We can't let Kemal's dogs starve!

1. In North Macedonia, Kemal will soon run out of kibble to feed the 130 dogs in his shelter. They will starve if no one helps!

"The number of dogs in our shelter has increased drastically in the last few weeks! We found another shelter outside the city with 70 dogs in a terrible state.... The woman who was running this shelter abandoned her animals, so we had to step in. Unfortunately we can't take them all to our shelter at the moment as we don't have enough space, but we have taken in several in critical condition and are looking after the others who remain on site.

But to be honest, every single one of these dogs is in a terrible state... They need a lot of treatment, food and care to survive and recover. The problem is that we are short of resources and have to ration the kibble! The dogs are eating only one meal a day and this has been the case for two weeks now. The health of the sick dogs is too weak to cope with this situation and if it goes on, I know it will lead to fights... I don't want the dogs to attack each other!

I'm desperate, I'm losing sleep. There are so many sick dogs in my shelter today, and I don't know what will happen to them tomorrow... These are terribly uncertain times. I pray that the situation in my shelter will get better, but most of all, I pray that this campaign succeeds... Getting this kibble is the only way that my dogs will not risk their health, and their lives."

2. Extremely emaciated and suffering from an extensive case of scabies, Crni needs this kibble to survive and support his treatment!

"Crni comes from the abandoned shelter outside the city, we brought him to our shelter a few days ago. Nobody took care of him in the previous shelter... He is very skinny, his fur is supposed to be black but he has lost most of it due to an advanced case of scabies. Crni barely moves as he has no energy, he usually sits on a blanket to try and keep warm. 

At the moment he is on a very strong treatment for scabies and he needs a good diet to go with it, otherwise his immune system won't cope... We really need this campaign to provide him with the quantities of kibble he needs to hopefully survive and recover over time. His health is far too fragile and unstable at the moment to cope with any more deprivation..."

3. Twenty-five or so street dogs depend on Kemal to survive, they too risk starvation without kibble...

"I look after more than 25 street dogs throughout the city. And when our association is short of resources, as it is the case now, unfortunately they are the ones who are inevitably affected first. It goes without saying that if I have to find a way to feed the dogs in my shelter, I cannot feed the street dogs as much as I need to, nor can I bring them to the shelter...

Currently, I leave the street dogs the leftover kibble I have once a day, which is usually not much... I have also had to postpone neutering and this is a very big step backwards. Every time neutering is delayed, the street dogs continue to breed and the cycle of suffering cannot be stopped.

This kibble issue really concerns me. The street dogs are already on their own; the only real food they get is what I give them... If I can't bring them any more kibble at all, it will really affect them! They will eat whatever they can find, fight for food, starve or freeze to death...".

4. The emergency care of 70 vulnerable dogs has put a strain on the association's finances, with the need for kibble and veterinary care far exceeding the donations received!

"The whole world is in crisis at the moment and unfortunately we are no exception. We receive very few donations... We have a volunteer who does online fundraising, but lately she has only managed to raise 400 euros, which is obviously not enough when you compare it to the amount of expenses involved in taking care of more than 130 dogs in the shelter, 70 dogs in the abandoned shelter, and more than 25 dogs on the streets...

To make matters worse, our veterinary debts have increased significantly recently, as we have many new sick dogs in our care requiring treatment. We are doing our best to continue to help all the dogs by allocating our resources wisely, but it is far from an easy task. And although we managed to find homes for 12 dogs last month, this adoption momentum is not enough to ensure a good balance either.

We don't have enough resources anymore, that scares me. We need more people to get involved in our association, so that we can develop adoptions and fundraising. But what we need most right now is kibble for all the dogs in our care!

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

"It is sad to say, but our association and shelter exist because the government of North Macedonia does nothing to solve the problem of abandoned animals... And unfortunately, the same is true for the vast majority of the local population. Worse, instead of ignoring them, it is common to see people torturing, attacking and killing street dogs... This is what hurts me the most! I can't understand how there are so many people who hate dogs and love abusing animals...

I can't stand to see animals treated like that, that's why there are so many dogs here at the shelter. By bringing them here, my aim is to save them not only from starvation, but also from the evil people around them... Unfortunately, because we help animals, there are also people who try to intimidate us, or denounce our shelter in order to close it down for whatever reason...

Fortunately, if I can put it that way, I happen to be a very stubborn person. I try not to pay attention to the threats and not to lose my motivation because I know that the animals need me! Together with the other members of the association, we will continue to do our best to sterilise, rescue and adopt these dogs. Because no matter how hard we try to provide them with good living conditions, we don't want them to be stuck here forever... they all deserve loving families!"

6. If this campaign succeeds, Kemal will not receive any money but 1800 kg of kibble, delivered from Animal Webaction's logistics platform in Macedonia.

Animal Webaction has a logistics centre in Macedonia which enables us to intervene quickly and deliver kibble.

7. The association's donations are declining and the requests for care, non-stop. Kemal is begging us to help him feed his dogs!

"Every day at least 10 people contact me asking me to help abandoned animals. I do the best I can, but due to lack of resources I have to say no more and more often. Writing someone a "sorry, I can't help you now" message is the hardest thing for me, it literally breaks my heart... but unfortunately we are in crisis and can't get our heads above water.

We have to provide food and medical treatment for 70 more dogs, it's huge! I can't take care of that many dogs on my own, there are too many of them and there are not enough donations... I wish people were more aware of the situation here. I wish they would realise that it's actually a disaster... If only we could get this food, it would mean a lot to us! It would make us (and especially the dogs!) happy, more motivated, and it would also allow us to save more abandoned animals."

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 Macedonia, neither the state nor the population wants to help the abandoned dogs. A lot of animals are left to die outside, there is no care for them.

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

If you represent a Foundation or NGO for animal protection, please help the dogs of Happy Shelter Skopje, contact us and we will put you in touch!

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

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