Jaco Costa Rica's Golden Paw Award 2010

The “GOLDEN PAW AWARD” in Jaco Costa Rica is presented twice a year by the McKee Project Jaco. An non-profit animal care organization. The award is to honor local people in our Jaco community for their compassion and service toward animals.

On June 16th, 2010 the award was presented to Shirlene Chinchilla Perez from Quebrada Amarilla.

Shirlene, a sweet young girl with a big heart, together with her husband Carlos Bermudez, are really putting the effort towards making Quebrada Amarilla and the surrounding area a better place to live for all animals. Their house is full of happy, healthy pets, many of them rescued by Shirlene or Carlos, and many that were just dumped off in front of their house by irresponsible owners. Yet all of them find a loving home there, where they are cared for until they can get adopted. A visit to their home reveals just how much they care about our furry little friends - there’s the group of little abandoned kittens exploring their new place, the 5 adorable little puppies found in a box in front of their house happily playing with each other and there is an injured dog that was left on the side of the road that is now receiving the proper care.

Shirlene and Carlos not only take care of animals in need, they also make sure that they find good homes and get spayed/neutered as soon as possible. Together they both run a little factory where they produce beautiful clothes, especially all kinds of shirts with logos on them, and a percentage of their income is always put aside in a special box in order to pay for castrations of their foster babies.

I’ve known Shirlene and Carlos for over 5 years now, and I’ve completely lost count of the number of animals rescued by them - thanks to this extraordinary couple so many have had a chance for a new, better life.

We can only hope that more and more people will follow this example.

Learn more about McKeep Project Jaco >