Dirofilaria

What is dirofilaria immitis? How can ROLDA prevent and treat this fatal disease? Dirofilaria Immitis, or heartworm disease, is a serious and potentially fatal disease in domestic pets, wild animals, and humans. It’s caused by foot-long parasitic roundworms that live in the heart, lungs and associated blood vessels which cause severe lung disease, heart failure and damage to other organs. The disease is so widespread because it’s easily transmitted by mosquitoes.

Our ROLDA sanctuaries are surrounded by forest, agricultural land, and the Danube and Siret rivers, making it a favorable habitat for mosquitoes to thrive. The area is also home to hundreds of wild animals and stray dogs—all potential carriers of Dirofilaria.

Safety is the top priority at ROLDA. Every spring, we take preventative measures to protect our dogs from heartworm disease, including the use of a Mosquito Magnet which we were able to purchase last year thanks to the generous contributions we received from our supporters.

However, because the ROLDA sanctuary covers a large area, one machine cannot provide protection to feel secure. So, this year we are raising funds to purchase another Mosquito Magnet, and if you would like to contribute, you can do so here.

Help protect our dogs!

Any amount matters! With your help, we can ensure the safety of our dogs from Dirofilaria Immitis.

But even these machines cannot guarantee complete protection, especially against the vast mosquito populations in heavily wooded areas.

Thanks to our supporters, our dogs receive Advantix and Heartguard to protect them against heartworm during the warm seasons, but that still leaves thousands of stray dogs around our sanctuary unprotected and at high risk of contracting heartworm.

Meet Ken

Ken survived for days with a metal can stuck in his mouth. He was terrified, breathing with difficulty, extremely dehydrated and extremely skinny when he was saved by our ROLDA team.
It was a miracle he survived the anesthesia needed to safely remove the metal can from his mouth.
After the surgery, Ken continued breathing problems and our medical team couldn’t find the cause. Three days later, it was discovered that sadly, Ken has Dirofilaria.

Melarsomine (Immiticide) is the heartworm treatment drug with the least side effects, but, unfortunately, Ken is too weak to survive this treatment.

The vets have suggested a treatment using a combination of drugs for a minimum of 18 months, knowing that heartworms do not begin to die until 18 months of treatment have elapsed. This is the best chance Ken has to survive this fatal disease.

Help Ken and protect others from becoming like him

Thanks to our supporters, our dogs receive Advantix and Heartguard to protect them against heartworm during the warm seasons, but that still leaves thousands of stray dogs around our sanctuary unprotected and at high risk of contracting heartworm.

What is the connection between 41, 1 and 6?

A donation of €41 can protect 1 dog for a period of 6 months against this deadly disease.

The 6-month heartworm prevention treatment for all 650 dogs at our ROLDA sanctuary costs €26,415. That’s a lot of money. But a donation of €41 can protect 1 dog for a period of 6 months against this deadly disease.

How many dogs can you help protect? Any donation matters!