Animal Relief Foundation – Aruba (ARF-Aruba) is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit, founded by concerned tourists, with a mission to raise funds to provide care for homeless, hungry, injured, sick, abused or neglected dogs and cats in Aruba.
The care we provide includes veterinary services – medical care for illness and injury, vaccinations, spaying/neutering, and anything else needed for the well-being of the animals. We also work to provide food, shelter, and suitable homes for homeless animals.
ARF-Aruba was the first foundation on the island to start placing rescued animals in the U.S. for adoption with the support of our network of fosters and transporters.
Our work has a positive impact on the image and public health of the Island by decreasing the risk of animal related injuries and disease.
100% of donated funds go directly to furthering this mission and are tax-deductible in the United States. We provide veterinary care, food, shelter, and in best cases a forever home to help these animals. We also try to spay/neuter as many dogs and cats as possible to humanely control their population.
Did you know?
Did you know that up to 508 puppies can be born from one unspayed female dog and her offspring in 7 years?
Up to 4,948 kittens can be born from one unspayed female cat and her offspring in 7 years.
Our Work
Our efforts include providing veterinary care, food, boarding and foster homes as well as needed supplies.
No one is paid a single dollar from the donations that we receive and no salaries are paid to anyone at any time.
Kathy Andreottola
Kathy started visiting the island of Aruba as a tourist in 1986. She bought a timeshare and came back to visit every year until she retired in 2002. Kathy and her husband then built a house in Aruba and now live on the island full time. Kathy is instrumental in making everything happen from feeding stray dogs to managing every aspect of our rescue and foster care program. She also is tireless in her efforts to bring the animals to the Aruba veterinarians for treatment and securing forever homes for the lucky adopted ones. Kathy can often be found at the airport in Aruba seeing off dogs, puppies, cats and kittens on their way to their new homes in the United States.
Renée Brock
On her first visit to Aruba over 10 years ago Renée found the stray animal situation so upsetting that she knew she had to do whatever possible to help improve the conditions. On her second trip to Aruba she adopted a kitten, Bee, from the Aruba Kitten Rescue. Bee has made a wonderful addition to the Brock menagerie of dogs and other cats. Renée has used her skills as an attorney to help ARF-Aruba in its legal and administrative tasks, including incorporation and obtaining the IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit designation making all donations made by US persons tax-deductible. She also enjoys assisting Kathy however she can during her semi-annual visits to the Island, especially playing with the puppies waiting for their forever homes. In addition to Bee, Renee and her husband, Mark, currently have two Aruba dogs, Darby and Joy, as well as three formerly feral cats.
Rhonda Kjargaard
Rhonda has been coming to Aruba for 24 years, and then built a home there in 2006. She has one dog, Venus, that she adopted from a shelter. Rhonda goes back and forth between her homes in Florida and Aruba. When she is both on and off the Island, she does a lot to help ARF continue its efforts for the homeless and neglected animals. You can find Rhonda spending time going to the vet with animals for vaccinations & other medical care, doing airport runs to help dogs & cats leave the island, pick up & deliver pet food & other supplies, visiting the animals in boarding, and assisting our fosters with whatever they need. Rhonda has also mastered the task of assembling travel crates & carriers to get them ready, along with the paperwork for our wonderful transporters to take our rescues to their new homes.
