We cannot leave these 320 dogs starve!

1. In Romania, Ildiko is running out of kibble for the 320 dogs in her shelter. They will starve if nobody helps them!

"I have 320 dogs (including puppies) in the shelter at this moment. The current situation is bad. We had only one adoption in August, while the abandonement rate is up: the shelter is at full capacity and I don’t have enough money to buy food. People still call us to take in new dogs, but that is impossible, there are just too many, so we try to bring in the ones that really need our help, that are ill or injured or in danger.

I am feeling overwhelmed, donations are at a very low point and only represent about 10% of our funding, which is very low. I started to cut back on food about a month ago, some of the dogs are skinny already, and now I only have 10 bags of kibble left, which is not even enough for one day.

Honestly, I am super stressed. I brought these dogs here to give them safety and a better life, and the prospect of not being able to do that is haunting. I can’t even think of that scenario."

2. Hunger makes the dogs nervous and fights break out, Ildiko fears that the situation will quickly escalate if she does not find kibble.

"I am really concerned by the agression and the fights. Dogs become desperate when they don't eat enough, and they start to be agressive with each other. Due to their background, some might fight until they really hurt each other.

I don’t have more kennels to separate them and prevent this, and the vet bills will rise again if it turns bad and they need specilized care. These are all connected, and it starts with having enough food for all of them.

I am disapointed, I truly hoped that the pandemic wouldn’t affect us this much, on so many levels, and honestly I couldn’t preddict that so many people would abandon dogs in these dire times... I have so many dogs in the shelter, dogs that were abandoned, abused and forgotten. We really need help now."

3. Abandoned in the sun without food or water, Ashanti and her four puppies were wasting away, not all of them survived. Still very fragile, Ashanti needs kibble to fully recover.

"The animal police called me about Ashanti about 2 months ago. She was chained in a field with her 4 puppies next to her. No food, no water, just the blazing sun of summer. The person who owned her even posted her online to sell her, that’s how they found him.

Ashanti is only 1 year old, she and the babies were very sick. Two of them died within 2 days of being rescued, even though they were under treatment. The puppies were so ill that they barely had any fur on them, they were full of fleas and worms and had demodecosis. She was extremly skinny and was missing fur on half her body, there were also signs that she had been beaten. 

Now, the wounds have healed and their fur has grown back. Although Ashanti was very afraid at the beginning, she is a sweetheart now. But she is still skinny, and was also recently neutered, she needs a constant source of food to regain all her strength."

4. Donations only cover 10% of the shelter's needs, Ildiko's resources are too low to make up for the shortfall, she can no longer buy kibble.

"Since the pandemic started the donations have gone down significantly. People just don’t donate as they used to. Companies don’t donate as they used to. Adoptions are fewer. We used to organize fairs to sell stuff, people donated to help raise money, and we also had some adoption fairs, all of this got compromised with Covid. The overall situation has gotten worse.

The only stable income this shelter has is my salary, and I work as a hairdresser so it's not a big one, and that of my husband, which is clearly not enough for 320 dogs. We are overworked, the food is rationned, we have a huge debt at the vet clinic. I need this campaign to succeed to make sure these dogs will have enough food, and to keep the shelter going.

We are the biggest shelter this close to the city, dogs here are safe, healed and loved, once they are here they won't reproduce anymore which means less puppies, it benefits the whole community. I hope that people in my city will someday understand the importance of sterilization and the responsibility of owning a dog."

5. Ildiko is not asking to receive any money, only kibble to prevent the dogs from starving.

"I opened the shelter 7 years ago. But I started saving animals from the streets years before that. You could say in a way that I had found my calling. Since then I work hard, and my family helps me, to provide these amazing souls with the care and safety that they need and deserve.

I see more and more abandoned dogs since the pandemic started, which pains me. If before we had a feeling that we were seeing some results with all the shelters that opened, now it’s worse. I fear that if all the shelters are as overwhelmed as I am, the number of dogs on the streets will increase. We as a nation need to learn more about social responsability and volunteering. It would benefit us greatly.

Between the two of us, me and my husband, it is hard to take care of everything. I have so many dogs in the shelter, dogs that were abandoned, abused and forgotten. I will never stop fighting for these dogs, but I need help to take care of them."

6. If this campaign is successful, Ildiko will not receive any money but 3000 kg of kibble will be delivered from the Animal Webaction logistic platform in Romania.

Animal Webaction has a logistic platform in Romania, which allows us to intervene quickly and deliver kibbles.

7. Ildiko strives to find partnerships, sponsors or any other support, but the help she receives remains random and does not allow her to feed the dogs on a daily basis.

"I've tried to contact other associations for help, but every shelter is more or less in the same situation. We still work with the German association that helps us with adoptions, and that is a huge help and  relief seeing dogs find a good home. But they focus on adoptions and can’t help us to bring in as much food as we need.

I have a Facebook page for the shelter and I also post on my personal page. We have followers and people share, it helps with donations, but it doesn't make a big enough difference for daily needs. And all the shelters on Facebook are asking for money because they all need it. I also understand people are struggling financially since this mess started with Covid, but I still wish they wouldn’t forget about us and the fact that we need their help.

We are lucky enough to receive local donations from time to time, of bread from a local bakery for example, or also a few bags of food from donation boxes in local shops, but that is not something we can rely on to feed the dogs every day."

8. Campaigns launched on Animal Webaction often fail.

When a campaign fails, Animal Webaction cannot deliver the products. The beneficiary doesn't receive anything and the buyers are refunded.

9. In Romania, it is difficult to find funds for kibbles, there are no aid, no grants, no foundation... Many abandoned dogs die alone in the streets, in complete indifference...

If you know of a foundation or NGO that could help Ildiko, please invite them to contact us so that we can put them in touch.

If you represent an animal protection foundation or NGO, please help Ildiko's dogs, contact us and we will put you in touch!

If you want to come to Ildiko's shelter to help them or if you want to send them some kibbles or a check directly, contact her via Facebook (note: direct help is under your own responsibility).

10. If you make a purchase on Animal Webaction, it will be protected by our guarantees.