ROLDA Shelters

The ROLDA shelters located in south-east Romania (one of the country’s poorer regions) represent a loving home for hundreds of dogs. For most of them, this is the only home they ever had. Our private shelters were built from scratch with donations, sponsorships and grants. No money from public funds was ever given to us at ROLDA to solve the problem of stray dogs.

Cats are among the most vulnerable animals in Romania, often being the victims of abandonment and abuse. ROLDA has completed the construction of a shelter for senior and disabled cats. The shelter is conceived to hold a small number of cats, and it is equipped with individual interior spaces for quarantine, well-aired and heated interior socializing spaces, and outdoor spaces.

The worst exploited farm animals are horses and donkeys. Apart from the frequent problems regarding abuse and abandonment, we must not leave out the possibility of these animals becoming the victims of the illegal meat trade. To save them from suffering and to offer them decent living conditions and proper medical care, ROLDA sets out to build on land it already owns a shelter for horses and donkeys. Unfortunately, this project requires a considerable investment.

We all know that owning animals is a luxury for most people living in the underprivileged rural areas of Romania. This is why ROLDA organizes campaigns for sterilization and other medical services to make sure that these people can comply with the legislation in Romania, which is costly and restrictive. This is the only solution for people living in low-income communities to keep their beloved animals. It is also the only humane alternative to reduce the number of abandoned pets and prevent the birth of unwanted pups and kittens.

Through the #FriendsForever program, ROLDA is helping senior pet owners cover their medical expenses. In an ever more challenging economic context, the pensions of the elderly can barely cover their living expenses. Thus, taking care of animals often becomes problematic. This is where ROLDA comes in by granting aid consisting of pet food supplies, covering unforeseen medical costs (medical emergencies, diagnosis and treatment, post-accident surgery, and long-term treatment) and other medical expenses such as sterilizations, preventive treatment: parasite prevention and control, vaccines, which surpass the financial means of the owners.
From our standpoint, no matter how much love and care we try to give the animals in our shelter, we are still a handful of people caring for hundreds of souls. We will never manage to give all the love they are all so worthy of but of which they have been deprived their entire lives. Therefore, we strongly support the idea that an animal is better in the home of a loving and caring owner, even if this means us offering food and medical services. It is still a gain for the animals that still have a home.

The work of organizations such as ROLDA cannot have concrete results in the long run unless the young generation is educated adequately. Only thus, can we hope to achieve our goal and continue our mission. Our educational programs include a coloring book created by the ROLDA team from scratch from which children can take valuable advice on caring for their pets and give them the proper help (with adult guidance). We have created a series of free guides, which you can find on the site, giving out advice (hopefully, useful ones) for animal lovers in Romania. With some help, children can learn to understand the dogs and recognize situations in which they might become aggressive or defensive, thus preventing unpleasant events. ROLDA has created an informative leaflet: „Speak Toto language”, which describes a dog’s body language and what he is trying to tell you.

ROLDA has created a national survey inspired by one conducted in the UK to lower the abandonment rate of dogs with behavior issues. Another ROLDA program is #WithThe4LeggedFriend, meant to create a map of the businesses allowing for the access of people accompanied by animals in hotels, B&Bs, restaurants, cafes, and stores. Also, we created a podcast called #ÎnJurulCozii (AroundtheTail) on various pet-related topics.

We help talented local artisans sell their products, thus encouraging their small businesses and the Romanian economy while promoting locally handcrafted items. The profit obtained from the sale of these products goes 100% to the animals in our shelters or to the animals we care for with the help of our partners.