Head northeast about a half hour from the Costa Rican capital of San Jose and one will find a quaint little mountain town nestled in the Heredia canton. San Rafael is just nine miles from nearest major city, Heredia, and sits on the slopes of the Cordillera Volcánica Central. This tranquil hillside city is home to just under 30,000 residents. The city is also home to untold numbers of homeless dogs and cats who live on the streets foraging for food and shelter as best they can. The Refugio is there to help.
Formally known as the Asociancion Humanitaria para la Proteccion Animal de Costa Rica (AHPPA), the shelter is called The Refugio by locals because of the respite it provides to the region’s homeless animals. Dutch expat Lilian Schnog is the shelter’s president and driving force that makes it one of most progressive shelters and veterinary clinics in Central America. She began volunteering at the shelter over 20 years ago.
“When I came to Costa Rica in the year 1986 with my attorney husband, our property was five minutes from a rundown shelter. I started volunteering…in the year 1991,” Schnog says. When they first moved to Costa Rica, things were not great for Schnog. She says it was difficult for her to adapt, especially since she didn’t speak Spanish when she arrived. Volunteering at the tiny shelter was her way of connecting with her new home. With her husband's blessing, she took over the shelter five years later, paying off an existing debt.
“At the time this “shelter” had some run down cages, an operation room in very poor condition,” she says. “Now 20 years later we have a very professional operation room where we receive students from foreign countries who practice in our facilities.”
When Schnog started at the shelter, it was common for residents to let their pets “live” on the streets. Many visitors thought the animals roaming around town were homeless. That actually wasn’t the case. Owners often turned their animals out in the morning and then let them back in the house in the afternoon, not just dogs and cats, but even cows and horses. Over time things started to change. Now residents are aware that providing for their pets includes a safe place for them to stay at all times. Although numbers from a WSPA survey are not in yet, Schnog says that the stray population has dropped drastically while pets in houses, owned but not out roaming, went up. She said her new challenge is to change people’s attitudes about spaying and neutering animals.
“[The] most important issue is that people start neutering their pets in time, not after the first litter,” she says. “We would love to see…that pets are treated like part of the family. That is why it is so important to educate the children.” With the help of staff members and volunteers as well as 4th and 5th year veterinary students from foreign countries, the shelter now performs 40 to 50 cat and dog neuters per day.
The AHPPA currently has 35 adult dogs and 18 puppies awaiting adoption along with 12 adult cats and 15 kittens. Of course that number changes constantly. The shelter also operates a Dog Sponsorship program for older animals that are more difficult to adopt. Instead of adopting out these older dogs, the shelter has a “retirement” program where patrons can “sponsor” an older dog and pay for its care, allowing the dog to live out its retirement years in comfort and safety. Cost is a subscription of $25 a month. Learn more on their Sponsor a Dog webpage. The AHPPA currently has eight dogs needing sponsors.
Although much has changed in 20 years, Schnog says there is still a long way to go. According to Schnog, Costa Rica is still a third world country in many ways. Financial help is difficult to get because animals are far from the top of the country’s social issues list. The AHPPA does not receive any government assistance. In fact, the shelter helps the government to take care of K-9 animals.
“There still is a huge need to better the situation, especially with educating the people,” she says. “Their idea of having a pet is so much better, but we are still far from getting people to understand that shelters are not the solution for their unwanted pet or puppies…We help them with [their pet problems], but we want the owner to take responsibilities.”
To help with funding, the AHPPA has an annual “Mutts Party” and does receive monetary assistance from the Humane Society USA/International, the Wallace Foundation and the S.B.A. Holland. This helps to pay veterinary salaries and neutering programs. However, a majority of their funding is from private donations from both locals and visitors. Although the shelter takes any opportunity to adopt out an animal, Schnog wants travelers to be aware that it can be difficult for tourists to do so. The paperwork is complicated and it takes up to five days for animals going to the US, about the full length of a typical vacation. For European visitors, the process can take several months. The best way visitors can help the shelter is through monetary donations or simply spending some time volunteering at the shelter. To learn more about their donation programs, visit their Help the Animals webpage.
For Schnog, a 2009 recipient of “extraordinary commitment and achievement” award by the Humane Society International, all of the progress the shelter has made over these 20 years is more important to her than ever.
“My husband has always backed me in my volunteer work. He passed away in the year 2010 and the animals gave me the power to go on and keep me going,” she says. “I love what I am doing.”
The shelter is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Starting in February 2012, the shelter will open one Sunday per month for adoptions only. Check their Facebook page or sign up for their eNewsletter for details.
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