Dear friends and supporters,

We’ve been together another year to rescue, provide help, build up, cry, fear and enjoy some amazing moments. All these moments represent the puzzle that completes the real, whole picture of what rescue missions mean, what saving lives mean! We passed through all these moments TOGETHER and this is for me and my team, by far, the most important achievement.

12 years ago, we started to build a small shelter for abused dogs in Romania. Looking back, I can’t believe how fast our charity grew and what amazing things we did: thousands of dogs sterilized, and treated; hundreds adopted safely in Romania and across Europe; private modern shelters being built to set up high standards of animal housing for a community in need of good examples.

Planning the rescue center expansion and the general strategy comes naturally because we at ROLDA know exactly what are the immediate goals. Rescue activity is a very emotional job and especially, for this reason, it needs strong leaders that use their heads and knowledge to follow the right path and to healthy progress. One of the biggest “dangers” for a large shelter is to become a concentration camp. We have a clear strategy to keep the situation under control, to keep our feelings under control and to prevent our shelters to get overcrowded.

You can read point by point more details about the rescue center’s strategy. It is a unique project which can be transformed with your help into a very interesting challenge for the local community we hope to convince them to visit us, volunteer, and adopt. My first words of gratitude go to our amazing, loyal supporters and donors. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to report any saved animals, any investments, or any happy-ending stories.

Our donors are the fuel and our actions, the engine of a well-functioning mechanism that helps every year community of 250,000 inhabitants and approx. 20,000 dogs. Another big “danger” for a charity is the lack of funding. Considering how rapidly we expanded and increased our activity, getting cash flow is a constant big worry for us. Luckily, our amazing supporters respond to emergency appeals and our local corporate partner, ArcelorMittal never stopped a moment, in the past 7 years, to generously sustain us financially.

End of this year, ArcelorMittal’s director offered us a letter of recommendation to encourage others to support our hard work in Romania.

Without the help from our corporate partner, we couldn’t build the second shelter, we couldn’t have saved almost 6,000 dogs over these years, and we wouldn’t be able to learn so fast, more about wild dog’s behavior. The first social veterinary clinic from the Galati area is built also because of our corporate partner’s support.

Nowhere in Europe, has no other corporation sustained financially a charity like AMG did and continues to do! Thank you, AMG. My words of deep gratitude go to each and all representatives of ROLDA international branches. This year, our efforts focused to increase our presence around the World. I am extremely proud to report that ROLDA is the first Romanian animal charity registered in Australia. Thanks to our amazing friend Avalon, we reached a faraway nation very preoccupied with animal welfare.

ROLDA USA celebrated 8 years of existence and produced the biggest income. Big thanks go to the co-founder Merritt and Beth, to Shannon for all the PR work, and to Bruce for becoming our new Trustee. Big thanks go to Cathy for her support and Arthur & American Dog Rescue foundation for PR. Big thanks go to all our extraordinary US donors!

Because of ROLDA Norway and our groups in Holland and UK, more dogs found their forever home in the last year. Big thanks go to our friends Hege, Ingrid, Merethe, Clair, Alissa, Joke, and Hanneke as well as all our donors, volunteers and adopters! ROLDA Sweden exists because of our friends Heidi, Sandra, and Lisa but it goes bigger every day and the latest successful adoptions are just the beginning.

For Austria and Germany, we have our friend Lisa, a German speaker who makes big efforts to be noticed in a “market” that seems saturated by numerous individuals and small charities’ requests. The situation is different in Switzerland. In the summer of 2014, our charity opened a new branch in Switzerland, under the name: Association ROLDA Suisse.

Led by my friend Lolita and her hard-working team, this branch grew impressively. The Swiss press offered media coverage, an important number of dogs were adopted safely, our handmade items in Romania were sold in various public places, markets, and events…and we even created our own events e.g. the adopters meeting which was a perfect opportunity for all our dogs to meet in one place, in Switzerland, their new country! We also organized two art expositions thanks to the artist Muriel, her talent, and her big heart!

Big thanks go to Lolita, Muriel, Michele, Anne, Suzanne, Mikael, Carol, and all the sponsors and volunteers! Big thanks also to Oscar and Marina!

There are many other people part of this well-functioning mechanism that generated I 2014 these impressive results:
700 dogs feed and looked after, 24/day, 7 days/week

In addition:792 dogs were sterilized from which trap/neutered/released 235 dogs were sterilized and returned and
● 167 dogs were sterilized in the village;
● 396 new dogs rescued from suffering on the streets from being brutally killed, or ending up dying in public filthy shelters;
● 135 dogs were adopted in Romania and across Europe.

This year we welcomed volunteers from Switzerland, Germany, and Norway. We were also honored to meet the representatives of the Embassy of Norway and Switzerland and be visited by H.E. the Ambassador of Holland.

Many great volunteers helped us from their homes, from behind their computers. We have a growing network of people that help us translate texts from English in other languages, and help us promote our dogs from this website to find sponsors and adopters for each of them.

The last part of this thanks you letter is reserved for the great people I work with in Romania, the vets that we collaborate with for years, the team – my colleagues that are correctly, professionally, and responsibly looking after 700 dogs, every day, 365 days/ year!

My big thanks go to the ArcelorMittal staff from Romania, my colleagues: Flori, Marian, Ghita, Delu, Costica, Vasile, Denis, and all the other collaborators from local supermarkets and external services.

I wish you MERRY CHRISTMAS and hopefully, the next year will be a better one for all of you and for all the animals on Earth that often suffer, so unfairly!

Respect and hope,
Dana – Founder ROLDA

Dear Santa,

I heard that you might be out there somewhere you help bring people and make kid’s dreams come true. I have a different kind of request in case you are there, for me, too. Right now, it’s snowing and I am very cold. I wish the warmer nights of springtime would come back soon. Or at least, it would be nice if I could have something to keep me warm.

Please don’t make hot summer days return too fast as my skin will start itching because of the fleas and bugs. It’s exhausting trying to find clean water to drink! A few weeks ago, I was hit by a car. It was so painful! But I hid in some bushes and waited until the pain passed. And it did, eventually… but I am still limping a bit.

During the time I was injured, I could hardly hunt my bones so I was always hungry and when sleepy, I dream so often about a juicy bone with meat.

Can you bring me a whole big bone only for myself? This reminds me to ask you something else: Will you help make the large drowned dog disappear when I am eating my dinner and he always steals it from me? Maybe it would be possible for you to bring him a bone too, to keep him busy!

But the one thing that would make my dreams come true would be to have a house where people give me hugs, look after me gently, whew I can be loved and where I can safely love back.

A place where I can smell in the morning egg eyes and lick the leftovers from the dish, where I will have a warm bed near a fireplace and someone to play with me, perhaps with a squeaky toy in the shape of a ball and a few newspapers to shred… or maybe these ones not a good idea…
Will the house be possible instead of anything else?
What shall I do to make this happen?

Over the years, thanks to ROLDA supporters hundreds of ex-street dogs found their safe homes. Please be compassionate and adopt a street dog, saved in our shelters instead of buying a pure breed puppy!
Contact us at contact@rolda.org to find out how.

We have 700 dogs in our private shelters: all saved from being brutally killed. Now, all 700 dogs have a new better future ahead and are looked after responsibly, day by day. Every time a dog is safely adopted, we have a spare place in our shelters to save one more from the streets.

Can’t adopt? Please donate!
Because of you, our dogs will have a less lonely Christmas!

“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention” (Oscar Wilde)

The day-by-day challenges in Romania keep our lives extremely busy, from the lack of volunteers and financial resources to the corruption, bureaucracy and the authority’s indifference to our efforts to help the local community to solve a major problem. When a new year is about to start, my heart and mind get full of new ideas, enthusiasm, new planning, and new hopes. I learn from dogs and one important thing is to never lose hope.

Looking back to identify the most important moments in 2014, I should mention:

December 2013
Invitation from the Norwegian Embassy to attend a conference about Corporate Social Responsibility.

January – February 2014
One of the worst times at the shelter was when huge amounts of snow accumulated and the snowstorm that last a few days isolated the shelter from the village. We had to walk to reach the dogs, give them food and water and check if they are all OK.

March 2014
60 children from nearby schools visited our shelters to become acquainted with our dogs, to learn about dog behavior, what sterilization means and why it is important, and to discover the daily work of animal shelters.

April 2014
Winning 2^nd place in “Life is better together”(Fundraising section), a contest organized by PETCO Foundation USA, thanks to our team of amazing donors!

May 2014
A new international branch of ROLDA opens in Switzerland.

Demonstration in Geneva: 200 people, including members of the Association ROLDA Suisse, protested against the killing of dogs from Romania.

● The Gatehunder fra Romania director, Hege and Mrs. B., one of ROLDA’s top supporters returned to our shelters. We made a short stop in Bucharest to talk to the officials of the Norwegian Embassy about the Romanian street dogs’ problem.
● Visiting with Hege the local pound was a mixed-feelings experience. Read more.
● One of the dogs rescued from the local PS arrived a few weeks ago in Norway.
● The new plot, purchased end of 2013, was fully fenced.

June 2014
● 70 children were challenged in creation contests (drawing, literature) to raise awareness about the street dogs of Romania.
● Genial suggestion to encourage the local people to adopt street dogs vs. pure breed dogs…Can you believe it’s coming from a teenager named Rebecca?
It says: “Leave your prejudgments aside! Big dogs. Small dogs. Breed dogs. Ugly dogs. Too ugly, too small, too big, too hairy….”
● Emilie and Anne traveled from Switzerland to do volunteer work in our shelters and at the end of their journey, transported 4 lucky dogs to their adoptive families.
● Our supporters from Holland help us organize Flights for Freedom all year round.
● Anne and Emilie meet the kids from the local school.

July 2014
● Silje from Norway who adopted of a ROLDA dog in 2012, volunteered for a week to help us…and she couldn’t come with empty hands!
Read Silje’s lovely testimonial here.
● H.E. Matthijs van Bonzel, The Ambassador of Holland visited our shelters.
● The sterilization and return programs continue in partnership with AMG, our local sponsor.
● Exposition of paintings in Montreux, Switzerland creations of the artist Muriel.
● A delegation from ROLDA Switzerland visited our shelter and returned home with 9 adopted dogs.
● The second exposition was organized in support of Romanian dogs in Switzerland.

September 2014
● Yelena, an adopter of Homer from Switzerland visited our shelters. Read Yelena’s testimonial here.
She couldn’t leave with empty hands either… See how the fastest ROLDA adoption happened.
● The first stamp created for the Romanian dogs became one of the official Swiss Post stamps!
● ROLDA’s newest international branch is in Sweden – Association ROLDA Sverige: thank you, Heidi, Sandra and Lisa!
● Remember her? She is Miki – one of the ROLDA luckiest dogs,  adopted in Switzerland by Muriel.
● Goods collected from ROLDA in Holland. Thank you, Damen and all the Dutch animal lovers for your full support!

October 2014

● Sandra from the ROLDA Sweden board returned to our shelters. Read her testimonial here.
● Lolita and Anne return to transport 6 dogs to their forever homes.
● Swiss journalists interviewed Arcelor Mittal Galati’s representative. Photographer: Shane from Blick.ch
● Special meeting of ROLDA branches: ROLDA Romania, Gatehunder fra Romania and Association ROLDA Suisse representatives meet in Galati!
● Swiss delegation meets H.E. the Ambassador of Switzerland in Bucharest. In the photo, Lolita and one of the dogs of Mr. Jean-Hubert LEBET, the Ambassador of Switzerland.

November 2014
● Our rescue van crashed into an accident with a truck with no brakes. The truck had no insurance and in these conditions, we have no alternative but to try and raise funds so we can buy a new vehicle to continue rescuing dogs.
● Swiss Animal Protection, Lolita and Michele PM covered almost half of the van cost. We still need to collect the rest.
● End of November,  our Swiss partners attend two public events to raise funds (sell objects) for our dogs.

December 2014
● During December, some lucky dogs are scheduled to travel to UK and Norway.
● Our friend Shannon is busy organizing the first charitable concert for the Romanian dogs and not only – because, during this event, we asked people from California to donate items for the local shelters, too!

Dog of the Year 2014
Meet Light, the Dog of the Year 2013. Two legs dog with a strong personality, adopted in the UK by Gail.

Major investments

Plant trees to form a natural barrier to protect shelter against snow storms (first phase)

Connect the clinic to water and electricity

Numbers that count!

● 700 dogs feed and looked after, 24/day, 7 days/week

In addition:
● 792 dogs sterilized from which TNR 235 dogs sterilized and returned, SOCIAL 167 dogs sterilized in the village;
● 396 new dogs rescued from suffering on the streets or from being brutally killed or ending up dying in public filthy shelters;
● 135 dogs were adopted in Romania and across Europe.

This is probably the shortest description of a street dog’s life. If you ever experience the feeling of being hungry – you know how exhausting this is. Thirst on hot summer days is real torture. On that, frozen paws are very painful and it’s worse when the dogs stop feeling them at all…

Parasites like ticks and fleas are frustrating and cause weakness while worms usually kill just-born puppies, poisoning them, right in front of their mother’s eyes.

Abused by people, often injured by cars, crippled for life – these are the Romanian dogs that live day-by-day life on the streets of the town or at its edges, in the industrial area.

It takes so little for a dog to be happy: just some food, some exercises and some hugs and love from his human companion. So maybe you ask yourself, given the conditions mentioned above, how do these dogs find resources inside to be hopeful?

Meet Yelena!

We rescue her from the bus station where she was lying on the grass, fed by people’s mercy. The lady selling bus tickets knew the dog was hit by a bus some days ago…but she didn’t call us or a vet to take a look.

First-person that saw the dog lying down and crying, trying to crawl on the grass was Yelena – a lovely young lady from Switzerland that came to volunteer with us. She arrived at the train station and came to the “meeting point” at the bus station – from where I picked her up to go to the shelter.

Yelena is not a stranger to ROLDA dogs as not many months ago, she adopted Homer, a very old dog that went to Oasis des Veterans – a great shelter from Switzerland from where he was discovered by Yelena’s family.

This is how she learn about Romanian street dogs, and about our work and she decided to come and see them first hand our shelters. This is how we discovered the dog lying in the grass: we heard something crying and saw a pair of innocent, beautiful eyes staring and begging for help.

The vet checked the dog and noticed that the injuries from the bus didn’t happen just a few days ago but longer and the bone started to heal naturally, in the right position – luckily for the dog, who is very young and will not remain crippled.

In the beginning, the dog still crawls a bit when trying to walk on all her feet but only a few days later,  standing up and walking become easier and now, almost normally.

But the best part to tell you – starts now!

The volunteer Yelena felt a special connection with this dog and decided instantly to adopt her. She spoke with her parents on the phone and I saw a big smile lighting her face.  I read the answer in her eyes.

We called the dog…Yelena. She is the fastest adopted dog.

One life was saved! Hundreds of others are waiting… and can get a chance if you offer them one!

There are hundreds of dogs that wait in our shelters and thousands of others that live in misery on the streets. We can’t save them all, that’s a fact. But we can at least try to save them, one by one. Who knows, maybe when we’ll look back to count the results we’ll be surprised about the miracle made by a teamwork effort.

There are many good people like Yelena from Switzerland. You are one of them.

Take two minutes and have a look here and please, don’t forget to share this story with your friends.

The Catch, Neuter and Return program was held until 2014 for the dogs collected from the steel plant. This program was fully supported financially by Arcelor Mittal Galati (AMG) and logistically by ROLDA. Since ROLDA started the partnership with AMG for the dogs, our charity managed to reduce humanely (developing sterilization and adoption programs) the stray dogs’ population by 70%.

An average of 40 dogs were caught, sterilized and returned to the industrial site in Galati.

Dogs from the steel plant were transported to the clinic to be sterilized and brought back into the territory. The straws or blankets keep them softly safe during a bumping road and also absorb the unwanted “liquids” to keep them clean.

On 30 June, H.E. Matthijs van Bonzel and the Economic and Commercial Counselor of The Netherlands Embassy, Mr. Huub Drabbe visited our shelters and the clinic building. For ROLDA it was the first experience at such a high, official level but the Embassy’s representatives made the emotions go away.

ROLDA is grateful that the Dutch Embassy people were interested to learn about our work.

At the small shelter, Mr. Cat was the real star among all the others rescue dogs while at the large shelter, H.E. the ambassador met the dogs and was extremely pleased to see the mini-exposition with the children’s creations and especially Rebeca’s genial education message.

Mr. van Bonzel promised to return with his family and we hope that this will happen soon when the new phase of investments will be completed.

Related to the street dogs problem, Mr. van Bonzel is still gathering info and learning from experts but he thinks that the Romanian community should have a stronger voice.

H.E. Mr. van Bonzel believes that the young generation is the hope for this country to solve its (many) problems.

Compassionate kids ask our help for responsible solutions! Law 258/2013 demands to all Romanian citizens to sterilize their pets by December 2014. The only exceptions are the dogs with certificates for breeding, for dog shows. The fine for not sterilizing the pet starts from 1100 EUR to 2200 EUR, the lowest represents the average 4 salaries in Romania.

In case a Romanian person abandons a dog or prevents him to have medical help, the fines are higher and sometimes, the person can go to prison.

There are many Romanians who want to look after their animals properly but they can’t afford the luxury of paying the medical costs. Being forced to sterilize, microchip and register the dogs from the property as their pets by the end of this year and lack of money to comply with this request, many people will prefer to abandon their dogs on the streets before the New Year comes, to prevent a possible fine. The result will be more street dogs suffering and dying.

What kids have asked?
Meeting the kids from the nearby school during the 1^st June contest, they had a special request: they asked for our help to sterilize the dogs from their parents’ properties because they understood the importance of the sterilization and because they do not want to see their best friends abandoned or killed.

What did the kids promise us?
From September when schools reopen, together with these amazing kids and their teachers, we will create a new social event to educate the community about the sterilization key role to reduce humanely the strays population. The event will start in September for 2 months and the funds raised will be split to help the school with a new laptop and the shelters to have video cameras to monitor the activity 24/7.

We search for sponsors for this event and also would be grateful for any ideas on how to sell the kid’s (handmade) creations. Contact us at contact@rolda.org

Back to the present tense… Many kids asked in one voice to help them sterilize their favorite pets. There are mostly dogs, but some cats too. During the summer months, the kids are on vacation and this is the best time of the year when we can help them to sterilize their voiceless friends. It seems it’s our moral duty to not discourage their initiative or cut their hopes down.

200 dogs and probably about 30 cats could stop reproducing with your help.
Because all these animals will be transported to the vet office, a complete job, well done would be to also vaccinate and microchip (only) the dogs and help the parents of these amazing children to save some money which can go for education, food, etc

I am sure that together we can make this summer event happen.
I am aware that the summer months are a hard time to fundraise, as everyone prepares or is on Holiday. But I am confident we can do this together because we made many miracles happen in the past.

Please spare half of the Christmas gift you plan for our dogs NOW and DONATE for this sterilization campaign!

You will not only help us to reach the goal of 200 dogs (and a few cats) sterilized, you will support some poor families from the village to have one less thing to worry about for the coming months and some animals not lose their homes by the end of the year. As a bonus, you will put a smile on some kids’ faces, kids that thanks to you, will not be forced to see their best friends abandoned on the streets.

If this image breaks your heart, imagine how it is to watch the World from the inside! No medical care. No food. No hope. No life! Abandoned, neglected, suffering in silence: they are the street dogs of Romania. You see them at the edge of the road, trying to survive. On occasions, they eat dead corps of other dogs, hit by cars.

Sometimes, it is hard to decide who are the lucky ones: those who remained to starve and hope in human’ kindness or the others, who left this life. You can read the worries and fear of a dog-mother eye. What holds the future for her puppies?

These dogs need humans, not “just” people!

Looking around, you might think you saw the worst World for a dog can be born, live into and bear with. You are wrong! Many of these dogs have no food and no warm place to stay in winter, they are full of parasites and often wounded. But they still have their freedom, the possibility to run and interact with others and the joy to feel the sun and the grass. Unfortunately, for a small percentage, life can be even crueler!

The public shelter dogs

Trapped by dog catchers, some of the dogs end up in public concentration camps where they are waiting to die. Day by day, crowded in filthy small spaces, with no sun, no fresh air and we would think – no reason of hope.

Every time these dogs see a visitor (a human being coming closer) they bark, wag their tails and leave their heads down disappointed if the visit is off and they remain imprisoned.

Being empathetic toward others’ suffering reminds us that we are humans. It is a nice feeling. The way we choose to react to help these voiceless souls might be a way to measure what’s left of our own humanity.

Respect for the dog’s lives! Will you ignore or help them?

1. Please sign the petition to put an end to corruption and abuses from the Romanian local pounds!
2. Share the petition with friends and animal activists Worldwide!
3. Help us rescue more homeless dogs. Donate!

There are thousands of street dogs suffering day after day on Romanian streets but nothing compares with the conditions of the local public shelter which can be summarized in just one word: despair. The place was a farm during the communist time and was later, used alternatively as a dog pound and storage space.

Today, it houses about 800 dogs according to the caretaker Lidia.

The dog sheltering facilities improved considerably after mass protesting, including from ROLDA supporters.  In 2013, the pound was completely renovated and additional housing spaces were built outdoors. The biggest “victory” was when the building was re-designed for better ventilation and to allow all the dogs to enjoy the sunlight, as they were living in very dark and smelly, filthy spaces.

I joined Hege to visit the public shelter a week ago when we adopted 4 dogs (one mom with a puppy, another small-size female and a puppy alone). I witnessed how the dog catchers unload the dogs from the van and how the dogs are placed in their new “homes”. For some, unfortunately, this will be their last home. I met all the dogs and I noticed a lot of being sick, wounded, and under-weighted. I also met dogs with distemper – a very contagious source, especially for unvaccinated new puppies, just brought in.

Although the kennels were clean, the water was fresh and there was not much smell – there is an obvious, complete lack of care for the dogs.  Except for Lidia – there isn’t someone to care for them. For employees, those dogs are numbers, not souls! Numbers that increase, decrease, … “just” numbers!

I’ve seen a few public shelters across Romania personally and many others in pictures. Galati public shelter is one of the best I’ve seen in terms of facilities, and handling – dogs have clean water and a source of food. But the horrifying smell of death is there, filling the air.

There are dogs that will die soon because of untreated, infected wounds. Dogs suffering from contagious diseases are waiting for their life to pass – as nobody will give them any treatment or at least humanely handle them. More, these contagious diseases will be spread to others, innocent souls catch because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A dog doesn’t need much to be happy and one has to make serious “efforts” and treat really badly a dog to make him lose hope. The feeling of hopelessness worries me the most because it shows a dead soul. The whole situation in Romania is overwhelming. ROLDA private shelters function at full capacity. Adoption rate decreased as across Romania, animal activists make efforts to place more and more dogs outside the country.

I do not know how many people will see this article as an alarm sign. Crippled souls that suffer around us should make us worried about where our humanity has gone. Thousands of years ago, the dog was tamed and became humans’ responsibility. In the present time, dogs are treated like trash by an indifferent society. Romania’s brand as a country is often equal to the street dogs. If we turn blind to shocking images or deaf to all the cries for help, the problem will not go away.

Two million street dogs suffer day by day in Romania. Some of them, we see on the streets. Some, are imprisoned in private shelters where they have some quality of life. Some others are imprisoned in public shelters from where there are only two ways out, only two ways to “set them free”: adopted or dead. Looking at all the suffering dogs I wonder when they will be set free, how and by whom?

Visitor suggestions

These are some suggestions for the shelter’ administration from a person that recently visited Galati public shelter:

Wish to make a change for these dogs YOURSELF?
● Volunteer!
● Visit the place to see the reality yourself!
● Adopt a dog!

See below the latest updates

The host/presenter of the conference was Lolita, the well-known Swiss activist for animals, who instantly accepted Marie’s invitation and showed her support from the very beginning. One of the conference sponsors was Hill’s.

More than 3 years passed until the fall, of 2013 when international public opinion was shocked by the new Romanian strays’ law and its terrible, predictable consequences.

Lolita decided to actively help some of these endangered souls and to also set up an example: We might not be able to save them all, but UNITED, we can save at least some lucky ones.

Lolita raised the funds for transporting 24 dogs in Switzerland and arranged the publicity and the logistics. She and her volunteers’ team (Anne, Christine and Mikael) as well as partner shelters assist the dogs until safely adopted in forever, individual homes.

While in the Suisse shelters, until being adopted, our dogs will benefit from full assistance provided by the shelter staff but also regular visits from Lolita and her volunteer friends.