ROLDA President’s Message May 2023

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

Blanco

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!

Dogs like Aslan just arrived in Sweden together with 20 other dogs. They all started their journey for a new and safer life with a loving family in the comfort of a forever home.

For some of these 21 #roldadogs, the journey was longer and more difficult, travelling all the way from Ukraine after being extracted from a war zone. Dogs like Garofita.

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.