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Letters: One last response

Car rescue society responds to previous letter writer

In response to Doreen Effa’s letter to the editor.

I co-founded SAFARS with my mother, Ms. Dominguez, and I can assure you that starting an animal rescue group is more labour intensive, stressful and emotionally draining than one can ever imagine. I’d like to share that when you pour all of your heart and sweat into saving the lives of animals, it physically hurts you to think you may not have donations to fund that creature’s rescue. Sometimes, this anxiety for continuously needing to win the approval for funds or the desperation for needing a piece of land/shelter to continue your work turns you into a more intense version of yourself.

We are truly grateful for this small monetary amount as it gave us hope that one day we will have more members.

For those who may not know, we provide a pet food bank for families in Sooke who cannot afford to feed their pets. This is a highly successful program and we distribute more than 25,000 lbs of animal food per year to those families. We apply this very same dedication to animals with regards to the feral cat rehabilitation service.

I acknowledge your point that Ms. Dominguez can come off aggressive at times, but her intentions are far from malicious nor hateful. In fact, it is the complete opposite. Her strong Hispanic accent, does not excuse the abruptness, but certainly explains her vibrantly loud and passionate form of communicating.

Lastly, I would like to extend an invite for you to assist in the trapping of a feral cat. This new experience may then challenge the inaccuracies of your letter and, hopefully, cause you to reconsider the cruel manner in which you speak of my charity’s work and its prominent board member.

Nobody is perfect, Mrs. Effa, and running a charity group is not something you are taught to succeed in, which means you will make mistakes along the way. Despite it all, I do wholeheartedly hope you and Sooke can see the benefit of what Margarita Dominguez and SAFARS does.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at 250-418-5892 or email me at safarsorg@gmail.com

Kai Yates

Victoria