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Xolo Sanctuary Dog Rescue

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Please help us save some of the many dogs living on the streets of our community in Guatemala through our newest passion project - Xolo Sanctuary dog rescue.

Xolo (Sho-lo) Sanctuary is a small-scale rescue for street dogs in our beautiful community of Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. Our mission is to save street dogs whose lives are endangered due to malnutrition, illness and/or human threat. Our goal is to care for these dogs in our sanctuary where they will receive food, love, medical care, and temporary shelter while they heal, after which they will transition into forever homes so they can live out their lives in love and safety. 

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Before and after of our beloved Rumi 

Hungry new pups fighting with the old timers for food among the trash  

Dyson who was battling cancer
Josh holding Flora during one of many vet visits when she was paralyzed with distemper
Kitsune, who simply got lost and who we returned to his local family after days of searching for them

Nova before (when our friend, Cecile, found her on the street and nurtured her back to health) and after (when our friends, Maria and Bernd, gave her a forever home)

Before and after of our dearest Flora

There are thousands of stray dogs on the streets of Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. This is the result of many factors, but primarily, and simply, a lack of resources. This results in a situation that is untenable for both the human and dog populations, as humans may feel endangered by the dogs and dogs are endangered by human activity. 

For humans, the dogs are a problem because they often carry disease, defecate in public areas, and are a nuisance for restaurants, stores and other facilities as they beg, steal and bother people for food. For dogs, humans are a problem for a variety of reasons. Many dogs get hit and maimed by cars and limp around with broken bones that never heal. Others are slashed and wounded by people with machetes. Many are also routinely abused by people who see them as a threat and therefore throw rocks at them or hit them with sticks. And, most, if not all, are severely neglected, malnourished, sick and weak without any hope of surviving or thriving. 

To deal with this situation in the most cost-effective (yet least humane) way, some local municipalities conduct semi-annual poisoning campaigns wherein they put poison meat on the streets for the dogs to eat. Unfortunately, domesticated dogs who have families and homes also find these poisoned treats and many of them die while walking on leash or in their own fenced-in yards because the meat is spread out indiscriminately. In fact, several of our friends have had their very own beloved dogs poisoned and killed just this year. It’s all terribly inhumane and hard to imagine until you actually see it. 

This situation is one that isn’t going to go away unless we do something about it. That's because one un-spayed female dog and one un-neutered male dog and their unsterilized offspring can produce 67,000 puppies in just six years just like the cute little one below! So, the number of street dogs in desperate need will only continue to grow unless we step in to help them. 

That’s where we and you come in. The problem we are sharing with you is big, but the love and effort needed to care for one animal at a time is small. Any amount you can give helps save a sweet street soul and prevents other puppies from being born into such hostile hardship. Together, we can make a difference in one dog’s life, then two, then 10 and so on. 

Please help us in any way you can by sharing just a bit of your hard-earned dollars. We will use one-hundred of the proceeds honorably and wisely to fund a safe sanctuary, food, medicine, spaying/neutering procedures, vet care, transportation and adoption expenses. 

And, in addition to giving anything you can, we would be so grateful if you could share this GoFundMe link with your Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter communities as well as your local families, friends, dog lovers, dog shelters, vet offices, etc. 

Please feel free to donate here through GoFundMe. Or, to avoid GoFundMe fees, you can go directly to our PayPal account at paypal.me/jeannettecooper14 and send as friends and family to avoid additional PayPal fees. Please reach out to us with any thoughts or questions, and thanks so much for your support!

Much love and gratitude, 

Jeannette and Joshua 

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Donations 

  • Sevonne Cohen
    • $20 
    • 3 yrs
  • Annika Osterwald
    • $50 
    • 3 yrs
  • Duncan Fordham
    • $50 
    • 3 yrs
  • Indium Moon
    • $111 
    • 3 yrs
  • Trina Challender
    • $40 
    • 3 yrs
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Organizer

Jeannette Cooper
Organizer
St. Augustine, FL

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