Difficult times for animals and their friends, too

by Laura Livingston

The Fundacion St. Germain is an animal shelter organization that protects domestic and wild animals. It is administered by Mrs. Clarita Svab, who speaks both Spanish and excellent English. The shelter operates under a no-kill policy, unless an animal is seriously ill or wounded. At present, then shelter has a population of more than 400 cats, ranging from two months to 10 years of age, and 19 dogs.

The foundation receives no governmental assistance whatsoever and depends on volunteers for donations. Mrs. Svab tells us that this year, due to the economic situation of the country, important donors have been forced to discontinue their assistance to the shelter. The shelter is, therefore, in urgent need of help from sensitive and loving individuals to be able to continue their work on behalf of abandoned and homeless animals.

For visits, adoptions and donations, Mrs. Svab's shelter is easily reached at Via Porras and Calle 77 in San Francisco. To reach the shelter, take Calle 50 to Via Porras. Turn left and go about three-quarters of a mile. The shelter is located right beside Galerias De Arco, a Mexican import shop painted bright blue and yellow. For information, please call Mrs. Svab at 226-0323 or her cell phone, 626-5588.

I recently visited Mrs. Svab's shelter to adopt my adorable kitten Bubba and was very impressed with Mrs. Svab's kindness and dedication. She maintains the shelter as well as she can, considering her scarce resources. She desperately needs both cash donations (primarily for veterinary services) and in-kind contributions of cat food, plastic food dishes, towels, etc. to help her take care of the animals. Please, if you are considering adopting a cat, contact Mrs. Svab, who has an astounding array of really wonderful felines. If you can't adopt a cat but would like to help, even the donation of a sack of cat food would be very helpful. She truly is out there all by herself, a sort of modern Sta. Francesca of Assisi. I hope some of you can help her.