Contact: rolda@rolda.org | 410-353-5505
Find us on

Help Nick beat infestation with ticks

Help Nick beat his tick infestation and help him live! My name is Nick. I was given this name yesterday when I was rescued. Before that, I was a nameless puppy born in a garden in rural Romania like thousands of others. My mother, Greta, gave birth to five pups on a bitterly cold January morning. My brothers and sisters died within the next two months from parvovirus disease, but I survived.

Help Nick beat infestation with ticks

Help Nick beat his tick infestation and help him live! My name is Nick. I was given this name yesterday when I was rescued. Before that, I was a nameless puppy born in a garden in rural Romania like thousands of others. My mother, Greta, gave birth to five pups on a bitterly cold January morning. My brothers and sisters died within the next two months from parvovirus disease, but I survived.

I also managed to outlive starvation. I am skinny, and my bones hurt each time I lay on the concrete. In April, the garden where we lived filled with ticks and fleas which infested my mom and me—we have ticked all over our fur, even around our eyes and in our ears. It’s hard to be born a homeless puppy in Romania! With hundreds of ticks on me, I always feel weak.

The garden’s owners got scared that they might get a disease from our ticks, so they wrapped us in a plastic bag and abandoned us, way outside the village, with no food and no water. We were scared of cars, strange noises, and packs of aggressive dogs defending their territory. My mom and I thought we were going to die out there. We got more and more ticks on our bodies.

One morning I couldn’t open my eyes all the way, but I managed to see my mom shaking from all the fleas and ticks and parasites that were eating us alive. Without a doubt, the first eight months of my life were a nightmare. I didn’t want to bear another day, but somehow, I kept hope alive.

This is how I imagine Nick telling his story. He is eight months old and together with his mother, Greta, who is about eight years old, was found by our ROLDA rescue team. They had been abandoned in the bushes and almost paralyzed by ticks. It was a shocking experience for us because their bodies were completely covered with ticks—even around their eyes and a lot inside their ears.

They were severely dehydrated and emaciated, like walking skeletons.

A monthly donation of €16 toward both Nick and Greta would keep them safe against ticks and fleas. That’s all! Just €16 a month would help end their misery. Make your monthly gift to protect Nick and his mom (and many other dogs) who silently suffer and who desperately need your help.

Nick can’t speak, but I can. Yet, I am speechless. I need to learn, find or invent new words to define the plight of Romanian stray dogs. My imagination can’t describe how these dogs feel—malnourished, skinny, full of parasites, starving, always hungry, eaten alive by thousands of ticks, day and night, day after day. I try and can’t imagine how much they have to endure…hoping to be rescued, protected and loved by someone. Or maybe they don’t know what to hope for? Carrying the burden of loneliness, homelessness, neglect, and abandonment, disposed of like old shoes and mistreated. I was so overwhelmed to see Nick’s little ears covered by ticks but also his dirty, little paws full of these parasites. Poor little soul! And I can’t help but wonder how many puppies has Greta lost over the years to famine, disease, or accidents. In my opinion, Greta and Nick are brave souls fighting for their life. Is their suffering enough to wake us up and force us to see the tragedy around us? The incredibly painful life of these animals?!” —Dana Costin, ROLDA Founder

Help us start Nick’s and Greta’s journey to find a family. Greta is a senior dog, but we are confident someone will want to give her a home. Nick must pass the quarantine after his vaccines, which is not easy, especially if he is carrying any diseases. We have no guarantees that either of them will survive, but our doing our best to save them—as we always do, for each dog in need of our help.

We need you to join Nick’s and Greta’s journey and transform their future. Please, help them.

Prevention treatment is the cheapest and safest solution to protect our voiceless friends and protect ourselves. Help us win the battle against ticks!

Let’s do it for every brave stray dog who suffers every day…even as you read these lines.

Update: 15 Aug, 2019

PS. Flea and tick season begins in March and ends in October. It is an unfair battle, especially when abandoned, homeless dogs have no protection against these parasites. Dogs like Nick and Greta are exposed for eight months each year to diseases carried by ticks—they are in constant danger of anemia caused by a massive infestation of ticks. Lyme (and other diseases) is also transmitted by ticks to humans.

Update:

Help dogs fight against fleas and ticks

$47.700 Goals
44.78%
Donate

Related content

ROLDA Founder trip to Ukraine August 2023
September 11, 2023

ROLDA Founder trip to Ukraine August 2023

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 ... Help Nick beat infestation with ticks

Read more 10 minutes read
ROLDA President’s Message May 2023
June 21, 2023

ROLDA President’s Message May 2023

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 and rehome dogs from our shelters in Sweden.

Read more 5 minutes read
The story of Doina
June 15, 2023

The story of Doina

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.

Read more 1 minute read
The history of ROLDA large shelter read details
June 15, 2023

The history of ROLDA large shelter read details

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.

Read more 6 minutes read
I survived these mighty mites!
May 5, 2023

I survived these mighty mites!

Alien survived a horrible infestation of fleas and ticks. Today, he is living at our ROLDA sanctuary happily waiting to be adopted. Alien was found by ROLDA rescuers in early spring, already completely covered with fleas and ticks.

Read more 3 minutes read