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local Thursday 23 February 2023

Luna Foundation:

“We need more volunteers. More volunteers mean more rescued dogs”

(Oranjestad) — From the foundation has been re- ate the AWAA foundation.
time she arrives on the ceiving donations from The task of the Luna Foun-
property at 8am up to 6pm, Renaissance Marketplace dation is to provide edu-
Zoey is still seen taking care for two consecutive years cation. This includes go-
of her sanctuary, making now. Konijn explained that ing to neighborhoods and
sure the dogs and animals they work every day, from schools to education the
are getting enough care. 6pm to 10pm, and the public on how to handle
The Luna Foundation is a funds they collected from their pets.
well-known organization kids, parents and even
on the island for its beauti- tourists all go to the foun- Konijn also pointed out
ful work and dedication for dation. that they need volunteers
mistreated or abandoned for this task too, a problem
dogs. In an interview with “We work hard for this, and that cannot be swept un-
Bon Dia Aruba, founder and Arubans showed up. The der the rug after one week-
president of the Luna Foun- island came together and end of volunteering events.
dation, Zoey Konijn, shared showed us their support “When Aruba Doet takes
how the foundation is cur- for our work, and with that place, everyone is willing
rently running and what is fund, we can make the to help, but the foundation
in store for this year. property even bigger,” she needs help all year round,
indicated. not just that one week-
Konijn expressed that this end. The more volunteers
year started with an ex- The Luna Foundation is one we have, the more the
pansion of the sanctuary. of the 5 foundations that foundation can do,” she
The property expanded have joined forced to cre- added.q
and the goal of this was to
finally construct the retire-
ment home for old dogs,
and a yard for the puppies
to play it.

She also remarked that pital when needed,” she three cages where the
there has been a hospital indicated. dogs can peacefully give
on the property since last birth.
year, but which only be- She explained that they
came active this year. This also have a nursery for “The plan for this year is to
hospital is only meant for dogs in labor. The Luna start building the retirement
the dogs on the property. Foundation does not actu- home for the older dogs,
ally pick up pregnant dogs and to make sure we take
“If they ever get sick, we from the streets; they most- in more puppies, because
don’t need to take them ly only pick up dogs that other organizations are out
to the vet, because we have been abused by their of space. We want to help
have our hospital. The only owner. However, they do where we can,” Konijn ex-
problem is we don’t have a see pregnant dogs roam pressed.
stay-in veterinarian, but the the streets sometimes, and
local vet comes to the hos- they help. Their nursery has To achieve this though,
they need volunteers. The
topic of volunteers remains
a problem and Konijn high-
lights that many people ask
for help but no one offers
help to the organization
that are in need of more
assistance with the dogs.
“More volunteers mean
more rescued dogs.”

The Luna Foundation cur-
rently houses 100 dogs,
and Konijn says that she is
on the property every day,
with others or even alone.
“It’s a lot of work. I’m not
complaining though, I love
my work, but it’s not easy.
The more volunteers we
can get to help us in here,
the more dogs we can help
out there,” she expressed.

In terms of funding, the