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January 2025 | Phonebox Magazine 41The Bruno Project: Saving one dog at a timeWhen they go on holiday, most people return home with a bottle of something or a fridge magnet, but not our colleague Sarah Crabb at Phonebox Magazine, as she explains.Husband Matt, and I, booked a holiday of a lifetime to St Lucia to celebrate our 10-year Wedding Anniversary. On the fi rst day I got in touch with Doris Jolicoeur at The Bruno Project, and we went looking to feed a scared stray dog who had been %u2018dropped%u2019 at the car park to the resort. I felt a bit silly taking a few sausages from breakfast but did it and went looking for a dog called Penelope. I couldn%u2019t fi nd her, unfortunately, but on our walk back towards the pool bar a dog came to say hi, and I fed her instead.Sarah contacted Doris with photos of the dog she had come across and this dog wasn%u2019t known to the Castries, St Lucia based charity %u2018The Bruno Project%u2019. The charity looks out for stray or %u2018dropped%u2019 dogs on resorts as well as inland in St Lucia. Within a couple of days Sandy, as she was quickly named, turned up again on the beach with a big wound under her chin and blood on her face, and she wasn%u2019t smelling too good either! Doris came to deliver a Nexguard tablet and got her booked in for a spay a few days later and Sandy was returned to the beach 48 hours after her operation. I was a bit worried about this, as my dog took weeks to recover from her spay, but Doris assured me that %u2018the dogs over here are made of tough stuff !%u2019Sandy was duly put back on the beach after two nights at Doris%u2019 home and she became a hit with most of the guests, wanting love and a safe place to sleep during the day. She once took a fl ipfl op from a guest who was sleeping and buried it in the grounds. She%u2019s only a puppy so has a mischievous streak!On the last day I couldn%u2019t just leave her there, so I fi lled in the adoption paperwork to ensure the charity knew that someone wanted to save her. She lived on the beach for another three weeks before being vaccinated and home-boarded for a further four weeks before her BA fl ight to London Gatwick. For those three weeks, when she was still living on the beach, I had my spies. I run a popular Facebook group for the hotel unoffi cially and asked if anyone was staying there who could give me updates and photos of Sandy and what she was getting up to. When no-one had seen her for 24 hours we were a bit worried, but luckily by the Friday night beach BBQ she was back!The problem arises when a dog gets too confident over time and the hotel staff, the management do not want to encourage this as it is bad PR for their hotel. They still have Dog Catchers in St Lucia and they collect up the strays and drop them in the mountains to, most likely, suff er a slow death. The manager at the hotel did call the charity, who had popped a collar and tag on her during her spay, to say that Sandy had been to the Managers cocktail party and was becoming a nuisance, so it was getting imperative that she go into either the shelter or home-boarding.Average life-expectancy of a stray %u2018Potcake%u2019 dog is only three years in St Lucia. It looks like a nice life, but it%u2019s hard. Last year, the hotel had three dogs swimming in the pool at 6 am %u2013 then they disappeared. Doris, at the charity, says she tries to work with the hotel managers to save the dogs before something terrible happens to them. The shelter is almost always full and she rehomes dogs mainly to Canada, USA and occasionally to the UK. She works closely with St Lucia Animal Protection Society and also with other charities %u2013 all in the best interests of the dog. The Bruno Project strapline is %u2018Saving one dog at a time%u2019 and they%u2019ve rehomed 1,800 dogs so far.%u2018I only came to St Lucia from Canada with my husband to retire%u2019 Doris says. %u2018But I%u2019m busier than ever, having started the charity when we saved a dog called Bruno, who is turning 10 this year! I spend my days doing the rounds feeding, treating dogs, taking calls from the public if there%u2019s a new dropped dog somewhere, as well as paperwork for shipments and vet appointments. There isn%u2019t the culture of neutering dogs here. Dog ownership is diff erent too, leaving dogs to roam while the owners go to work. When they don%u2019t want the dog anymore they are abandoned in carparks or on beaches, leaving the dog traumatised and at risk of harm.%u2019If you%u2019re wondering what became of Penelope, the dog in the carpark, Doris is still visiting and feeding her, but she is so afraid of people she%u2019s been unable to catch her. She%u2019s not pregnant yet, but realistically it is only a matter of time.Readers will undoubtedly ask why not adopt from somewhere more local. But I wasn%u2019t looking for a second dog. Sandy found me and has been settling in very well. She%u2019s put on a bit of weight and has been adjusting to the UK climate. She%u2019s good with cats, people and other dogs. She%u2019s even sleeping on the bed sometimes and coming to work. We learnt early on that she can jump over high walls with ease, and the dog gate has been pointless! She can chew through leads and open crate doors. She%u2019s full of surprises! I think it%u2019s just a natural thing for her. She needs to work out how to escape but then she chooses not to.If you%u2019d like to learn more visit brunoproject.org or follow them on Facebook or Instagram.