🐾 What is Casa Consciencia?
Casa Consciencia is a rural sanctuary dedicated to the rescue, care and rehabilitation of animals that have suffered neglect, exploitation or abuse. Our work is based on principles of respect for life, mindful coexistence and responsibility towards the beings with whom we share the planet. We promote an ethical relationship between humans, animals and nature, where daily care becomes an educational and community-based practice. Through working with volunteers and opening our space to the community, we seek to inspire more compassionate and sustainable ways of living. Our purpose is to protect lives and cultivate awareness.
Today, Casa Consciencia is home to approximately 120 animals:
- 15 farm animals (alpacas, donkeys, ponies and sheep)
- 12 rescued and neutered dogs
- Hens from the factory farming industry.
- Exotic birds rescued from captivity.
Each of them has a name, a story and a recovery process.
We are not a breeding farm, nor a livestock business. We are a space for care and rehabilitation.
The sanctuary provides regular veterinary care, a continuous supply of fodder, dry and sheltered spaces, basic stables and henhouse facilities. However, these resources are sometimes in short supply at certain times of the year, and we need the community’s help.
Main features and goals of the crowdfunding campaign
The main objective of this campaign is to provide our rescued animals with their basic needs as winter approaches. **
Winter is the most critical time of year. At this time of year, fodder is scarce and prices rise, whilst the cold and rain affect the animals’ health. (Here in Melipilla, temperatures can drop to 4 or 5 degrees below zero).
To protect the animals from these conditions, we need to improve the barn and the henhouse, as well as purchase the basic supplies required for the animals’ comprehensive care. **
Without proper preparation, the health risks increase considerably.
🎯 Campaign objective.
Specifically, we need to raise funds to achieve the following objectives:
- Refurbish and reinforce the barn before winter.
- Extend and roof exposed areas.
- Purchase sufficient fodder for the critical three winter months.
- Improve the henhouse to protect the birds from the cold.
- Ensure dry bedding (wood shavings) to prevent disease.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR DONATION
If you live in Spain, your donation to a charitable cause is eligible for an income tax deduction: the tax authorities will refund 80% of your donation up to €250 and 40% on amounts over €250.
If you live in France, you will be refunded 66% of your donation.
By helping us from afar, your country rewards you for your generosity! 🤗
Why this is important
Project Motivation
Casa Consciencia was born out of an encounter with the invisible suffering of animals that the system discards.
The project stems from a simple yet radical question: What if we stopped seeing animals as a resource and began to see them as living beings? It was not a business idea. It was an ethical response to animal suffering and abandonment.
Every animal that arrived at Casa Consciencia did so because it had no other choice. And every arrival forced us to transform the space, the economy and our way of life.
Over time, we came to understand that the sanctuary not only heals animal bodies, but also repairs human connections with nature and life.
The project’s deep motivation is to sustain a space where:
- Life is not measured by utility.
- Care does not depend on profitability.
- Coexistence is a conscious practice.
Who is this project aimed at?
This project is aimed at people who:
- Feel concerned about animal abuse and exploitation.
- Seek more conscious and sustainable ways of living.
- Value rural projects with a real impact.
- Believe in learning through experience.
- Wish to support initiatives that combine ethics, nature and community.
What if I can’t contribute financially?
You can also help us simply by being here, spending time with us and working as a volunteer to care for these animals.
For more information:
Wordpackers: https://www.worldpackers.com/positions/65783
WorkAway: https://www.workaway.info/es/host/811696672439
Team and experience
Casa Consciencia did not emerge as a one-off idea, but rather as the culmination of more than twenty years of sustained work in animal welfare.
The journey began in 2001 in Chile’s Metropolitan Region, rescuing dogs that had been abused or abandoned. For five years, I worked actively alongside animal welfare organisations to secure community funding for free neutering. During that period, we managed to spay approximately 2,000 vulnerable female dogs, whilst also organising responsible adoption events to find them safe homes.
This work was carried out with limited resources, through self-management and community collaboration. At the same time, I trained in veterinary first aid and basic healthcare management to be able to deal with emergencies in the field. Often, rescues meant taking direct responsibility for animals that could not be adopted, accompanying them until the end of their lives.
Over time, I realised I needed more space to sustain this commitment. The decision to move to a rural area was a turning point. There, I discovered a less visible reality: the abandonment and mistreatment of farm animals, which is normalised in agricultural and rural contexts.
Gradually and responsibly, we began taking in sheep, alpacas, donkeys, ponies and hens discarded by the industry, as well as dogs and exotic birds. Many of these rescues involved costs for transport, negotiation and veterinary care, which were covered through our own investment and self-management.
Today, Casa Consciencia is home to approximately 120 animals, and we have the most basic resources to provide them with a good quality of life and rehabilitation.
Our accumulated experience includes managing complex rescues, organising community campaigns, coordinating volunteers and the autonomous administration of resources.
Casa Consciencia is not a start-up project. It is the culmination of more than two decades of practical commitment, on-the-ground learning and ethical consistency.
The current objective is not to start something new, but to strengthen an existing endeavour that has demonstrated continuity and responsibility. The campaign aims to prepare the infrastructure and secure food to face the winter, ensuring that the rescued animals continue to live in dignified and safe conditions.