ca. USD 23.-
Treatment tick fever: approx. USD 100.-
Lung and heartworm treatment: approx. USD 300.- per treatment period (approx. three treatment periods are necessary)
Discounted neutering as part of the campaigns organized by "Hope 4 a Street Dog": approx. USD 20.- to 30.- (neutering in a veterinary clinic costs USD 75.- to 95.-)
On the profile of "Hope 4 a Street Dog" you can find numerous pictures of the campaigns carried out so far, healthy animals and families of the four-legged friends.
Profile Hope 4 a Street Dog

Initiators

My name is Lena. I first met and fell in love with Costa Rica in 2016 and lived there for three years. When I had to return to Switzerland two years ago due to the pandemic, I could not take my two bitches with me. Last December I lost one of them to distemper. I am running in the name of Lila and all the other dogs in Costa Rica up to and including March 15 and collecting donations for my first heart project with the kilometers I cover.

Donation goal reached and suitcase packed

03/21/2022

Together we have reached the donation goal. Now I will travel to Costa Rica again and hand over the money to the organization Hope 4 a Street Dog. Thanks to you they are able to vaccinate animals again. A thank you to all supporters!

The project time is over - the goal could be reached! It was an educational time and during every kilometer I ran, I was driven by the thought of the animals in Costa Rica. The suitcases are now packed - and I am ready for the departure and to give Berta our collected donations for Hope 4 a Street Dog!

I arrived in Costa Rica on Sunday evening and was able to see my beloved Nacha again a few hours later.

I am enormously happy about every single person I was able to reach and convince with my project and about every donation pledge we received. For this I would like to thank all the people involved from the bottom of my heart!

See you soon, Lena

Anonymous	10,00 CHF
elena schneider	20,00 CHF
Anonymous	30,00 CHF
Roman Zesiger	10,00 CHF
Msrgrit Durrer	100,00 CHF
Maya Ryffel	100,00 CHF
Patrick Mattes	50,00 CHF
Anonymous	5,00 CHF
Marco Jaeggi	20,00 CHF
Anonymous	40,00 CHF
Cinzia Schneeberger	50,00 CHF
Rahel Butt	50,00 CHF
franca leu	50,00 CHF
franca leu	50,00 CHF
Matthias Dellenbach	100,00 CHF
Lotti Wantz	150,00 CHF
Jasmin & Marc	100,00 CHF
Lena Leu	100,00 CHF
Betina Adrovic	100,00 CHF
pascale bühlmann	50,00 CHF
Solange Egger	25,00 CHF
Anonymous	20,00 CHF
Lisa Bill	70,00 CHF
Vermittelt durch Swisscom	210,00 CHF
Anonymous	50,00 CHF

Currently, there are still no project partners if you are interested, please contact us via info@there-for-you.com.

Status of the project

1'560,00 CHF

1'500,00 CHF

We will send the donation receipt (for Switzerland) in January of the following year.

Major donor

Project supported by Swisscom

Impact analysis by there for you specialists

Due to the high number of dogs living on the streets, the enormous costs for the medical care of animals and the resulting low vaccination rate, diseases such as distemper can spread almost unhindered. The work of the local organization "Hope 4 a Street Dog" makes it possible to reduce the high mortality rate of dogs in the long term and sustainably and to promote their health. Vaccinations prevent communicable diseases from spreading to this extent in the first place. In addition, castration campaigns ensure that the number of street dogs decreases. This project enables "Hope 4 a Street Dog" to continue their important work on site and to improve the precarious situation for (street) dogs in Costa Rica.