Palm Beach. – At a recent press conference held in the Grand Ballroom, the Marriott Aruba Surf Club and Animal Rights Aruba announced their plans for a Fundraising Ball to be held Saturday, October 22, 2005.
The funds collected at the ball will be used to launch a national neutering and spaying campaign for the island’s owned-strays, who are fed by owners but are still allowed to roam freely. The moneys collected will subsidize neutering and spaying and make it available at a reduced price to locals who would otherwise not be able to afford the operation for their pets.
The event will be sponsored by the Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino and various vendors. It will also be held at the Grand Ballroom of the Aruba Marriott Resort from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Organizers revealed that the evening will feature a cocktail reception, a seated dinner prepared by the Marriott’s Culinary Team and dancing. Musical entertainment will be provided by the S.O.S. Band made up of three popular local musicians, Papito, Robert and Juancho as well as DJ Krish, Cool FM.
The fun filled event will also include an auction for valuable gifts and with auctioneer Milly Lacle.
The Aruban government represented at the press conference by Booshi Wever the Minister of Health and Gina Lopez, of the Ministry of Tourism and Transportation, expressed their full support of the neuter and spaying campaign.
As planned, Animal Rights Aruba will fund an island wide sterilization effort which will take place before the end of the year. The campaign will include both veterinary clinics, Contreras & Wayaca, and its goal is to achieve 500 sterilizations.
Balan Paravantavida, General Manager of the Marriott Aruba Surf Club indicated that one of the core values of Marriott is the Spirit to Serve the Community.
Marriott participates in various projects throughout the year on the island. Paravantavida also indicated that one of his personal goals is to spearhead a project that would make an impact on something that needs attention.
After speaking to various people especially Maritza Boyce, Rona Coster and Marina Pesquera, volunteers for ARA, Paravantavida is convinced that raising funds for ARA is the right choice.
The island has seen an increase of stray cats and dogs in the last few years. This has an impact not only on the community but on tourism as well.
“Visitors,” says ARA’s President Gerry Mans, “come to us with their concerns about the street animal population and the risks that go with it. All of us need to get involved and bring about a humane solution to this challenge which affects us all. We hope that all companies, organizations and individual citizens will support this fundraising ball. I am excited to work with the Marriott and the volunteers to make this event a huge success.”
Gerry Mans also explained that animals roaming the streets searching for food in garbage bins are a real health hazard.
According to ARA, two categories of street animals exist “Strays” and “Owned Strays.” Dogs who wander the streets as Strays are undernourished and in poor health, they suffer from mange and tick fever and their life expectancy is about three years, because of the lack of nutrition and human care.
The Owned Strays that are better nourished procreate and deliver an even bigger street dog population.
Up to this moment, euthanasia was the only solution. For many years more than 8,000 dogs and cats are killed yearly, as a means of controlling their population.
Marriott and ARA favor sterilization, as a preventive measure and as a more humane alternative to solving the problem of the street animals.
If left uncontrolled, studies show that in six years, one female dog and her off springs can theoretically produce 67,000 dogs. The spay and neuter campaign is designed to stop this cycle.
Spaying and Neutering has no detrimental side effects to the animal, ON THE CONTRARY, it provides countless benefits, such as:
1. Animals do not contract sexually transmitted diseases.
2. Animals are less inclined to wander away from home looking for a female to mate with and so have less the chance of being run down by a car.
3. Multiple births are physically taxing and eventually detrimental to the health of a female dog.
4. Sterilization has proven to reduce cancer in female dogs.
5. Sterilized dogs live longer and healthier.
6. Moreover, sterilization prevents the addition pain and suffering of puppies and kittens born in the wild that get dumped or killed or hit by a car . . .
Animal Rights Aruba is a non-government, non–profit organization that aims to protect all Fauna, Flora and Marine Life on and around the island of Aruba. All its revenues are derived from memberships, donations and fund raising. It was founded on May 3, 1999, and is run solely by volunteers. Its mission is to get the entire Aruban community involved in the well being of the Aruban fauna through education, legislation and by creating awareness of their rights and care of domestic animals.
This will eventually have a positive economic and quality of life impact on Aruba. For more information on ARA, please visit their website at www.arubaanimals.org.
You can buy your tickets at the ARA offices located in L.G. Smith Blvd. 160, #125 Sun Plaza. For more information about this event, please call ARA at 588-7709 or Marriott’s Aruba Surf Club at 520-6932.
