The Official Animal Collection Center (CROA) of Lajes das Flores continues to play a vital role in 2025 in protecting and rehabilitating abandoned and at-risk animals, reaffirming its commitment to animal welfare on the island. The center is dedicated to sheltering, treating, and promoting the adoption of dogs and cats collected from the streets or rescued from situations of neglect, abuse, or abandonment.

Throughout 2025, the Municipality of Lajes das Flores, through its Official Animal Collection Center, carried out a new Rabies Vaccination and Electronic Identification campaign for dogs. At the same time, it maintained year-round implementation of the CED Program (Capture, Neuter, Return), which focuses on the identification, registration, and sterilization of stray cats across the municipality.

Over the course of the year, the center reported the following results:

  • Intake and sheltering of 23 animals, including dogs and cats, and the promotion of adoption for 9 dogs and 29 cats;
  • Rabies vaccination of 113 dogs and the administration of polyvalent vaccines to 32 animals;
  • Electronic identification of 99 dogs and 103 cats;
  • Surgical sterilization procedures performed on 12 dogs and 100 cats.

The work carried out at the center is ongoing, encompassing both the rehabilitation of dogs and the continued monitoring and care of managed cat colonies throughout the municipality—underscoring the CROA’s sustained commitment to responsible animal care and public health in Lajes das Flores.

From Press release

Translated into English as a community outreach program by the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL), in collaboration with Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno. PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.