We cannot let the 300 dogs living in Vesna's shelter starve!

1. In Serbia, Vesna is running out of kibble to feed the 300 dogs at her shelter. They will starve if no one helps!

“My association has 300 dogs to take care of and feed. I’m most of the time on my own to do so and I do my best to give them enough food. There’s no way I’m going to reduce their portions, even if that means I’ll skip meals myself! I’d rather prioritise their health over mine… The war in Ukraine is causing a massive inflation that impacts every price and everyone: everything is getting more and more expensive and it greatly affects dog food prices as well… 

In Serbia, it’s skyrocketing to the point that it’s become unaffordable to buy kibble. This situation makes it so hard for us to feed our animals, as we exclusively rely on people’s donations to get food. We notice it every weekend at our donation stand: people donate smaller and smaller amounts of food. Individual donations, when they happen, become more and more occasional and lower…

Right now, I only have enough to feed them for the next couple of days. Without resources and help, I can’t afford dog food… When you have that many dogs to feed, kibble become a luxury product! The number of dogs to help is increasing daily and, as the government does nothing to protect them, this responsibility falls upon us… Without donations, I can’t help them and my 300 dogs! I need this campaign to succeed for all these dogs’ survival!"

2. Without kibble, the shelter dogs’ health will decline and Vesna won’t be able to rescue any other vulnerable dogs… Their fate relies on the success of this campaign!

"I have many aging dogs or dogs with health issues at the shelter. The lack of kibble will significantly impact their state of health and conditions… We always do our best to provide enough for all of them, but it’s getting more difficult every day. My main concern is for these dogs to be as healthy as possible! I fear every day that we will end up with no food for them. And if we lack food for the ones at the shelter, it will be impossible for us to help those in danger, out in the wild… 

Almost daily, there’s a new animal who escapes neglect and needs help, food, shelter… That’s why we have a growing number of dogs at the shelter. No later than today, a new rescue dog arrived! Since there are not many of us who take care of animals and the State does even less for their protection, I have to help and rescue as many dogs as possible! Without kibble, I won’t be able to do it anymore…"

3. Suffering from a severe eye disease, Deda is vulnerable and his survival depends on this kibble arrival!

"Deda is a 9-year-old dog who suffers from a severe case of glaucoma, which has caused his eye enlargement. As a result, he is blind and his eye is often extremely painful. Due to this severe condition, he needs more kibble than other dogs. His immune system needs to remain strong and it all relies on the quality of the food he gets. I only have a few days left before I don’t have kibble anymore: Deda’s body will no longer build up defences and his health will deteriorate…"

4. Donations have dramatically dropped while inflation is still increasing: Vesna has debts and can’t buy kibble anymore!

"The rise in prices makes it extremely difficult for us to get kibble. Since the beginning of war in Ukraine, everything becomes more expensive each day, which makes people struggle even more. It is something we notice here in Serbia, at our level: we have less and less donations for the shelter and people donate more rarely, in smaller amounts. We don't even have enough volunteers: apart from my granddaughter, a volunteer on the weekends and more occasionally, some friends, I am financially and physically dealing with everything on my own... These days, our only way to provide for the association is the stand we run in a big pet center in Belgrade… I’m afraid the drop in donations will continue and it will have disastrous consequences on the animals!

Kibble is our most needed product, as it is the most expensive and dogs are our largest animal group. But we also need to provide for all the other animals we have (cats, farm animals, exotic pets…)! We absolutely rely on people’s donations to feed our animals and more particularly our dogs. I personally already have thousands of euros of debts in vet care expenses, so I alone can’t buy kibble, I need help! Reducing their food portions is not an option, so if I can’t give them quality kibble, they’ll still eat any type of food that I can afford... I need this campaign to succeed for them to eat and survive !"

5. Vesna is not asking for money, only kibble to prevent the dogs from starving!

"I dedicate all my time to the animals! Creating this association has allowed me to rescue every stray animal that I’ve found… It definitely has a positive impact at a local level, but I wish I had more help! We’re taking in more animals each time and I think the main reason is the absence of local government and State actions: nothing is done regarding sterilisation, animal cruelty or abandonment! It is clear that there’s still a long way to go here, in Serbia, for people and the Government to change their attitude towards animals and particularly dogs. If we want to improve the animals’ situation in Serbia, we need to raise awareness among people!

I belong to the very few people who rescue dogs or other animals, which implies a sense of responsibility towards stray dogs! You won’t find any stray in the area, we take care of all of them! We also manage to get some of our dogs adopted but for one adoption, there are two strays who need to be rescued! This is why getting food is so important! I don’t mind if I don’t get to eat myself, my priority is to provide for the dogs no matter how, because nobody else will! If this kibble campaign succeeds, we could focus on other aspects regarding their health and needs: the food issue will be solved for some time and the dogs will have healthier and better food! They’ll be happier, too, which is so important for us and for them!"

6. If this campaign succeeds, Vesna will not receive any money but 2000 kg of kibble, delivered by Animal Webaction's logistics platform in Serbia.

Animal Webaction has a logistics platform directly in Serbia, which enables us to intervene quickly and deliver kibbles.

7. Vesna has no support from the State or from other foreign or local organisations: this campaign is her last chance to get kibble!

"I devote all of my free time to the shelter and the dogs so I don’t have much time to find organisations that would help me… We mostly use our Facebook page to remind people about the stand we run every weekend. On occasions, individual donors help with smaller donations, but otherwise, it’s become too hard to deal with the kibble issue without help! 

We used to have a stand on one of Belgrade squares, where people would pet the dog that we brought and donate. But we no longer have a permit to do it again… I don’t get help from the government and in fact, locally, people care more about animals that provide them with milk, eggs or meat! The others are neglected… People don’t seem to like animals here.  

The lack of food is always a stressful situation for us, as we only focus on finding solutions to feed our dogs! When we previously received our kibble collection from Animal Webaction, it really helped us and made a big difference! Thanks to this kibble delivery, we didn’t have to worry about feeding our dogs for a while..."

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 Serbia, street dogs are hunted by the State and ignored by the population, volunteers like Vesna are their only hope!

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

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

If you would like to come to Vesna's shelter to help her or if you would like to send her kibbles or a check directly, please contact Vesna via the association's Facebook page. (Note: direct help is your own responsibility.)

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