I got two NP’s during my trip to Ukraine. Can you guess which one I took back with me home?
There are a few reasons why I decided to visit Ukraine: I got the feeling that our international supporters were getting bored with this subject, sometimes get skeptical, and many living in West Europe are getting frustrated to see a large number of expensive cars (over 100k euro each) with Ukrainian plates, driven by perfectly healthy guys who could stay to defend their country. I wanted to see the war zone with my own eyes, to understand what makes the rest of the people stay and defend their land; I also wanted to meet some of the rescuers whom we have helped since this unfair war started.
No good deed remains unpunished, it is said.
Customs seem to be all the same, no matter the country. After spending 2 hours crossing Rep Moldova, I spent 2 more hours to exit it to Ukraine because the broker made a typo mistake and added an E to my license plate number, which triggered the attention of customs, phone calls, email exchanges …and me waiting. I needed to fill out tons of papers, including handwriting a declaration that the items I was transiting through Moldova to Ukraine would not be unloaded and sold there. A true nightmare, which I had expected – and which sadly, discourages others who genuinely wish to fill their cars with products bought with their own money to drive and deliver to people who need help in Ukraine.
The fact is I stayed in customs more than I actually drove. At midnight, after another (almost) 5 hours at the checkpoint in Ukraine territory I was allowed to continue my journey. You will not believe it but the reason why they kept me in Customs for 5 (FIVE very long) hours was that they kept asking for an original paper which my contact from Ukraine had sent by phone. The Xerox copy was black and white, but on the phone, the stamp was blue, so they said they wanted to see it blue … and in the end, I was followed by two customs people to the nearest broker office (we walked like 200m) and he made a color copy which showed the blue stamp, which was called the original. Looking back, I believe they only wanted to keep me there, like a fool.
The problem was that when I finally could leave, the curfew had started in Ukraine (at midnight) and to continue to drive you need a green pass, which I didn’t have. Not having it means you need to pull over and stay until 5:00 am when you can continue the journey. I was stopped a dozen times by military groups who asked me to stop, and every time I begged them to let me travel to the hotel in Odessa …they didn’t know English, so we communicated by a phone application that translates what people speak into it. Finally, around 2 a.m. I checked into a hotel in Odessa which also has a shelter but that night, the sky was clear and I heard no bombs. In the morning, I started driving to the meeting point for Aleksey and his team.
Aleksey runs the Homeless World organization which helps people and their pets. He also has a center to rehabilitate dogs and some areas built for wildlife rescue. Aleksey and his team save injured animals from the front line and also evacuate animals from occupied or destroyed territories. When the dam was destroyed, the Homeless World team moved from the Kyiv area to Kherson to save animals in danger of dying in the waters and he remains there because Kherson is a hot spot partially occupied by the enemies.
I passed Odessa city which doesn’t seem affected by bombs but has a lot of military activity. I met Aleksey and his colleague Toni who is only 18 years old and has served in the army since January this year. Together, we passed Mykolaiv (which doesn’t seem touched by bombs, except some broken windows of a building at the edge of the city) and headed to Kherson.
As you drive to Kherson, the marks of the war get more and more visible. Houses have a blue cover instead of a roof, holes in the walls, buildings including gas stations burnt or completely destroyed, and cars are burnt. In between all this destruction, people defy this décor and continue with their lives. We stopped for a quick coffee break and I asked Aleksey where we were going to unload the items filled in my car. He laughed and replied: In Hell.
After a few more military checks, we reached a warehouse in a village which I was not allowed to film. I stepped out of the car and saw a dog hiding in the shadows under a car. I heard birds singing. The Ukrainian villages are similar to Romanian ones, people living there seem trapped in time. We visited a family who has an epileptic dog who has more seizures when the bomb noise gets stronger, also 2 cats who need sterilization, 3 other dogs, one of whom is very old, and another completely blind, which lives in a separate enclosure.
Aleksey delivers food to people who own pets and finds solutions to evacuate them when needed. He also hopes to be able to sterilize dogs and cats in this region, but every 300 animals costs 15000 USD (only for surgery and medicines) which shocked me because these are the prices we pay here including recovery after surgery. After meeting some pet owners from the village, I kept expecting to go to Hell as Aleksey had said.
From the beginning, I refused to wear a helmet or bulletproof vest. I had different reasons but also agreed with what they explained to me. Toni said that a vest without a helmet is kind of stupid because your head is an important asset too, and you don’t want to be hurt by bullets. In case we were bombarded, I was quickly instructed (using the phone application that translates words) to cover my head with my arms and duck down into some ditches in the ground, which can be observed along the road. I had a walkie-talkie to use if needed and was asked to switch phones off.
In the case of bombing or a sniper shoot, no vest or helmet will protect me, I was told. Going to the next village, located at the edge of the gray zone (the so-called no man’s land between the Ukrainian front and Russian-occupied territories) I kept hearing in the walkie-talkie: don’t stop, don’t stop …and I was busy avoiding the small and large holes made by bombs not long ago in the road.
There was no shooting while I was driving. We reached another warehouse where we unloaded the canned food for people and the dry food for animals, plus some medicines. This is the warehouse of collaborationists. They run a small shop located close to the villas of the former president of Ukraine, Yanukovych, a member of the pro-Russian party.
The villas were used for wild parties and obviously would have many stories to tell. When the dam was destroyed, the whole valley where these (and other houses) are located, was flooded.
Aleksey drives the ambulance around and rescues animals on the front line or during flooding. Despite two of his drivers previously being shot/killed by snipers, they managed to later make a sort of agreement to cease fire for men from his team who don’t carry weapons and aggressive badges (as they called them), but a medical red badge (which both Aleksey and Toni had when we walk around) which means they are medical staff who go to rescue and not kill.
I was told that Kherson is full of collaborationists and many people are pro-Russians there. After unloading supplies, we moved 1 km further in the gray zone where I saw 2 different signs of landmines and Toni said that if we walked further, we should stay 5m away from each other in case one exploded. I asked Toni (who speaks some English) if since he is in the army, he ever shot to kill someone. He hesitated and then replied that not in the area where we were. He said that since we stopped the car, stepped down and walked, we were in sight of both Russian and Ukrainian snipers but we were safe because they wore the red badge.
Toni said that they take each new day as it comes and there are many positive and negative aspects to this and naturally, I asked what the positive aspects were because I looked around in that particular spot, expecting to see the sniper in a tree or somewhere …but couldn’t see him or imagine anything positive. And then he told me that saving lives is what keeps him going. At the age of 18, being a soldier, he believes that saving what war destroys is the positive part of his mission. Amazing, isn’t it?
So let’s return to the beginning of my story “The two NPs I got during my trip in Ukraine” are: the first dog I held in my arms there, a lovely black puppy that was loaded into the ambulance minutes later …and a piece of bomb which has two letters on it an N and a P. Remember the house of collaborationists I mentioned above? It was damaged by a bomb and near it, there was a warehouse completely destroyed. A senior German shepherd called Baghera is the guardian of those ruins. The house owner showed me pieces of bombs that caused the destruction and offered me one – I didn’t know if to accept the gift or not. Before leaving, I decided to take that piece and on it, I noticed the letters NP. I was told this is the tail section of an aerial bomb.
The sound of bombs I heard during the few hours I spent there, watching the destruction people cause to other people is unforgettable. Every time a bomb explodes, it sounds like fireworks on New Year, but one a time and stronger. The piece I held made the same sound before falling near Baghera’s warehouse.
Remember I mentioned some birds singing? When they feel the bomb, they start flying randomly, desperate until it is quiet again. You know the bomb missed its target/you as soon as it is silent again… and you look around but what you see it’s not Hell – it’s life and hope.
Can I challenge you with a question? Which NP of the two, do you think I brought home?
A volunteer profile of Lisa and why she needs us to save more dogs.
ROLDA Sverige was founded in 2014 by Lisa, and a group of volunteers dedicated to helping homeless animals live better.
The main goals of this association are to help ROLDA Romania:
● Fundraise to keep our shelters functional
● Rehome dogs from our shelters in Sweden
We have been working with dogs in Romania for almost 20 years. We have saved dogs of all breeds, colors, and sizes. Each with their unique personality that leaves a lasting impression on us all.
Lisa and her team visit us regularly to meet and evaluate our dogs so we can post an accurate adoption profile on our web page. Of course, there is always some degree of unpredictability when assessing a dog. Still, we spend a lot of time with each of them to thoroughly evaluate their behaviour while interacting with humans.
Some people believe they can care for more than one dog at a time, some believe they know everything about dogs and don’t need guidance, and others wish to rescue or adopt a dog because it’s the right thing to do. But as kind and noble as rescuing or adopting a dog is, it’s critical to do a lot of research and ask a lot of questions about the dog (when possible, of course) because they may have experienced a difficult past that can make them fearful or aggressive towards humans.
It’s essential to remember: When people don’t invest time to get to know their dogs, their dogs suffer.
Lisa had to transform her home into a small refuge for all the dogs people “adopted” and then returned to her because the people changed their minds (usually because their dog didn’t meet their expectations or were too much to handle). These “returned” dogs stay with Lisa as long as they need, which she has no objection to, but it does mean extra food is required, more visits to the vet, and more time is spent to relocate the dogs to suitable owners.
Luckily, not many dogs are “returned” after being adopted, but each extra added to the existing ones from Lisa’s home can be very stressful. Every time we organize a transport to Sweden, it’s a happy moment because we see former homeless or abused or neglected dogs travelling to their forever homes where they’ll spend the rest of their lives with the loving family we interviewed and approved.
Lisa doesn’t complain. She is brave and handles these situations with grace. She never requests money for her work or extra expenses. She is a fantastic volunteer. However, as ROLDA’s leader, I must protect Lisa so she can continue helping us rehome dogs. I also care for Lisa. Without her and others like her, ROLDA would not be able to continue rescuing and rehoming dogs. The whole idea of running a shelter is to save dogs, rehome as many as possible and make room for others to be saved. Otherwise, the shelter gets overcrowded, which is not safe and healthy for the dogs.
To keep this story short, 21 #roldadogs arrived safely in Sweden at the end of April.
We are incredibly grateful to Lisa and her team for their outstanding work preparing this carefully.
From the previous transport, she is trying to find the perfect home for dogs like Charlie and Blanco, who were “returned” to her.
Charlie and Blanco integrated perfectly into Lisa’s home and even enjoyed friendly vacations with the rest of her dogs. Not long ago, Lisa had Farina, the alpha dog of her pack, who was very helpful in “teaching” the new dogs about house rules. When Farina passed, Lisa was devastated.
I often feel that Lisa is alone, and I hope that if you read this message, you will help Lisa and her “returned” dogs.
If you live in Sweden and have experience with an NGO (charitable association), please contact Lisa kontakt@rolda.se if you have the time and skills to help her.
If you don’t have time, you can become a ROLDA ambassador by contacting us at contact@rolda.org, and we will send you the Ambassador pack that you can wear and promote for FREE!
If you can, please donate directly to ROLDA Sverige using the following information:
Swisha till: 1234 126 348
Donera genom bankgiro: 573-0502
PayPal: info@rolda.se
If you live outside Sweden, please donate securely online here.
If you can’t donate now, please share our Facebook page, where many cute dogs are waiting for a home!
The ROLDA and ROLDA Sverige team effort is huge, and we need your help to continue our mission. Please help us continue rehoming rescued dogs from Romania in Sweden.
A beautiful and forgiving soul, abused by the people she trusted
Even though Doina was someone’s pet, she was never given a name. It was us who named her Doina when her family brought her to us after their other dog (who is more than twice her size) bit off her left eye.
The family informed us that they could not afford to pay for Doina’s surgery and no longer wanted her. We told them that we would gladly take her in and get her into surgery immediately, but they refused to release her to us until we reimbursed them for Doina’s vaccinations (because apparently, it was a waste of money to vaccinate a dog they no longer want to keep).
We were able to gather the money to pay them, and we rushed Doina to our veterinarian, Dr. Andrei. Sadly, Doina had already lost her eye, but Dr. Andrei and his team took great care of her. They cleaned, cauterized, and sutured her wound. She is still a little shaken up, but she has a good appetite and seems to be healing well.
In 2004, ROLDA became aware of a horror scenario unfolding on our doorstep. A local steel mill, owned by one of Britain’s and the world’s richest men, Lakshmi Mittal, had become an involuntary home to countless stray dogs desperately seeking shelter and food. Instead of looking for a humane and compassionate way of dealing with vulnerable animals, management decided to poison hundreds of innocent animals and dispose of their remains in the Danube River. We, as any human being with a shred of decency, were appalled and apoplectic in our anger at this grotesque injustice. Faced with the daunting task of taking on the depraved indifference of those who put profit before humanity and the vast resources at their disposal; ROLDA refused to give up without a fight.
We instantly made our outrage known and petitioned Mittal with the details of the sickening acts of cruelty unfolding on his property. Our voices were finally heard and, in 2006, ROLDA’s founder and president, Dana Costin, was contacted by the representatives of the steel company to discuss the out-of-control stray dog population. Desperate and starving dogs were migrating from the city to the oft-abandoned industrial complexes in search of warmth and food.
Many found their way to Mittal’s steel plant, enticed by the shelter it offered and the acts of kindness of some staff who would share what little food they had with them. Frustrated by the impact of the dogs’ presence on their productivity and profit margins, the steel mill management took to medieval methods to remove them. After several months of intensive negotiations, ROLDA succeeded in convincing management to abandon the barbaric methods of killing strays and invest in humane solutions to decrease the stray numbers.
When ROLDA was called by the steel plant management to come up with a plan to collect all the dogs from the plant premises, we knew these dogs have only one chance. If we failed, hundreds of innocent animals would greet a painful and traumatic death.
ROLDA agreed to have built on our land a shelter for dogs captured from the steel plant, as the only alternative these dogs have to live – giving us time and opportunity to feed them, give them medical care and prepare them to become one day become to someone the loving companion they only wish to be. Many of the dogs we encountered had been born into the wild, never knowing the comfort of a home and the love and affection of an owner. These dogs need kindness, time, and patience to grow their trust in humans. Many more, traumatized by past horror and cruelty, required long and comprehensive psychological rehabilitation as well as caring for their physical injuries and ailments.
The scale of the challenge deterred many; ROLDA stood up for these dogs and said yes. We knew no one else would step in to save this animal and we know we made the right decision and when we look at all the dogs lives we transformed, all the dogs saved from the steel plant that live safely in homes across Europe. Our largest shelter can be found in the outskirts of Galati, Romania’s fifth-largest city, it’s outskirts is home to sprawling industrial complexes in stark contrast to the unforgiving wilderness beyond.
Our 15,000msq site was paid for in the summer of 2006, with the money donated to us by one of our most generous British donors. The shelter consists of two rows of kennels in parallel formation.
In total, 12 paddocks (120 kennel boxes). Every box is 18 square meters (3 x 6m) and can accommodate up to 6 dogs (depending on size). The sanctuary was authorized by the National Veterinary Authority (ANSVSA) in 2012 and the same year, included in the TRACES system.
The first paddock welcomed dogs in the fall, of 2007. In 2012, our veterinary clinic was completed and in the same year, we completed multiple running and play spaces for our dogs to exercise and socialize. Over time, ROLDA expanded by purchasing additional land surrounding our shelter, bordered by Acacia trees which we’ve strategically planted to act as a natural barrier to the snowstorms that plague the boreal Romanian winters.
Between 2007 and 2016, ROLDA successfully decreased the stray population within the steel plant premises by over 90%, reducing a population of over ten thousand to one approximately one thousand, providing lifesaving food, medical assistance, sterilization and rehabilitation.
Many of these dogs went on to loving homes internationally. It was a herculean challenge for our team. The gargantuan size of the steel mill, over thirty times larger than Vatican City, meant our small team had to cover the ground over which a city or micronation would sprawl. However, despite the mammoth challenge ROLDA rose to the occasion.
The initial agreement between ROLDA and the management steel plant included basic investments like access to water and electricity, but years passed, and these promises went unfulfilled; the much-needed construction of outdoor spaces for dogs’ exercises was also postponed.
In 2014, after countless of our calls, letters and emails went unanswered, ROLDA approached Mittal’s headquarters in London with news of the dire situation in Romania which they were complicit in creating. Soon after, a new contract was agreed upon with a plan of investments which included a connection to an electricity network. Unfortunately, the new management at the steel plant failed to deliver on the promises outlined in the new contract.
They even went as far as to use illegal and unethical methods to prevent ROLDA from holding them to account. In February 2016, they aggressively terminated the written agreement, leaving the promised investments unfulfilled, the large sanctuary with no sewage system, and worse: refusing to pay for 200 dogs (from a total of 644) collected by ROLDA from the steel plant and housed in our shelter.
Nearly one thousand dogs remained on the steel plant premises left to starve; now even the steel plant employees are forbidden to feed the dogs. They are suffering and in desperate need of medical attention. They are starving, desperate for food. They are vulnerable, infested by ticks and other parasites, and go unvaccinated, a source of disease for other dogs as well as for the employees and clients of the company.
ROLDA took the management of the steel plant to court, despite the company being a very influential international corporation, with vast financial resources and political influence that dwarfed our own. We began legal proceedings against the termination of the contract which ROLDA won in May 2019, after over three years of court battles that ended in the Supreme Court of Justice in Bucharest, Romania’s highest legal authority.
Over the years, new pieces of land have been purchased on both sides of the kennels. The land was intended to be used to slowly transform the rusty shelter into a state-of-the-art facility that will not welcome just dogs, but other animals, too. We called the new project PawzUp, a project to connect generations of animals and people for generations to come.
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An infection was eating away at her skin… But not her soul.
Chick was found not far from our shelter. She was extremely dehydrated and full of parasites. Flies were feeding on her bloody, cracked skin caused by repeated biting and scratching. She had chewed through most of her fur, leaving her damaged skin exposed to horrible infections which, sadly, had already begun to consume her from the outside in. The truth is, she looked like a monster, a zombie. Passersby avoided looking at her, probably from disgust or pity. Some did acknowledge her by offering pieces of bread, which she refused to eat…surely from feeling sick.
Chick obviously needed immediate medical treatment to restore her appetite. And that’s when our ROLDA Rescue Team stepped in to help this poor soul. It was like she was heading toward our shelter to beg for help because she could no longer withstand the pain. Chick fought to reach us…she fought for aid…and her commendable strength paid off, because, the moment she found us her life began to change. That’s right…we didn’t find Chick. She found us!
After a couple of medicated baths, Chick began to show positive progress. Her appetite returned. She ate everything we gave her, from doggy biscuits to roasted chicken. In fact, she ate two fully roasted chickens in 10 minutes. It was a pleasure watching her enjoy her meals.
However, Chick’s road to full recovery is a long one. Her skin needs lots of treatment, including injections, antibiotics, and many more medical baths. ROLDA exists to help dogs like Chick to restore them back to health so that they may be eligible to become someone’s best friend.
ROLDA exists because of your amazing and constant support! Donate to ensure that Chick continues to receive her treatment, as well as to help more dogs like her that are still roaming the streets of Romania.
Help us help them!
As you read these lines, please be as generous as you can for thousands of homeless dogs who are suffering.
Please check our Before/After page to see more special cases of dogs who have been rescued from death and are now safe and happy because you care and believe in our work.
Adopt one of our dogs
Dogs who need a forever home. They’ve all been living on the streets, exposed to unimaginable dangers. Today, they are safe with us in our ROLDA sanctuaries, waiting for their forever home. Do you have one to give?
ROLDA saves Chick’s skin… Help more Chicks in need…
“All of us have experienced that uncomfortable itch on our body that we want to scratch but can’t because it is out of our reach. Now imagine that your entire body itches and you can scratch every inch. You scratch and scratch but there is no relief. You’ve scratched until your skin gets bloody and cannot stop because the pain has become insufferable, getting worse every day. Your mangled skin is now oozing pus because it has become infected, making you lose your appetite. You’re a step away from septicemia, a horrible body infection, bringing you an inch closer to death. That’s how Chick felt as her skin condition progressed while roaming the streets of Romania. Thankfully, we found her just in time, but sadly, there are still hundreds more street dogs suffering skin problems (or other medical problems) that eventually die before we are able to help them.”
– Dana Costin, ROLDA Founder
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Coaster set for pots and glasses
Bow tie for dog with elastic brace
Napkin holder dogs print
Cute dachshund dog
Educational game 18-36 months old
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My name is Dana and I live in Caracal, Olt county. For many years, I save cats and I consider that the first step to stop the abandons is to spay/neuter cats. I contacted ROLDA who helped me already cover a large number of sterilizations for cats from Caracal town.
Presently (September 2022), we sterilize in Constantinesti village near Scornicesti (the town where dictator Ceausescu was born). We work with a local vet and all the costs are covered by ROLDA. I choose this village when one of my relatives pointed me that many families living in this village and also in surrounding villages own unsterilized cats that keep multiplying and their kittens were thrown like rubbish.
After we reduce the number of cats there, I would like to continue to sterilize back in Caracal town and after, in each village surrounding it. Why? Because it became like a bad habit that people living in villages to come to town to abandon cats, and kittens, or leave them in the forest or even throw them in the Olt river!
I have dozen of cats at home, all saved from the streets and I wish with all my heart to do many sterilizations which will eventually stop these cruel abandons.
Since then, ROLDA have kindly sponsored the vet bills of a few desperate cases of both cats and dogs each month, and with their help, we managed to do a lot more than we could before.
Just to name a few,
Even if we have laws and Animal Police in Romania, people continue to abandon animals.
Big thanks ROLDA for your generous support.
Starting in September 2021, ROLDA expanded its support to the nearby county, Tulcea. Danube river separates Galati and Tulcea counties (10 minutes by boat, which was the only connection between these two counties before the bridge was built). Tulcea is beautiful and has huge potential because of Delta of Danube, a popular tourist attraction. However, the locals who mostly live in the fishery are largely impoverished.
Poor communities have many problems, and animals are not a priority. Farm animals get more attention because of immediate benefits (eggs, meat, milk etc.). Nonetheless, pets are poorly cared for and get no medical treatment. They freely reproduce, expanding the suffering with innocent babies born to live in misery and neglect.
The volunteers from a local charity (The Great Catsby) primarily help cats but also dogs when possible. Their funds are tight, and the requests are overwhelming. Madalina contacted ROLDA asking for support, and from that moment on, we contributed to support their mission.
Among the things we have achieved together:
● Sterilize dogs and cats.
● Support the local public shelter with canned food.
● Aid for pets from poor communities.
● Treat puppies found abandoned in the local cemetery against parvo.
● Cover medical costs for cats with severe conditions who needed help from specialists, surgery and boarding in Bucharest clinics.
Currently, ROLDA covers care bills ranging from 2000-5000 RON per month for the Tulcea project. Over the following months, we hope to bring our coloring books to the area. We’ll work with local volunteers to distribute it for free in rural areas to help increase awareness of animal welfare among those who need it the most.
Testimonial from Madalina, coordinator of the project in Tulcea
“A few months ago, we were desperately reaching out for support to animal aid organizations around the world, as we are doing TNR and animal rescue in the small city of Tulcea, Romania and we are simply overwhelmed with the situation of stray cats and dogs here. Very few have replied, and the only ones that actually offered support were our neighbors based in Galati, ROLDA Foundation.
Since then, ROLDA has kindly sponsored the vet bills of a few desperate cases of both cats and dogs each month, and with their help, we managed to do a lot more than we could before.
Just to name a few,
We are forever grateful to Dana and her team, she always says she wants to be able to do much more, but for us and the animals we are now able to help, this means a lot! We are also very appreciative of the fact they decided to support fellow rescuers in Romania, and thus, animals outside their immediate reach, as this kind of cooperation is unfortunately not so common although so necessary.
We couldn’t have done all of this alone!
Thank you, ROLDA and we hope you’ll be by our side next year too!”
Hugs from us and from our rescued babies,
The Great Catsby team
We need your help, they need our care!
The law says: Pet Dogs in Romania must be sterilized and microchipped.
Dogs that belong to people must be sterilized, microchipped and registered in a National Registry (database) of dogs owners called RECS. This is a general rule that became effective in 2016.
Dog owners can be fined as much as € 1500 for not obeying the law. That is a lot of money, especially considering that the average monthly income in Romania is € 250. Most of the population barely subsists on this amount. One individual earning € 250 a month struggles to cover the necessary expenses such as rent, utilities, transportation, and food. A married couple with a combined income of € 500 can live comfortably, but if they have kids, that amount of money is not enough. And if they own a pet or two, then they are really in a hole.
So, why would people who are struggling to survive to choose to own pets?
It is essential to understand that low-income and impoverished citizens in Romania do not purchase dogs or cats; they adopt them or rescue them from the streets. These are people who love animals and hate to see them suffer, or they need a dog to protect their property. Either way, this keeps dogs and cats from being homeless, which is excellent!
These kindhearted people take good care of their pets, often making financial sacrifices to keep them fed and healthy, but many people cannot afford the € 26 it costs to sterilize, microchip, and register their dog.
And this is terrible news for the dogs. More dogs are abandoned for fear of Government fines.
ROLDA has always been in favor of sterilizing dogs and cats because it reduces the stray population, which means fewer dogs and cats suffer needlessly. We believe that sterilization is the only humane solution to the stray crisis in Romania and globally; therefore, we agree with the government’s enforcement of the sterilization law.
However, the law has caused an increase in stray dogs because owners are abandoning them to avoid paying for the € 26 for sterilization and do not want to risk being fined € 1500. Most people in Romania sadly cannot afford the € 26.
Our solution
To prevent abandonments provoked by financial reasons, ROLDA started a campaign to help low-income and impoverished pet owners sterilize, microchip, and register their dogs and cats.
Thanks to our amazing supporters, ROLDA helps hundreds of people in our community with these costs each year.
Bobi and Fetita are two dogs whose impoverished owners reached out to ROLDA for help with covering the costs of their procedures. Before Fetita was spayed, she had given birth to a litter of puppies who, sadly, all died from distemper. Her owners did not have the money to pay for their vaccinations.
Vlad and his parents contacted us when their dog, Heart, was getting sick. Heart was losing her appetite, which led to unhealthy weight loss, and she was also losing her fur and developed sores all over her body. Vlad and his parents were worried that Heart was going to die. They did not own a car to take Heart to the vet, and they did not want to risk taking her on public transportation because she was too sick. So, we gladly went to pick up Heart to take her to the vet.
ROLDA’s Community Pets Campaign continues to provide Heart’s food, as well as the food for hundreds of pets in our community. Our campaign gives pets with impoverished owners the opportunity to have access to quality food and emergency treatments.
We are proud to help the citizens in our community keep their pets healthy, and we are determined to continue providing them with food, medicine, sterilization, microchipping, and registration.
They need OUR help
Please donate to help impoverished pet owners in Romania keep their pets healthy and safe.
Every penny raised provides pets in impoverished communities with emergency food supplies and essential care like vaccinations, medications, and aid supplies.
Meet the pets who need your immediate support to live with dignity!
Våra ROLDA hundgårdar finns i Galati, en industriregion i östra Rumänien. Beståndet av hundar har växt okontrollerat här både beroende på att folk övergav denna del av landet och på grund av att man förflyttade hundar hit!
Så småningom blev dessa hemlösa hundar ett problem för både invånarna och industrierna i Galati. Man ansåg att de var ett hot mot hälsa och säkerhet! Den rumänska regeringen bestämde slutligen att de skulle lösa detta problem genom…
ATT FÅNGA OCH SLAKTA ALLA HEMLÖSA HUNDAR!!!
Är detta ett bra sätt att lösa ett problem på? Deras förklaring är: HUNDAR UTAN HEM SKA INTE LEVA……. SÅ DÖDA DEM!!!! Håller du med om detta? Vill du hjälpa till?
JA! Jag tycker att hundar utan hem förtjänar att leva!
När du adopterar, sponsrar, donerar, skickar en gåva eller arbetar som volontär så visar du att hemlösa hundar förtjänar att leva. Så klart de förtjänar det! De har inte valt att bli hemlösa eller att vara ett problem. Varje dag måste de leta efter mat och en varm plats att sova på. Ändå väljer folk att se dem som störande och som hot.
Detta är inte RÄTT!
ArcelorMittal är världens största stålproducent och i Galati har de en yta på 1600 hektar. De är en av våra största sponsorer. De stöttar oss med sina egna pengar för att hjälpa och rädda hundarna! De tror på vårt arbete! Gör du det?
Jag stöttar ROLDA och ArcelorMittal i deras kamp för att rädda hemlösa hundar!
ArcelorMittal kunde ha valt att följa den rumänska lagen och dödat de hundar som kommer in på deras område, MEN ISTÄLLET VÄLJER DE ATT RÄDDA DEM!! Tack vare ArcelorMittal så byggdes ROLDAS moderna hundgård och klinik som skyddar många hundar från svält, sjukdomar, försummelse, våld, tortyr och död.
PÅ vår klinik och hundgård kan vi ge våra hundar skötsel och vård av hög kvalitet så att de är friska och i trygghet tills de blir adopterade av kärleksfulla hem. ArcelorMittal har gjort vad de kan göra och vi behöver nu DITT stöd och hjälp för att fortsätta vårt arbete med att driva våra hundgårdar och vår klinik. Utan din hjälp kan vi inte driva detta och de hundar vi räddar kan inte få den omsorg de behöver och förtjänar!
Om du bor i Sverige var snäll och använd bankgiro nr. 573-0502 och hjälp oss att hjälpa hundarna! Alla bidrag är välkomna! Stora som små!!!!
Om en så stor stålproducent som ArcelorMittal tycker att hundarna förtjänar att leva, borde inte du också göra det?
JAG TYCKER ATT HEMLÖSA HUNDAR FÖRTJÄNAR ATT LEVA!
Vad tycker dina vänner och din familj?
People who exploit animals for profit, or any other reason, believe that humans have the right to use animals as they please. Animal exploitation is animal cruelty.
Circuses, zoos, marine parks, and similar venues exploit animals to entertain audiences who pay to see animals perform. Seeing a bear dance or a seal clap looks like a “neat” experience, but it comes at a cost to the animal’s health and freedom. Most people are unaware of the brutal conditions animals endure behind the scenes, such as being forced into submission, being kept in tiny cages, and being denied socialization with other members of their species.
Roughly 96 percent of circus animals spend their lives in a cage, and are trained with barbaric instruments like electric prods, whips, bullhooks and chains. Some trainers even starve their animals to get better results. The sad fact is that people continue to ignore the inhumane aspects of these animal attractions because they believe that people who work with animals are responsible individuals who respect and love animals.
Of course, many of them do, but the fact remains that animals do not belong in circuses, zoos, or marine parks.
Even zoos, which are often praised for their conservation efforts, have been rife with animal cruelty. Animal abuse in zoos can take many forms, from starving animals to sending them to livestock options. And when a crisis occurs, like the COVID-19 pandemic, zoo animals are left to die from a lack of resources because they are not considered a priority.
In Romania, animals such as wolves, snakes, bears, monkeys, and lions are illegally owned by individuals for hobby and profit. The most common attraction is a guesthouse where people, mostly tourists, can stay in an accommodation where an exotic animal is tied up in their backyard. There are also many places, often illegal, that offer pictures with captive animals such as deer and bears.
These attractions involving captive animals are part of wildlife tourism. Wildlife tourism exploits animals from birth until they are either euthanized or abandoned once they are no longer considered “valuable” by their owners. These animals endure years of suffering at their owners’ hands who use cruel training methods to teach them to perform for tourists.
Like wildlife trafficking, wildlife tourism can only be eradicated if there is no demand to see animals perform. ROLDA advocates for the closure of these tourist attractions and the relocation of captive animals. We have created petitions urging the ANSVSA and the Garda de Mediu (National Environmental Guard) inspectors to shut down all illegal wildlife tourism operations across Romania immediately.