When you truly love animals—the animals who have nowhere else to go—then eventually, what’s yours is theirs.
The math changes. It has to. Every monthly paycheck is measured against a vet visit that could change a life. Every dollar or colón against a bowl of food rattling into a dish, then making its way into a hungry belly. Every square meter of your house against four paws that turn-turn-turn before settling down, finally, into a safe space.
One dog, two dogs, three. She picked them up off the street and changed their fate. Then 14, 15, 16. (And two cats. Why not?)
Suddenly, the math no longer worked. What’s a human to do?
She looks at the animals who once were lonely, now busy around her ankles in a happy swarm, and realizes: she must do the same. She finds the other humans, alone, who care as much as she does, who are crazy in the same way, crunching the same numbers.
Together, they pool every last colón, square meter, and ounce of energy—so that lonely animals can no longer be alone. Not dozens: hundreds.
And the humans? They, too, find their pack.
Inspired by the story of the Animales de Asis Association and its staff member Karolina Benavides. Animales de Asis is a private, no-kill sanctuary founded in 2000 in San Rafael de Heredia; it can shelter up to 200 dogs and cats. The association’s work can be supported by donation (including U.S. tax-deductible donations through Amigos of Costa Rica), volunteering, sponsoring a senior animal, or adopting an animal. Learn more on the Animales de Asis website.
Our weekly Media Naranja column tells short love stories with a Costa Rican twist. During our April edition, “Animal Coexistence,” we’re focusing on love for animals.
