July 14, 2024
Animal Save & Care Portugal is a nonprofit organization and chapter of Animal Save Movement. In addition to rescuing farmed animals from abuse and providing loving homes at their sanctuary, they are creating a community in Portugal that raises awareness about animal exploitation and oppression.
President of Animal Save & Care Portugal, Alice Basilio, explains how it began in 2017.
“The Save Movement had just arrived in Portugal, and in the city where I grew up, we have the live export trade, so it made sense for us to create a chapter that would raise awareness to what was happening, and to try to change the law and help make society more aware and more resistant to that industry.”
They worked on investigations and rescued animals all over Portugal. But these animals needed their own sanctuary to thrive, so the organization grew beyond a city chapter, and Animal Save & Care Portugal began.
Like most people around the world, Basilio was not born vegan, in fact, quite the opposite. She grew up in a small village and both her grandfathers raised animals to slaughter.
“My paternal grandfather had a pig farm with a maternity ward and piglet fattening, where they lived until the day of slaughter. He had a flock of sheep that he fattened for sale and even had beef cattle. My grandmothers both had chickens and rabbits, and they also had dairy cows.”
“One of the most bizarre situations I remember being involved in before finally waking up to what I was really doing to animals was visiting my family and having a pig killed to celebrate a cousin's birthday. I remember eating entremeada [pork belly] and at the same time having the dead pig hanging behind me on a hook, all open and gutted, in the family's brandy cellar. I learned from my family that animals exist to serve us. I never agreed, but I accepted participating in his death and exploitation throughout my growth until I finally said: “Enough is enough!”
Basilio was 21 and left Portugal to move to the UK temporarily.
“That distance allowed me to have space between myself and my peers and family, as well as the culture that exists around the consumption of animals in Portugal. That also gave me the space to grow, to think outside what was the norm, and educate myself about oppression.”
Animal rights and environmental documentaries were gaining in popularity and revealing the truth about animal agriculture.
“I educated myself about all the different types of exploitation within animal industries and human rights. I also became aware of the impact on the climate and the planet so it made all the sense to stop what I was doing and help animals suffer less as well as help save the planet.”
Basilio decided to change her life and live without harming others.
“After growing up with animals that were exploited and not being able to truly see them, to now dedicating my life to them is the minimum I can do to compensate for all the suffering I caused them for eating them and paying for their torture for most of my life.”
Animal Save & Care Portugal has animal residents from all walks of life, each with their own story. Although we can’t all start a sanctuary with rescued animals, we all have the power to leave animals off our plate and advocate for their rights.
Elisa and Alice
Meet The Rescues
Elisa And Matilde
Elisa the lamb was found alone on the highway. It’s suspected Elisa was born on the side of the road when her mother was walking with the sheep herd but was rejected because her mother was not in good health, or she believed her baby was not strong enough to survive. As a veterinarian later revealed, Elisa was born with cerebral palsy, and this may have been the reason for her being abandoned. After arriving at the sanctuary, she was bottle-fed with replacement formula and loved by everyone. Elisa’s psychological development is ongoing and she continues to display erratic and impulsive behavior and needs 24-hour supervision and care.
Basilio explains, “She would start running aimlessly until she hit something, or she would run into corners and then instead of going backwards, she would try to keep walking forward, hitting her head repeatedly with whatever was in front of her.”
Elisa has since met Matilde, another sheep rescued around the same time, who was also found as a newborn walking alone on the road. Both rescued lambs are receiving the love, kindness and care they deserve and enjoy watching the sunset together.
To learn why lambs should stay off our plates, click here.
Victor And Friends
Victor the pig loves daily naps in the sun on the porch of his log house complete with blankets and pillows. Like other pigs at the sanctuary, he was rescued to avoid a violent death. Pigs are sentient beings that feel sadness, pain, happiness, and love. They are extremely smart and have outperformed three-year-old human children on cognition tests. Pigs are loyal, social, and affectionate companions, yet humans continue to exploit and abuse them. In Portugal, pig’s meat is one of the most consumed animal products and there are as many as 4,000 large factory pig farms and tens of thousands of smaller ones throughout the country. The rescued pigs at the sanctuary, like Romeo, Juliet, and Fig are the lucky ones and love cuddling on piles of hay, rooting in the mud, eating, and playing. Romeo and Juliet were unborn babies when their mother was rescued from slaughter and now enjoy fresh organic veggies with their animal family.
Alma And Bernardo
Alma, the horse has a traumatic past – she was neglected and left to die because she could not be ridden due to one of her legs being twisted backwards. When just a small foal, she was left tied to a rope in the middle of a farm far from other animals without food or water. Finally, an employee felt bad and reached out to Animal Save & Care Portugal. When Alma arrived at her forever home, the rope was stuck in her flesh because she was held captive for so long that she grew into it. Alma had kept herself alive by eating tiny herbs she found on the ground in the hopes one day to be rescued. Her will to live was strong, and it paid off. She has now completely recovered (although remains half the size of other horses) and gallops through fields. She became friends with her soul mate, Bernardo, who was also born into a difficult life. Before his arrival at the sanctuary, he was attacked by dogs, lost one eye, punctured the other, broke his leg, had severe osteoarthritis, and was abandoned.
“Even with their bodies broken by mistreatment and with irrecoverable injuries, they ran like we never thought possible.”
Before Bernardo passed away from health issues, the two rescued horses became inseparable and spent every moment together living their best lives.
Speak up against horse abuse and exploitation and sign this petition to end the live export of horses in Canada.
Zezinho (left) and Phillip (right).
Phillip And Zezinho
Dozens of rescued chickens and ducks call the sanctuary home and waddle around at their leisure. Phillip the rooster loves having lunch with humans and finds a lap to sit on to enjoy his meal. Zezinho, another rooster resident, had a rough start to life. When he first arrived at the sanctuary, he was expecting to be abused and hit with a broom, as that was all he knew. But with love, patience, and friendly hugs from Basilio, Zezinho learned to trust and live in peace with others. Sadly Zezinho was recently attacked by a predator and passed away, but his time at the sanctuary was magical.
“We loved Zezinho and miss him so much...he became an important member of our family…And we know that his unique spirit will never die in us. We will always talk about him, so that other humans can learn to help other roosters like Zezinho, as all animals deserve to live peaceful lives.”
To help chickens, the first step is not eating or exploiting them and learning the truth about the egg industry. Bear witness with Toronto Chicken Save or find a save chapter in your city and download the Plant Based Treaty’s free plant-based starter guide to begin your journey. You can follow and support Alice’s work with Animal Save & Care Portugal on Instagram and Facebook.
Written by Miriam Porter:
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