Labour Of Love Belize

There is no doubt about it that Debra Liccardi is passionate about what she does; saving lives one at a time. The lives of animals that is. The Trained vet tech has been helping animals for over 40 years. Her red-headed determination and passion for saving all species are undeniable. So in 2019, she decided to visit a tiny country in Central America named "Belize". The New York native acquired an early interest in the natural world, attached to anything from dogs, cats birds and all wildlife. Always rescuing or nursing something back to health. Most of her career was spent working in clinics and emergency veterinarian hospitals including The Animal Medical Center in NYC where she met Dr. Cindy Bressler back in the 90s. The two of them continue to make emergency house calls together out in the Hamptons, Eastern Long Island.

After her first visit to Belize in 2019 Debra immediately became aware of the enormous need to somehow help all the neglected, abused and discarded dogs there. The country has a blatant disregard for animals in need there. There is zero funding to help these poor souls roaming the streets emaciated, starving and so severely parasite infested. All of the rescue organizations in Belize are funded by kind-hearted people who start them with minimal donations and needless to say Belizeans have close to zero funds for themselves to feed their families. Over the past several years Debra has spent thousands of dollars of her personal income which she makes owning a doggy daycare/sleepaway camp here in the Hamptons to provide for as many of the Belizean strays as possible. There's no true foster program in Belize so whoever she can find to help her is all there is. Debra has been working very closely with a few rescue groups in Belize throughout the country. Earlier this year she was excited to find a property in the cayo district in Belize several acres in the mountains that would be the ideal sanctuary for the rescued dogs to live out their lives, as there are no allocated funds in Belize to assist all of the stray dogs on the street.

Her continued goal is to raise money to help as many of these small organizations as she can and also to continue to educate this country on the importance of spaying/ neutering, vaccinations and parasite control. For $150US a dog can be spayed , neutered, vaccinated and dewormed plus given flea and tick medication. So many are dying from tick fever at a very young age. Again Belize has no funding allocated to Animal health and well-being. Zero! Debra has literally gone into people's yards and rescued countless dogs in a third-world country and persuaded the owner to release their dogs to her. for $50 bucks....they would. Then there's "where does the animal go? Where are funds coming from to spay, vaccinate etc.? And even more important where is their forever home going to be?"

To many Debra's drive and ambition to save these dogs is often intimidating, and seems impossible but the animal enthusiast views her work and life as solely who she is. her love and appreciation for animal health and well-being have shown themselves as a symbol of her accomplishments. Through all the bites, scars and pain Debra has persevered through it all. She is living proof that if you are passionate about something..anything, you can hold the power to accomplish it.

Debra's focus now is to as for continued support to be able to educate the country of Belize about Animal Health + Welfare. She is Asking for the funding she can distribute to the many rescue organizations in Belize she has become fond of. Please help her help the starving dogs in Belize. She can no longer do it alone. She's literally drained her funds trying to rescue as many as possible. Here's to all of you with warm hearts that can be of service. xoxo