We cannot let this shelter's 159 dogs starve!

1. In Bosnia, Eni is almost out of kibble to feed the 159 dogs in her shelter. They will starve if no one helps!

"The capacity of our shelter is 130 dogs, and today we have 159... The problem is that abandonments never stop! Many litters of puppies were abandoned in our area last year, most of them dumped on the roadside. If we hadn't helped them and taken them to our shelter, they would have been run over by cars, or died of viruses and diseases. So of course, despite our lack of space and resources, we took them under our wing.

Unfortunately, the number of dogs in our shelter is not the only thing that has increased. So did our expenses, and not just a little... The price of kibble has become unaffordable and it keeps getting higher. Each new delivery is more and more expensive and month after month, we can hardly afford to buy what we need for our dogs...

At the moment we only have enough kibble to last another 2-3 days. After that, I don't know. What will we do with the dogs? Where will they go? We don't like to talk about our problems very much, but that doesn't mean we don't have any... This is a critical time for us and we need someone to help us overcome it. Getting this kibble is a matter of survival for our shelter, and especially for our dogs..."

2. The shelter is full and the remaining kibble stock is almost gone... Eni fears the worst for her dogs' health and safety if this campaign fails!

"We do our best to provide our dogs with good living conditions: they are not kept in cages, they have a roof over their heads and they have human attention. However, our financial difficulties have become a major problem in providing them with everything they need. The winter conditions at the shelter are not optimal, and we do not have the resources to rectify this problem. At night, when I lie down to sleep, I think about my dogs and wonder if they are warm enough... 

But our number one problem is definitely the supply of kibble, both in quality and quantity. We are not always able to buy what we would like and the dogs tend to have digestive problems and diarrhoea as soon as their diet is altered. If our negative financial situation continues, I fear the worst... Inadequate feeding over time can have disastrous consequences for the dogs' health. And given the shelter's setup and the fact that it's over-capacity, having too many hungry dogs in a free space is a frightening prospect I dare not think about...

We have 159 dogs here and kibble is an essential, basic need. Yet, we have a lot of trouble getting it and the problem is that people see that the dogs are happy and think that our shelter doesn't need anything...This is far from the case! We are financially and emotionally exhausted... and we need help feeding them just as much as anyone else."

3. Vita suffers from a very incapacitating knee deformation; despite Eni's care she is very weak and will probably be the first one to die if there is no kibble left...

"We found Vita in a meadow and brought her to the shelter as a puppy. She has a deformity in her leg, specifically in the kneecap. We took an X-ray at a local practice and sent the results to a veterinarian based in Switzerland, who informed us that two operations would be needed to fix the problem. But unfortunately, here in Bosnia, all the vets told us that they could not operate...

This knee problem is very disabling for Vita, she has a lot of difficulty walking. She is not able to survive outside our shelter at all... And if we can't get enough food for her, she will die... Even as it is, with the conditions we try to offer her, she has many more weaknesses than the other dogs in the shelter..."

4. Successive increases in the price of kibble have exhausted Eni's and her husband's resources: their debts continue to mount and donations are no longer enough to bridge the gap!

"Currently, about 40-45% of our annual budget comes from individual donations. This is mainly from our friends who send us regular or occasional donations. The rest is financed by my husband and myself from our own funds. Three years ago my husband retired, but when he saw that he would no longer be able to fund the shelter, he reopened his dental practice in town. Unfortunately this is not enough, and I don't know how much longer he will be able to work to finance the shelter, due to his age and health... We are already very much in debt, precisely because we had to borrow money to keep the shelter alive!

Last year we received a grant from SPCAI for food, and a grant from a Scottish organisation for veterinary expenses. The funds for vet expenses are still available, but given the soaring in the price of dog food and the number of dogs in our care, the funds for kibble are long gone... In fact, our annual costs increased by around 13%, because of dog food alone! And sadly, very few organisations are willing to support the shelter in terms of kibble supply, as it is a one-off and they see no sustainability in that type of help.

I'm really worried that we'll get to a point where we won't be able to get kibble for our dogs, we're not far from that... My husband has no money these days and we have nothing left to sell... We can't go back, and we can't see our way forward either. I hope that better times will come and most of all, that this campaign will succeed so that we can get kibble for our dogs!"

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

"My husband and I came to Sanski Most as tourists in 2015. We heard that there were dogs at the municipal dump, so we went there with food and when we saw the appalling conditions they were living in, we felt compelled to act! We arranged a meeting with the mayor and took control of the so-called municipal shelter, which had only two cages, and was located on the same dump... In the following years we fought hard to improve the conditions of the dogs and advocated for the closing of the shelter.

We proposed a collaboration with the municipality, but they rejected our proposal. So we decided to acquire a plot of land and started the process of building our own shelter. Our shelter became operational in November 2019, that is when we moved all the dogs from the municipal shelter to our new location. We acquired all the necessary permits and have since been operating from our own shelter, within the framework of our association.

At the beginning we saw our shelter as a "transit station". But despite considerable efforts and contacts with many organisations and individuals, we have poor results in terms of adoptions. In 2022, only 5 of our dogs were adopted. We are very happy for Harley, Hero, Scooby, Zak and Doo, but very sad for the many dogs still waiting for their second chance... Of the total population of the shelter, only 3 of our dogs are not yet socialised. This shows how hard we work with our dogs and how important adoptions are to us! Unfortunately, people in our town think we are crazy for taking care of animals. We have no support from anyone, so we have no illusions about getting our dogs adopted locally. We are hoping that this campaign will help us gain some exposure to promote our dogs abroad, as well as get them some much needed kibble in the meantime!"

6. If this campaign succeeds, Eni will not receive any money but  1360 kg of kibble, delivered from Animal Webaction's logistics centre in Bosnia.

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

7. Despite numerous attempts, organizations willing to help for kibble are very few... Eni can only count on this campaign to feed her dogs!

"Two organisations, one in Belgium and one in Austria, try to get our dogs adopted but unfortunately the 5 adoptions we had last year are not enough to keep the shelter in balance: there are far more dogs coming in than going out! We have contacted many other organisations to try and increase our adoption rate, but they have all told us that they are already working with someone.

Our shelter is completely overcrowded and our expenses are through the roof. In such a situation, it is impossible for us to save the hundreds of starving dogs that fill the streets of our city. And unfortunately, the local community has no interest in these animals, not even enough to offer them a bag of kibble... Even internationally, food donations are incredibly rare!

We work so hard to make our dogs happy. All we want is a little help to keep them fed... Through this campaign we hope that many people will discover our shelter and decide to help us, for example by donating the price of a coffee... If everyone joins in, we will have solved our kibble supply problem for the next few weeks! Please consider helping our dogs..."

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 Eni, 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 Srce Za Sapu's dogs, contact us and we will put you in touch with Eni!

If you want to come to Srce Za Sapu or help Eni or if you want to directly send her some kibble or a cheque, please, contact Eni 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.