Animal Welfare Volunteering (2 programs)


Yurac Alipa (Tierra Blanca) Shelter

About the institution
Yurac Alipa Shelter is an institution located at about 30-45 min drive from Cuenca that hosts a huge variety of animals, some of them victims of illegal trade, some others with birth defects or simply animals that have been born within the centre. It started as an ostrich farm, but gradually, it became a bit difficult to maintain the ostrich business, so instead, the owner started to make a hobby out of it, not only having ostriches (which now are actually the smallest population in the shelter), but also receiving many species, to name a few, deers, turtles, monkeys, a huge variety of birds, some of them native, fish, etc. The number of animals in the shelter has grown to an estimate of 300, so there is a lot to do.

Once the ministry of environment heard that the owner had this place with animals of all kinds and they came to inspect the centre thinking that the facilities available weren’t very good to help the animals, but instead, they congratulated the owner for his amazing task and how much he has helped in giving a better quality of life for these species.

Description of the work
The work at Yurac Alipa involves basically cleaning and feeding the animals and the places in which they live, actually, whatever you want to do to make things  better for them would be great, for example, the place needs paths, or the cages need a better, more natural look, the turtle needs something like a pond, it all depends on your initiative and your will to make a difference, for any activity that you need materials or tools, the owner has committed to provide them. Something else that you might be able to help is in going to the market with the owner to buy the food for the animals, this could also be a nice, different experience.