MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL THE FRIENDS OF THE CREOLE DOGS AND TO ALL THE FRIENDS OF THE ANIMALS ALL OVER THE WORLD! Also in 2015,the year of our 10th anniversary, we have continued our work for a better life for Caribbean animals. Five times vets crossed the Atlantic to spay and neuter dogs and cats: Anja Heß, Ingrid Stegemann and Alfred Huber went in January to the poor southwest of the Dominican Republic, not only to the villages but also to the favelas of Santo Domingo where otherwise nobody dares to enter. They were received very friendly and left new friends behind who are waiting already for their return… In March Dr. Susanne Vogler went for the 4th time to the north of the Dominican Republic to spay and neuter for Moringa’s Mission and the A.A.A.S. clinic. Dr. Julia Neumann and Dr. Monika Eickhoff followed her in April.. In July Dr. Astrid Patzak-Theen visited fort he 2nd time Rescátame in Punta Cana. In November Theresa Conze and Dr. Uwe Linzer went fort he forst time to the small Grenadine island Carriacou. A lot has happened also in the project Tourism and Animal welfare: Our petition has currently more than 27.000 signatures; over 1000 signatures have been added monthly all through 2015. Animal welfare organizations of the islands Nevis, Barbados and Jamaica have asked us to add politicians and ministrys of their islands as recipients of the petition and so the petition addresses no longer only hotels but also governments demanding to fight animal abuse and poisonings and pass or enforce animal welfare laws.. More than 10% of the hotels in Punta Cana, one of the biggest All Inclusive centers of the Caribbean cooperate with our partner RescátaMe and get the animals around the resorts’ grounds spayed and neutered.. After our site Animal-friendly hotels in the Caribbean the site Animal welfare addresses was completed and now we try to get travel companies to add these addresses to their general travel information. A big travel agency in Switzerland is doing this already since August and more will follow in the New Year. Animal-loving tourists have again and again succeeded with their demands and convinced hotels to cooperate with animal welfare. The brightest example of the importance of tourists for Caribbean animal welfare is Katharina who couldn’t save a dog she found in Cuba but engages now in a spay and neuter project for Cuban animals as new member and project director in our association. Cuba is a particularly difficult island for animal welfare projects and we wish her a lot of luck and success! How will we continue 2016 ? 4 spay and neuter operatives are certain so far: End of January Dr. Susanne Vogler flies to the A.A.A.S. and Moringa’s Mission. In February Anja Heß and her team go to Santo Domingo, where they will work at first in the favelas and then continue to the province Barahona where Peace Corps volunteers are waiting for them in several villages where many very poor Haitian cane cutters live.. In April fliegen Dr. Julia Neumann, Dr. Monika Eickhoff and Anna Bremus travel to Samaná for an operative with Samaná Dogs. I will be there as well. As soon as the Barbadian department of immigration has issued a temporary work permit for Dr. Schirren she will fly to Barbados for a first operative with The Hope Sanctuary. And 2016 shall be the start of our Humane Education project in 2 places, in Samaná with Samaná Dogs:and on Barbados with The Hope Sanctuary. Children and adolescents shall learn at school to love animals and treat them right. This project had been planned with Samaná Dogs since 2012 but only recently we found out that a school program in Spanish exists. A member of The Hope Sanctuary will travel in 2016 to Dominica to get the curriculum of the excellent English program that exists there for Barbados. We hope that children who profit from these programs will grow up as responsable adults able to take over many important tasks in animal welfare in their communities 2016 will be an exciting year, with progress and set backs, hopes and disappointments, just like the past 10 years and many more years to come … We thank all of you who support us and acompany us on our long and often difficult way to turn the holiday paradise Caribbean into a region where not only tourists bur also animals can be happy!