About Us

Our Mission

Making the world a better place, one dog at a time

WHAT WE DO:
We rescue Brazilian street dogs that are sick, injured or too small to survive on their own. We heal and sustain them and ultimately find them forever homes.
HOW WE DO IT:
We build and leverage our global community to help those in need by raising awareness, donations, and finding adopters for the dogs in our care.
WHY:
Because outside of the Western world, dogs are not welcomed as family members and cruelty laws are either not enforced or non-existent. We believe a life is a life and advocate for those who cannot help themselves.

Our Founders
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Our Founders – Jan & Carlos Cabral

Originally from England (Jan) and Portugal (Carlos), we moved to Brazil to help care for Carlos’ ailing mother. During our early years in Brazil, we rescued our first dog after seeing it all alone, injured and afraid. On that day, we found our calling and our lives were changed forever. Rescuing dogs started in 2001, but Dogs In Brazil did not come to be until after the devastating floods and mudslides in 2011.

On this day our lives changed forever. Emotions and strength were stretched to the limit. Brazil was hit by the greatest natural disaster precisely where we lived. We woke up and watched the scene unfold, a scary, totally unreal experience.  Houses started to fall off hillsides and the river filled to the bursting point.

We took pictures of the river the night before, knowing little of the scale of the tragedy about to occur. It didn’t stop and that morning when we saw the devastation, we immediately began contacting International Aid agencies for help with the displaced and wounded animals. We never really thought much about our financial situation whilst the rescue attempts were going on. We just marched on doing everything and anything we could.

Since the devastation, we have gained a great amount of support through Facebook and our blog, which has kept our charity operating.  We do not believe that animals should be killed because they are homeless, sick or injured and we will never change this view. Our dream is to educate people on de-sexing their animals, and to fight the mindset that street dogs are vermin. Every life is precious. Non-kill rescue groups who engage in rescue at grass roots levels with hands on experience, should be supported—not solely the larger, well-known charities, some of which do not practice non-kill policies.

We work and live at the facility, providing care and love for our dogs, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. There are so many street dogs in Brazil. You never know what the new day may bring.

Our Team
     

Nicole Green, Executive Director, Dogs In Brazil – USA

Hi Everyone! After an 18-yr consumer packaged goods industry career, I left the corporate world in March 2017 to work full time as the Executive Director for Dogs In Brazil USA.

My passion for dog rescue led me to become more involved by working more closely with Jan. After our first trip to the facility, we were inspired and decided to found the US affiliate of Dogs in Brazil as an administrative office to assist in marketing, fundraising, and general assistant to Jan.

I left my corporate career in March 2017. Curt and I bought a 6 acre former horse rescue in Glenville, PA to become the US physical location for dogs to come from Brazil in hopes of increasing adoptions. I oversee the renovation of the property and will manage the day to day for DIB USA. I will continue helping to raise awareness and fundraising while also working toward a vet tech certification.

Other credentials: BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan and a ME in Engineering Science from Penn State University

Curt Weber – Marketing Director & Board Member – Dogs In Brazil – USA

I became involved with DIB a little over a year ago. They were a small shelter in Brazil and Nicole & I decided to go visit them to check them out. Instantly, we realized that we could help Jan & Carlos make a difference. All money donated to DIB went to care for the animals. Anything that Nicole or I did made a big difference. We decided to join resources, form an association and in a few months we had gained tax exempt status in the USA, which gave our US based donors the ability to deduct their donations from their income taxes.

Additionally, I helped Jan & Carlos with their Facebook advertising and we went from 7,200 followers to over 53,000 followers in less than one year.

People always ask me: “Why Brazil?” My answer is pretty simple. I have extensively travelled the world over the last 25 years and have been to more than 33 countries. With few exceptions, most of the developing world countries treat dogs as pests. Many of these countries have very poor human rights and no rights whatsoever for animals. We could either focus on the US where we live and where there are literally 1000’s of dog charities, humane laws, and support for animal rights, or we could go somewhere where else where animals are in dire need of help and make a real difference. We chose the latter and have never looked back.

Loana Vazzano – Public Relations Director/Ambassador, Blogger, Fundraising – United Kingdom

I have been a Dogs In Brazil supporter for over 5 years now having travelled to Brazil many times over the past 15 years and seen the street dog situation get progressively worse. In addition to volunteering annually, I attend animal welfare conferences representing Dogs in Brazil. I manage grant applications and call on organizations to donate medical supplies.

I am a huge animal lover and rescuer and work at one of the UK’s oldest and well-known Cat and Dog Charities as a Rehomer. In my spare time, I like to paint and take part in Pilates and Yoga classes, catch up with friends and travel to far flung places – I have visited 33 different countries so far…
I am just someone trying to make a difference…

Jayne Dowling-Plank, Public Relations Director/Ambassador, Fundraising – United Kingdom

I live in Somerset, England with my husband Chris (who I met through my previous job as a hospital receptionist), and we have 3 cats. We are soon to be joined by a very special little dog, all the way from Dogs In Brazil!!

Chris and I first visited DIB in November 2015 where we spent our honeymoon. We helped in any way we could, and vowed to go back for a second visit as soon as we could. That second visit took place in June this year. It was wonderful to see Jan and Carlos again, and reacquaint ourselves with many old and familiar doggy faces, and make new friends too.

I have run auctions for DIB, raising much-needed funds, and have recently become an Admin for them so I can continue to assist in any way possible. I hope to help promote, fundraise, and continue to be part of a wonderful team, striving to secure a happy and healthy future for as many street dogs as possible!

 

Paul Partakis – Facebook Administrator – United Kingdom

Hi! My name is Paul. I am one of the DIB admins. I help by answering messages and queries and help with spreading the word about this wonderful charity. I am a lover of animals and enjoy going for walks with my fur kid, Oscar and coaching my son’s football team.

Darren Camilleri – Video Contributor/Fundraising – Australia

Hi there! My name is Darren. I am a town planner in Melbourne, Australia. Like many people, I sit behind a desk in an office 9 to 5, earn an OK wage and do what many people do in a lucky wealthy country like Australia – take things for granted. That changed in 2014 when I visited Brazil for the World Cup. Unlike Australia, where you never really see stray dogs, Brazil was littered with them. Many are in very poor condition. This is when I first met Carlos and Jan Cabral. The first day I spent with them, we rescued a dying dog, Ruby. Now fully recovered, Ruby is still at DIB. I returned to volunteer for two weeks in 2015. The unconditional love, unwavering commitment and pure selflessness Jan Carlos inspired me to not just be an onlooker.

I have organized two fundraising events in Melbourne, attended by 160 people; raised $12,000. I am proud to help DIB by being the Australian representative. Please contact me if you have any questions on how to help.

Khaya Castagnoli – Instagram Manager

Hey! I’m Khaya, I work in comedy TV in London, am a published writer, animal rights activist and I run the Dogs in Brazil instagram page (@dogsinbrazil). Instagram is a great way to grow a support network as every follower who ‘likes’ a post is then opening up that post to all of their own followers – some animal accounts have gained millions of supporters. It’s a fantastic tool for spreading DIB’s story so if you aren’t already following – please do! I have volunteered many times at the shelter and am working on a short film I shot on one of my visits.

Our Facilities
Teresopolis, Brazil
our-facilityDogs in Brazil – Teresopolis Facility

 

 

  1. Main House (Administration)
  2. Physical Therapy Pool
  3. Medical Quarantine Kennels
  4. Bathing & Grooming Facility
  5. Main Kennel Facilities
  6. Exercise Area
  7. Future Expansion

Sample Pic/CaptionMain House: Typical Meal Preparation for all of our dogs.

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Bathing & Grooming: Katie is walking away from our bath house, all nice & Clean.

 Main Kennel Area & Exercise Yard

Main Kennel Area & Exercise Yard

Sample Pic/Caption Main House: Typical Meal Preparation for all of our dogs. Joey likes to “help”
bathing-and-grooming-2Bathing & Grooming: Nicole giving Katie a bath.

Sample Pic/CaptionView of the bathing facility in the foreground and the therapy pool, quarantine kennels, and main house.

Glenville, PA (Dogland Ranch)

Dogs in Brazil – Glenville Facility (Dogland Ranch)

  1. Main House
  2. Administration & Visitors Area
  3. Exercise Area: The Play Pen
  4. Exercise Area: Fox Run
  5. Exercise Area: Noodle’s Run
  6. Exercise Area: Thor’s Run
  7. Future Kennels & Runs
  8. The “Bunny Woods”

Thor’s Run: Lucy is patrolling the perimeter in search of bunnies and ground hogs.


Future Kennels: This 10 stall horse farm and paddock is the future site of our main kennel area.


Noodle’s Run: Mina and all of the dogs enjoy running full throttle here. At over 1000 feet long, it provides a great exercise and play area for our high energy dogs.

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Teresopolis. R.J. Brazil
3944 Echo Lane, Glenville, PA 17329 (847) 502-7800
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