Contact: rolda@rolda.org | 410-353-5505
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Your trust in us and your generous support enables ROLDA to help dogs in several cities in Romania and to provide emergency aid in some areas affected by the war in Ukraine.

ROLDA helps dogs

(click on the flag to see how)

In Romania

In Ukraine

Before
After

He recovered surprisingly well and quickly as he is young, but he still has some small mobility issues. We are preparing him for adoption, he is very sweet, friendly and funny, wagging his short tail. Everybody loves him in the clinic.

Andu was found in Cuca village, Galati county, hit by a car. He was lying on the side of the road, hopeless. ROLDA rescue team took him to the vet clinic. He had an XRay done and he received the treatment needed and luckily nothing was broken, he didn’t need a surgery.

Romania is mostly known for its large number of stray dogs – estimated to some millions – who wander the streets, exposed to diseases, often abused, or imprisoned in horrible public pounds. For more than 15 years, our small rescue team have worked tirelessly to change the life of these strays for the better.

We fight

Against the horrible public shelters still functioning across Romania #CloseIllegalShelters

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Help ROLDA to ‘break the chains’ to release dogs from being kept in chains #UnChainDogs

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We rescue, provide shelter, rehabilitate, sterilize, and rehome dogs, as well as supporting the local community to look after their own pets responsibly. It is important to work with the locals and limit the number of abandoned pets which only make the number of stray animals grow continuously.

Spay means less strays

ROLDA funds sterilizations for dogs in poor communities where the owners can’t afford the medical procedure.

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Rescued in Romania. Adopted around the World

ROLDA rehome our dogs in countries where we have team of volunteers to do pre and post home check visits to monitor these adoptions and provide ongoing support.

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Friends forever

Our newest social campaign to help seniors with low income to provide quality care for their pets and never be forced to abandon them.

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Education campaign

ROLDA distributes our lovely coloring book free of charge to highly appreciative kids, parents and teachers. We also advise on best practices when caring for a pet dog responsibly and safely.

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Before
After

Funtik was abandoned in a bag in Korosten. Not knowing what is happening to her she was attacked and biten by other dogs. When Lida found her, she was full of wounds around her tail and maggots were eating her alive. She was taken immediately to the shelter, washed, groomed, her wounds were cleaned and treated and she started receiving the required medicines.

Funtik was cared with love and you will simply not recognize her now. Happy, healthy, playful like none of these ever happened. Imagine that Lida and other volunteers like her, barely have water, basic medical supplies, food and treating animals is not an easy job there, not talking about surviving every day when missiles are falling or bullets are shot close to you.

Before the war started, ROLDA had its hands full dealing with the overwhelming strays population and the increasing number of abandonments. Immediately after the war began, considering we are located only 8 km from the border with Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, we decided to step in and help animals suffering because of this devastating war.

ROLDA is helping #UkraineAnimals

Logistically

ROLDA sent humanitarian aid to Korosten, Odessa, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia areas with the last three continuing to be active war zones. The aid consists of dry food, canned food for dogs and cats, veterinary supplies and medicines, and food for people who save injured and homeless animals.

Financially

Every month, ROLDA sends small grants (1000-4000 $/each) to rescuers and shelters in Ukraine and our goal is to focus on the east, where the war continues. On this page, we are listing the places which already received our support, most of them more than once. We can’t control how each $ is spent, however we require reports (photos, videos) and continue to send money to those who provide transparency to make sure that our donors gifts are well spent.

Rescuing dogs

A few days after the war started, ROLDA managed to transport the first dogs from nearby Kiev all the way to Galati into our shelters. Over the next months, we secured more transports of dogs, even after some countries closed their border making adoptions impossible. The dogs remain stacked in our care which blocked new dogs being rescued because the shelters functioned at full capacity.

ROLDA is also concerned about animals and peoples safety, but it is impossible to help animals saved from war if international borders are closed and adoptions are blocked. We understand the fear of rabies and believe that preventive measures correctly applied (vaccination and quarantine) will continue to give these animals a fair chance to be rehomed. We rescue, provide shelter, rehabilitate, sterilize, and rehome dogs as well as supporting the local community to look after their own pets responsibly. It is important to work with the locals and limit the number of abandoned pets which only make the number of stray animals grow continuously.
The problems in Ukraine will not end with the war, which is still far from being over. The impact of the war is huge and unfortunately, after the immediate crisis is solved (electricity and water will be fixed, bombs will stop etc), the lack of infrastructure, the abundance of homeless animals, the shelters which have been burned and destroyed, the poverty… all mean that animals and their rescuers will continue to need help long after the war is over.
Even if we deal every day with an overwhelming problem in Romania, where animals are neglected and abandoned, ROLDA hopes to be able to continue sending funds to Ukraine and also, transfer a small number of animals to Romania and prepare them for adoption. We believe that once set up, PawzUp center will function as a hub for animals outside Romania (e.g. Ukraine) who are at risk and need a second chance. Please discover PawzUp project here.

The PawzUp dog mascot presents you something truly unique: A project designed to improve dog welfare for generations to come.

At ROLDA, we believe that each dog or cat deserves a family to respect and care for them, and no farm animal has to end up abandoned in a ditch after being exploited all his life. PawzUp Center was began as a bold dream to encourage adoption as much as possible – because adopting a rescued soul is rewarding for both people and animals.

Once the PawzUp Center becomes a reality and opens its doors, it will unite rescued pets and great people so they can benefit from each others company. The complex is formed of 7 buildings and we are rushing to fundraise for and complete the first so we can safely move the dogs from the old paddocks. This is because the authorities sent us a pre-eviction notification as they will build a new road that is passing right in the middle of our shelter, affecting 30% of our buildings and obviously, our entire activity. Five of these seven buildings will be related to dog activities one way or another: one building with 86 cage-free spaces to house adoptable dogs; one building with glass-front spaces where dogs can meet locals who want to adopt, one building for quarantine and isolation, one where dogs (and cats) will have access to veterinary care and finally, a building for senior dogs where they will benefit from the best living conditions for a quiet life. You can find more information about PawzUp Center below.

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If we already convinced you to make a mark to help us transform PawzUp into reality, we remind you that when you sponsor the building of a whole box, you can name it after your favorite pet, or in memory/to honor someone. Naming opportunities include:

13

glass front boxes

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28

boxes for senior dogs

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77 of 86

boxes for dogs

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24

quarantine spaces

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38

boxes isolation

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2

large areas for exercise

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Support other rescuers in Romania

We provide financial assistance to different rescuers in Caracal, Desa, Focsani, Tulcea and Solca for sterilizations, running their own shelters, food and medical bills.

Your generosity has enabled ROLDA to help dogs in Romania since 2004, when our small shelter welcomed its first residents.
In 2007, we accepted a huge challenge and constructed the large shelter to save dogs on a death row from the local steel plant.
Now we are in the process of transforming the aged and rusty large shelter into PawzUp Center, a state of the art accommodation for dogs and other animals.