ARCA in the media

Marco Ciampi: Protecting Animals Below the Equator

By Michael Markarian, executive Vice President of the Fund for Animals
Article published on the magazine Animals' Agenda - January/February 2002 - Volume 22 - N° 1

In October 1998, after an animal welfare conference in São Paulo, Brazil, conference organizer Marco Ciampi took several visitors to the nearby town of Embu das Artes, which is known for its art galleries and street fairs. There they saw a dog standing in the middle of the street, covered with mange, incredibly thin, and shaking uncontrollably. As it was Sunday afternoon, there were no veterinary clinics open and nowhere to find help for the suffering animal, Marco repeatedly returned do Embu to search for the dog and finally found him three weeks later. With treatment, the dog - now named Tingo - made a dramatic recovery and now lives with Marco at the office of his animal protection organization, ARCA Brasil.

The dedication and perseverance thet led Marco to find and help Tingo is but a mere reflection of his commitment to helping animals throughout Brazil. After serving as the World Society for the Protection of Animals' Brazilian representative from 1992 to 1995 and attending the 1996 March for the Animals in Washington, D.C., Marco recognized the need for a Brazilian animal advocacy oganization. There were several shelters in the country and some international organizations with Brazilian programs, but no Brazilian organization with a mission to educate and advocate for animal protection.

Marco founded Arca Brasil in 1996 and serves as its president. It has already accomplished what many older organizations only wish for: its own office and a full-time paid staff of four people. In the outskirts o Vila Madalena, São Paulo's equivalent of Greenwich Village, a garden apartment has been converted into a three-room office that houses all of Arca Brasil's operations.

The group's focus is education and outreach with a scientific and technical approach. "I want Arca to be UNICEF for animals in Brazil," Marco says. "By gathering information and sharing it with agencies and organizations throughout our country, we hope to create a strong Brazilian network of scientists, activists, and government officials working together to help animals."

One of Marco's largest projects has been the biannual Latin American Animal Welfare Congress. Held in São Paulo, it has attracted hundreds of advocates from around the world and earned numerous sponsors. Approximately 70 percent of the participants are veterinarians or veterinary students, providing scientific credibility to the animal protection issues that are discussed. Among the topics featured areanimal research, spaying and neutering, rodeos, circuses, hunting and humane education. The fourth conference will be held in .

Marco's philosophy has focused on both education and hands-on work. With his professional background in public relations and consulting, he has brought the plight of animals to the attention of the Brazilian and South American public. He recently was instrumental in working with Claudia magazine - the largest women's magazine in Latin America, with 2.5 million subscribers - to create a 24-page special insert on animals.

By providing technical assistance and consultation to local governments, Marco has been able to involve local agencies in animal protection work, rather than resting the entire burden on the underfunded nonprofit organizations, which is often the case. In 1996, Arca Brasil began a comprehensive spay/neuter program in Taboão da Serra, which has included an educational program for residents and the spaying and neutering of more than 6,000 dogs and cats. In 1998, Marco consulted with animal control and health departments in the city of Jundiaí to launch an educational campaign called "Meu Bicho Feliz" ("My Happy Mutt")and provide free rabies vaccinations to thousands of dogs and cats.

Marco hopes to turn Arca Brasil into a clearinghouse for information, especially on alternatives to using animals in research and education. Arca Brasil's "Ensino sem Dor" ("Painless Teaching") campaign, started by Marco and Arca's technical director, Dr. Rita Garcia, will help veterinary students and professors in Brasil obtain surgical models, computer software, teaching videos, and other alternatives to the use of live animals in veterinary education. Because of complicated import and export laws and the difficulty that some universities have had in obtaining these alternatives, a Brazilian resourse that they can turn to for such information will go a long way to help animals.

Florence Lambert, executive director of The Elephant Alliance, has worked with Marco in Brazil and has witnessed a greater awareness and growth in the animal protection movement due to his work in that country. She says of Marco, "His refined fierce dedication, intelligent thoughtful action, and gentle spirit have inspired many to become involved in his noble cause - no easy task in South America."

Whether the animals are abused in laboratories or in the wild, or suffering in circuses or in city streets, the animals in Brazil now have a champion and a friend in Marco Ciampi and Arca Brasil.