President message 2021

Dear special friend of ROLDA,

You may guess I would begin with a story about a dog. However, this time I want to write about you because no matter how desperate I am to save dogs in need in Romania, no matter how this consumes me every day, this is not everything that makes me who I am. I want to improve and avoid mistakes. Sometimes I struggle to communicate and may not rise to your expectations. But I am also keen to deliver good news about a rescued dog; not just because I care about each and every dog, but because I want you to be happy that you support us, I want you to feel respected, appreciated and correctly informed.

In brief, today I write about you and how important you are in my life because you make me better, more responsible, more receptive to supporter’s wishes, and part of a community, the ROLDA community, spread all over the world where we share the same values, dreams, and ethical principles.

I thank you from all my heart for being an amazing ROLDA supporter and for not giving up on me when I was late replying to an email or when I failed to save a dog (even if my whole team tried everything) or when I asked too often, too much. Your moral and financial support made ROLDA shine in our rescue missions or at least keep going in the worst moments.

You will be pleased to know that:
● after many months of struggling through a hell situation, we finally restored water for the dogs from our large shelter;
● the dogs saved from our local public shelter early this year were rehomed in the UK, US and Canada and are now living a better life than the ROLDA team does!
● during 2021 we successfully rehomed dogs in Sweden and Switzerland too;
● despite the horrible travel restrictions, we were fortunate to welcome volunteer visitors from Switzerland who helped us create a 2022 calendar to raise funds;
● the “spayathons” held in different villages from the Galati county were successfully completed, and at the start of September we started offering sterilizations to families with pets from the disadvantaged community of Smardan;
● we created two more websites, one to cover the crypto donations and the other to provide a way to honor the memory of our supporter’s furever buddies who had passed away;
● we celebrated 15 years anniversary together with our team, foreign affiliates and incredible supporters;
● we created the first products that were delivered for free around the world to our Ambassadors;
● due to the increased abandonment of dogs, which added to an already enormous stray population, ROLDA started the first-ever National Study in Romania to find out why Romanians tend to abandon their dog. We aimed to go to the roots of dog’s behavior problems and work together with the owners to prevent/limit these abandonments;
● working with specialists, we created the first ever online ABC for kids who need guidance to learn to look after their furry buddies responsibly, to offer them (under adult supervision) correct assistance and care;
● we managed to stretch every dollar long enough to reach animals in Tulcea (a county across the Danube river) by working together with some local volunteers…

…and we hope to not stop here but wisely spend every dollar or euro received to create more good for animals in Romania, a poor country where homeless dogs and pets from poor communities struggle but deserve a better life.

Together with the entire ROLDA team, we would like to thank you once again, but never enough,  for your support. I hope that every time we give you good news or need support, we will look around and not be alone.

We wish you good health, Holidays with peace, silence and a Happy New Year!