We cannot let the 500 dogs at Nicoleta's shelter starve!

1. In Romania, Nicoleta is running out of kibble to feed the 500 dogs in her shelter. They will starve if no one helps!

"Ever since the war in Ukraine started, our situation changed drastically. Before, we had more donors that contributed monthly with a certain sum and we were doing okay. Not great, but okay! But now, many of them have stopped donating anything in favor of Ukraine. I am not saying it is a bad thing, but it has indeed left us with almost no funding. The prices for kibble have also increased about 50% than what they were before the war...

We no longer have the money to take care of our dogs, not to mention the fact that their number in the shelter increases constantly. We went from having 400 dogs to 500 just in the last couple of months... Maybe I went too far with taking so many dogs in but I cannot do nothing when I see a dog in distress who is left alone on the streets, with no food or water, sleeping in the rain... I just don’t have the heart for it!

The problem is that our adoptions to the UK have stopped in the last months due to the current restrictions in place. That was the destination where most our dogs used to go to so that's a major setback for us! We've only had 3 dogs adopted in France in the last 6 months... We try our best to deal with the current situation and help the dogs in every way we can but we are facing an unprecedented chain of difficulties... We need this campaign to succeed, our dogs need this so badly."

2. The lack of good quality kibble is starting to take a toll on the dogs' health and prevents Nicoleta from rescuing more dogs in need. She needs our help! 

"Given the current price increase on petfood, we don’t really have any choice but to go for lower quality kibble. It somewhat fills up the dogs' bellies, but it's not a good option on the long term... We have many sick dogs who need high quality food to get better and healthy dogs are getting sick faster due to the absence of good proteins and nutrients in their regime. 

Not being able to provide a good diet for my dogs is a great source of frustration and it's only heightened by the fact that no one around us seems to care about the fate of these animals... People in the area only bring us more animals, without ever lending a helping hand, or a bag of kibble! I would obviously want to help all the animals in need, but the current situation doesn’t allow me to do so... It’s hard to think about it but it's our reality today. 

Getting food is our highest priority at this stage. Not having to worry about the kibble supply for the next weeks would lift a huge weight off my shoulders and most importantly, it would mean that my dogs are being fed! Gathering this food would also mean that I'll be able to continue saving the many street dogs who need my help. I don’t even want to think about another alternative, this campaign has to succeed, there's just no other way!

3. Severely injured on the streets, Paty needs kibble to survive and eventually recover.

"Paty is a 6-7 year-old female, we found her on the streets and brought her to the shelter around 2 months ago. She was most likely abandoned and got into a dog fight on the streets, she was bitten by other dogs and was full of worms when we rescued her...

She is currently under medical attention. She stays and lives inside, sleeps in a cage, by herself. She's recovering from her injuries, and I know it will take some more time, given how severe they were. She absolutely needs high quality food in order to get better physically. Paty is also very afraid of men, she is afraid of everything... we are still trying to gain her trust so having good kibble to give her would certainly give us an advantage in that sense too...".

4. The drop in donations and the ban on adoptions is putting Nicoleta's rescue in jeopardy. Indebted, she can no longer buy kibble for the dogs! 

"The number of people who are making donations towards the shelter has definitely gone down the last months. The people who still donate something to the shelter are individuals who also have pets themselves, or who simply love animals. But understandibly so, a few people cannot donate enough money to feed 500 dogs!

Oddly enough, during the pandemic, things were better... We had less dogs and people were staying at home more, working from home, so the adoption process was steady. England was the country we mostly worked with when it came to adoptions, about 40 dogs were adopted! The big problem we have now is that the number of dogs in our shelter is increasingly rapidly, while the adoptions are at a standstill.

Our association has enormous debts to several veterinary offices and locally, we receive very little help. People here see these dogs as mostly a problem that needs disposing of. In that sense, I think they see the shelter as a good thing...but even so, they don't feel it necessary to support us or do anything good for these animals. Our financial situation has become unbearable... We desperately need more people to support us in this journey otherwise we'll never make it through!"

5. Nicoleta isn't asking for money, only kibble to prevent the dogs from starving.

"My involvement with animals started after my mother passed away, actually. I started by fostering dogs, that really helped me heal and get through that tough time. After a while, I started taking care of dogs I found on the streets that needed attention and medical care; whenever I found a dog on the street, I took him! At a certain point, my family no longer agreed with me having so many dogs so that's when I decided to open a dog shelter.

I opened the shelter a month after Coronavirus hit. At first, it was a small space and I only had about 20-30 dogs. The money I received from the foster dog owners was okay for me to take care of them all. We also had adoptions because people were staying inside more and some of them needed a companion, so they were adopting a dog, and it was going in the right direction.

I’ve worked alone and made this whole thing possible alone, but I cannot do it alone anymore. Not in the current state of events. I now have about 500 dogs under my care and there are still dogs needing to be saved. People just expect us to always take dogs at the shelter and take care of them as if it was my duty to do so, all the while thinking that I am getting massively sponsored by the state, which is not the case at all! With so much weight on my shoulders, it really takes a toll on me... I need financial or any kind of support to be able to continue."

6. If this campaign succeeds, Nicoleta will not receive any money but 2400 kg of kibble, delivered from Animal Webaction's logistics platform in Romania.

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

7. Nicoleta has knocked on every door possible to obtain the help her dogs need, in vain. This campaign is her last resort!

"I currently have 2 people in town that are monthly donating. What they donate is but a part of what we need, it’s about 1.200 lei (240 euros) each. These are the only constant donations I have. Other than that, I try to get donations on Facebook. Some people do donate, but to be honest, we are barely keeping afloat. And as far as our veterinary debts go, I don't even know how we're going to pay them off...

Our collaboration with the English association for adoptions has come to an halt due to recent events and it's really putting us in jeopardy. I tried reaching out to other foreign organisations in the last months but got no positive results. And locally, most of the available public funding goes to other institutions, dog shelters are unfortunately not seen as a good thing, as something that could improve society. I have also approached companies to try and get them to redirect 2.5 of their yearly taxes, but most have told me that they prefer to donate to the church or orphanages.

All of this is very frustrating and it's taking a toll on me but I am trying to remain positive. Deep down, I know that there are people out there who are willing to help. I just hope that I can be proved right with this campaign... My dogs are the ones I have started this whole journey for, and they are the ones I am fighting and care for. I personally have no gain from this."

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 Nicoleta's dogs, 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 Nicoleta's dogs, contact us and we will put you in touch!

If you would like to drop by the Remember Me Land shelter or if you would like to send kibble or a check directly, contact her 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.