Welcome to C4S!
Mission statement:
A non competitive fundraising event,
Cycle 4 Strays
is dedicated to advancing the rights of homeless companion animals in developing nations.
By pedaling with no support vehicles, we wish to duplicate the hardships that strays experience on a daily basis throughout their lives, educating the public about responsible pet ownership and the need to be compassionate towards unwanted animals.
Our outreach programs refute violent methods of dog and cat population control, promoting spay and neutering instead as the only viable, long term solution to the tragedy of homeless pets.
Stray story
"I really don't know when or where I was born... I have lived on the street for as long as I can remember and surviving is my full time job, so there isn't a whole lot of time left for anything else. After a while you do get the hang of it... Still, it's a hard life. The best days are Sunday, Monday and Thursday: on Sunday the male humans play soccer in the stadium and the spectators literally trash the place with left over food and all sort of waste, so scoring a few scraps is easy. Mondays and Thursdays are garbage collection days, so I start bright and early and make the rounds sniffing every bag at every curb until I detect something edible. Then I tear into the bag..."
Click HERE to read the full story.
That night, working with a lap top computer and an internet connection best described as "Sketchy", I networked with animal advocates throughout the United States and Europe and the founder and managers of the McKee Foundation, a US nonprofit that focuses on promoting spay & neuter of companion animals in Central America and the Caribbean. A plan of action started taking shape, I quickly threw together a web page to collect donations and it was on!
Less than 2 weeks later, Skylere and I left Zancudo and cycled north to the town of Sarchí bringing much needed funds and a message of hope to the community.
At the end of the 500km ride, we had raised 261% of the projected fund raising goal!
Stoked, I vowed to continue my cooperation with the McKee Foundation and decided that Cycle 4 Strays would become an annual event to promote the importance of spay and neutering as a humane method of population control and to support animal advocacy groups that operate in nations that lack basic infrastructure and the means to help their own strays.
Thanks to this first effort and the sustainable community outreach programs of the McKee Foundation, terms like spay & neutering are slowly becoming part of the family lexicon. As more doctors in veterinary medicine learn the Small Incision Spay & Neutering Method, attending one of the free clinics organized by McKee throughout Central America, more animals undergo this innovative, minimally invasive procedure and slowly, but surely, less stray animals are found roaming around the neighborhood.
You can also visit www.mckeeproject.org or contact Carla Ferraro, McKee's Program Director, at carla@mckeemail.org for more information.
On behalf of all the furry wanderers of this world I sincerely thank you!
Davide.
Riding near the border with Panama on the way to Punta Banco.
After a long, steep climb you are rewarded with this awesome view of the Gulfo Dulze.
