Julio Cesar and his 50 dogs
Donation protected
During my recent trip to Colombia, I was introduced to Julio Cesar, a homeless man who has been rescuing dogs. Even though he himself has very little, he gives it all to his 50 doggies, and works hard every day to provide for them. Julio has the support of a local rescue group called Arca Luminosa (you can read more about Arca Luminosa below). Julio allowed me to photograph him and his pack. We spent the day together, and it was so touching to see the amount of love that exist between Julio and his dogs.
Arca Luminosa and I discussed ways a fundraiser could help Julio, and have settled on the following ideas:
1- A new motorized bike
(a 2nd hand bike is about $1,500 and a new one would cost $3,000)
Julio has a job, and he takes it seriously because this is how he feeds his dogs. He collects recyclables, for which he gets a little money. Whenever he goes on a recycling trip, some of his dogs follow him around town, navigating the traffic (it’s a bit of a frightening sight, but these doggies are street savvy!). They just want to be with Julio at all times. We would love to support Julio’s job by buying him a bigger, safer, motorized bike, so that he can do more recycling (including recycling construction materials).
2- Parking for Julio’s bike
($20-50 per month – with $600 we can cover at least 1 year of parking)
Julio needs a safe place to park his bike year-around.
3- Vetting / placement of some of the dogs and other projects
All funds raised will be transferred to Arca Luminosa, for a special Julio account. Arca has been vetting Julio's dogs (sterilization, and other needs). A few weeks back for example, 2 men stabbed one of Julio’s dogs, Negro, through the fence at his compound. They used a homemade weapon they had brought with them (a knife attached to the end of a long stick). It was a very scary event, and Negro was injured on the neck but he made it. Arca covered all the vetting costs (over $300). Negro is fully recovered!
And because 50 dogs is way too many, Arca and Julio have agreed to re-homing as many as Julio's dogs as possible. Arca also built a little shelter on Julio's compound, and are looking into relocating Julio and his dogs to a safer area.
How will the money be transferred to Arca Luminosa and Julio?
We've found that the easiest and fastest way to get the money to the rescue, is via Paypal. Since GoFundMe doesn't allow Paypal payments, I will be withdrawing the money on my own account, then make a payment of the total sum sent by GoFundMe (total donations minus their fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per donation) to Arca Luminosa, using their Paypal address (feel free to donate directly to their Paypal, which is [email redacted], as stated on their website https://www.arcaluminosa.org/donar). I have already made a donation to Arca via their Paypal, to ensure everything was in order, and it worked perfectly. If you would like to confirm that Arca is working with me on this fundraiser, please visit their website or social media accounts as listed at the bottom of this page.
How will the funds be used?
Arca Luminosa will be managing the funds on behalf of Julio, who doesn't have a home address or bank account himself. They've been working with Julio for a long time, and have established trsut with him. They have vetted many of his dogs, brought dog food to him, built a shelter on his compound, etc. Seeing how great the fundraiser was doing, they have already purchased $500 worth of flea/tick medicine, dog food and dewormer for all of Julio's pack, and will be administering all of those to the dogs this weekend. I will post an update. A few females recently showed up in the pack, so they will need to be spayed asap. Arca is also looking into the bike already. They have contacted all their rescue network to try and start placing some of Julio's dogs in foster homes.
If you have more questions, please do not hesitate!
Thank you for supporting Julio and his 50 doggies!
Much love,
Sophie
Negro at the vet after he was stabbed / Negro fully recovered!
Volunteers from Arca Luminosa building a shelter at Julio's compound.
----
Arca Luminosa is an organization dedicated to helping Bogota's street dogs. They created a reflective dog collar, which they place on all street dogs they can, to make them visible in car traffic, saving many lives. If you would like to support Arca Luminosa's work directly, please head to their website: https://www.arcaluminosa.org/. Follow their Instagram and Facebook pages.
Sophie Gamand is an award-winning artist and animal advocate using her platform to speak for at-risk dogs around the globe. To be informed of her projects and support Sophie's work, sign up for her newsletter via her website , follow her Instagram or Facebook , or support her via Patreon .
Arca Luminosa and I discussed ways a fundraiser could help Julio, and have settled on the following ideas:
1- A new motorized bike
(a 2nd hand bike is about $1,500 and a new one would cost $3,000)
Julio has a job, and he takes it seriously because this is how he feeds his dogs. He collects recyclables, for which he gets a little money. Whenever he goes on a recycling trip, some of his dogs follow him around town, navigating the traffic (it’s a bit of a frightening sight, but these doggies are street savvy!). They just want to be with Julio at all times. We would love to support Julio’s job by buying him a bigger, safer, motorized bike, so that he can do more recycling (including recycling construction materials).
2- Parking for Julio’s bike
($20-50 per month – with $600 we can cover at least 1 year of parking)
Julio needs a safe place to park his bike year-around.
3- Vetting / placement of some of the dogs and other projects
All funds raised will be transferred to Arca Luminosa, for a special Julio account. Arca has been vetting Julio's dogs (sterilization, and other needs). A few weeks back for example, 2 men stabbed one of Julio’s dogs, Negro, through the fence at his compound. They used a homemade weapon they had brought with them (a knife attached to the end of a long stick). It was a very scary event, and Negro was injured on the neck but he made it. Arca covered all the vetting costs (over $300). Negro is fully recovered!
And because 50 dogs is way too many, Arca and Julio have agreed to re-homing as many as Julio's dogs as possible. Arca also built a little shelter on Julio's compound, and are looking into relocating Julio and his dogs to a safer area.
How will the money be transferred to Arca Luminosa and Julio?
We've found that the easiest and fastest way to get the money to the rescue, is via Paypal. Since GoFundMe doesn't allow Paypal payments, I will be withdrawing the money on my own account, then make a payment of the total sum sent by GoFundMe (total donations minus their fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per donation) to Arca Luminosa, using their Paypal address (feel free to donate directly to their Paypal, which is [email redacted], as stated on their website https://www.arcaluminosa.org/donar). I have already made a donation to Arca via their Paypal, to ensure everything was in order, and it worked perfectly. If you would like to confirm that Arca is working with me on this fundraiser, please visit their website or social media accounts as listed at the bottom of this page.
How will the funds be used?
Arca Luminosa will be managing the funds on behalf of Julio, who doesn't have a home address or bank account himself. They've been working with Julio for a long time, and have established trsut with him. They have vetted many of his dogs, brought dog food to him, built a shelter on his compound, etc. Seeing how great the fundraiser was doing, they have already purchased $500 worth of flea/tick medicine, dog food and dewormer for all of Julio's pack, and will be administering all of those to the dogs this weekend. I will post an update. A few females recently showed up in the pack, so they will need to be spayed asap. Arca is also looking into the bike already. They have contacted all their rescue network to try and start placing some of Julio's dogs in foster homes.
If you have more questions, please do not hesitate!
Thank you for supporting Julio and his 50 doggies!
Much love,
Sophie
Negro at the vet after he was stabbed / Negro fully recovered!Volunteers from Arca Luminosa building a shelter at Julio's compound.----
Arca Luminosa is an organization dedicated to helping Bogota's street dogs. They created a reflective dog collar, which they place on all street dogs they can, to make them visible in car traffic, saving many lives. If you would like to support Arca Luminosa's work directly, please head to their website: https://www.arcaluminosa.org/. Follow their Instagram and Facebook pages.
Sophie Gamand is an award-winning artist and animal advocate using her platform to speak for at-risk dogs around the globe. To be informed of her projects and support Sophie's work, sign up for her newsletter via her website , follow her Instagram or Facebook , or support her via Patreon .
Organizer
Sophie Gamand
Organizer
Brooklyn, NY