We cannot let this shelter's 126 dogs starve!

1. In Bosnia, Selma no longer has kibble to feed the 126 dogs at her shelter. They will starve if no one helps!

"We take care of 126 dogs at the shelter and even though their number has decreased thanks to adoptions, it’s still running at full capacity. If adoptions don’t happen again, it’s going to be more problematic as today, we are out of kibble. Such a low stock implies rationed portions, but each one of us at the shelter always gives their best and more than that to keep the dogs fed, even if it requires loaning money from our families to buy food… Providing the dogs with kibble in such hard times is a day to day priority and we just hope we’ll find money the next day and the day after and so on. 

Fundraisings haven’t been a success lately. Indeed, in Bosnia, people are struggling due to the crisis and it shows through the very minimal amount of donations. They barely have enough money to feed their own families so they just can’t afford donating for animals. It’s hard knowing the dogs only have us to rely on and count on to feed them because no one else will... I feel sad and worried, it’s hard to see them being hungry. Along with that, the start of tick season is a great concern to us as the dogs’ treatment is about to expire. We’ll have to treat them again and we absolutely need this kibble campaign to succeed to have the means to keep the dogs fed and healthy."  

2. Poor quality kibble is bad for the health of the dogs in the shelter: Selma needs this kibble campaign to feed them and save more street dogs!

"We’re currently feeding the dogs twice a day with a mix of soaked bread and kibble, we prepare it overnight for the next day. It allows them to have an empty stomach… We lack donations and quality kibble is now so expensive, the only type we can afford is the lowest quality and dogs get diarrhoea when they eat that!

When we are out of options and no one can lend us money, the others and I at the shelters bring our leftovers from home and ask around in the neighbourhoods to have people bring theirs as well so we can feed the dogs… We always find solutions not to cut back on food but these solutions are bad for their health!

But while the shelter’s dogs are taken good care of, those on the streets will become more aggressive if they aren’t fed. We feed around 20 dogs in dumps and they’re very wild and unapproachable. I wish to have these abandoned dogs adopted one day but I can’t rescue and start socialising training with any of them in such a difficult kibble situation!" 

3. Ares is blind and needs this kibble campaign to succeed in order to survive with his disability…

"Ares is a four-year-old dog we took in about 6 months ago. People once complained about a “very aggressive” dog laying in the river bed… When we arrived there, he was indeed very aggressive! We had to sedate him to take him to the vet and after the examination, it was revealed that Ares was in fact 100% blind. 

It explained his behaviour - he can’t see anything at all and he might have led a life full of terrors, trying to defend himself out in the wild. We don’t know what happened to him, nore how he ended up wandering outside, but he was probably abandoned due to his blindness and attitude… He’s doing good at the shelter but he’s thin and underfed. He still needs to gain weight and build up his strength. Without quality kibble, he won’t be able to survive with his disability…”

4. Selma and the shelter are in a tough financial situation: donations decrease and debts increase. They can’t buy kibble anymore!

"This kibble shortage is our main problem along with the beginning of tick season and the lack of fundings… The global crisis has impacted the donations we get and they keep on dropping because people’s financial situations have worsened. The war in Ukraine also has repercussions as every organisation we reach out to is prioritising dogs from Ukraine in terms of adoptions, food or care… 

We need around 60-70kg of kibble a day to feed the dogs and it costs a lot. Local government barely helps us with food, so we mostly depend on our relatives and neighbours’ generosity and ability to provide food, donate or lend us money. The fundraisings we organise aren’t successful enough, so it’s an everyday challenge to find solutions to feed the dogs the next day. We try everything; we ask around, we beg…  

On top of that, our debts at the vet stack up, we have massively sterilised and will keep on sterilising dogs and we’ll very soon have to renew the tick treatments for the dogs at the shelter… This campaign has to succeed so that we’ll be less anxious about the kibble issue and more able to focus on the dogs’ health.”

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

"Two years ago, this shelter was born. Back then, we only had a few loose boxes. Now, we have expanded and have more space to let the dogs out. I give my all for these animals… It’s not unusual for me to go back home and start to cry because I am just so worried about the lack of kibble… I can’t help but wonder how we are going to feed the dogs the next day. I will have insomnia until the end of this kibble campaign and hopefully for the dogs it will be successful! 

Benjamin and I are the 2 employees of the shelter and there are 4 volunteers who help us take care of the dogs… In the area, stray dogs are not well tolerated. Only a few people would give them food, while so many would just abuse and harass them… I’m sad when I see how dogs are treated here. Sometimes, owners bring us their dogs only because they “bother” them. 

There is no such thing as a dedicated public service to care for abandoned dogs and we’re often confronted to chain reactions where everything falls upon us, eventually. We’re the only one in the area and when it’s not crowded, we can manage to rescue new vulnerable dogs. But it isn’t always the case and it makes local support vary a great deal from positive to negative. Still, I know we made a difference, as there are fewer strays wandering in town and we managed to massively sterilise dogs…” 

6. If this campaign succeeds, Selma will not receive any money but 1440 kg of kibble, delivered from Animal Webaction's logistic platform in Bosnia.

Animal Webaction has a logistic platform in Bosnia which allows us to intervene quickly and deliver kibble.

7. Selma and the shelter’s supporters have done their maximum: the fundraisings are unsuccessful and no other organisation can help. This kibble campaign is their last hope to keep on feeding and rescuing dogs!

“We have a partnership with a British organisation which helps us with adoptions: we had 23 dogs adopted thanks to their help! It allowed the number of dogs at the shelter to decrease a little, so it’s a bit less crowded. It is our hope to send as many dogs to adoption as possible and give them a chance to be treated better and have a happier life away from Bosnia! 

Our volunteer Amela is the one in charge of our Facebook page. We use it to raise awareness, communicate, fundraise and collect… The latter have not been successful recently as people can’t afford to donate as much as before the crisis. We reached out to many different organisations but they all have the same answers; Since they’re already helping other shelters in the Balkans, they don’t have funds to help others…   

We still need much more support from the people! About every month, we get donations from the neighbouring city: a few kibble bags and small amounts of money… It’s unfortunately not enough for us to deal with our many expenses. Reaching out to the local government is always very intricate: the person in charge of issuing food is never available! Animal Webaction are the only ones to have replied positively to our call for help and this kibble campaign is our last chance to continue the shelter’s actions.”

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 Bosnia, stray dogs are tortured and killed illegally without anyone looking…

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

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

If you want to come to Nova Nada's shelter to help Selma, or if you want to send them kibble or a check directly, contact her via the association's Facebook page (note: direct help is done on your own responsibility).

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