Broken leg, limping, back problems: poor Snow has suffered from abuse!
4,800 kg
Dry food offered
4,800 kg
Dry food necessary
We went to the shelter, it's a disaster! The dogs are skinny, they don't have any kibble left.
In Romania, Ildiko's shelter now has 275 dogs, which she can no longer feed.
Devastated by a very harsh winter, she called us for help: we visited her on March 15
At the shelter, we saw many emaciated dogs, and an insignificant stock of dog food.
We also saw a shelter badly damaged by the storm that took place on February 22nd.
Overwhelmed, Ildiko faces up to so many difficulties the best she can, but will not wiggle out of it without help.
For them, we want to send 4800 kg of kibble as soon as possible.
Last November, the Animal Webaction community swung into action to help Ildiko by collecting 5400 kg of kibble. Unfortunately, the last remaining bags were all used by February 23rd.
For nearly a month, Ildiko has been trying to feed the dogs as she can, buying a few bags of kibble when she can, diluting it with pearl barley and leftover bread if she has some.
Our reporter Andrei went to the shelter on March 15 following Ildiko's SOS, and was able to see that the dogs are already visibly thinner due to this diet: they urgently need kibble!
In only 4 months, Ildiko gathered no less than 120 new dogs to her shelter, representing a 50% increase in the number of dogs hosted! 25 of them are still undergoing treatment, 4 had to undergo major surgeries.
On site last Saturday, we noticed how difficult it is to run the shelter under these circumstances: lack of infrastructure, funding, but also volunteers to help Ildiko in her task.
She shared with us her difficulties of the last few months, the priority being to treat those who need it, and to increase the number of adoptions in order to relieve the shelter. Ildiko already has so much to do, she needs our help to get kibble!
Rudi was found wandering among the cars, totally blind and disoriented. Despite appearances, Rudi is only two years old, but his body has already suffered a lot
We can come into action, we have already booked a truck and pallets for 4800 kg, but we have to pay it before 28 March 2019.
If the collection fails, we will not be able to pay, the departure of the truck will be cancelled and none of the collected food will be delivered...
If the collection fails, we will refund all donors.
At Idliko's shelter, place has never been an issue. The equipment, on the other hand, is an important one: if Ildiko made sure that the grids are firmly installed, everything else has been built through resourcefulness.
To protect them from bad weather, the dogs had tin roofs and tarpaulins stretched here and there until last month, but a violent storm tore everything apart on February 22nd.
At the time of our visit, some roofs had already been reattached, and new tarpaulins had been installed for repair until Ildiko can do better.... But the damage is considerable, and does not give Ildiko time to find kibbles.
Since she started her association, Ildiko has always done many local actions to raise funds. As soon as she can, she sells various products such as jams that she prepares herself, key rings, decorative objects etc.... Unfortunately, this takes a long time and brings in little money.
She also manages to collect leftovers at low prices from shopkeepers, and benefits from some food donations. But all these actions only cover an average of 10% of the shelter's food costs!
As a part-time employee, Ildiko devotes all her income to the shelter: she and her husband live only on his own salary. A significant sacrifice, which is no longer enough to ensure the survival of the dogs:
"If I didn't have a job, these dogs would have starved to death a long time ago. But today, the situation is dramatic, I don't see how it could be any worse"
Ildiko is supported by only one foreign association, located in Germany: RespekTIERE. Very touched by the difficulties encountered at the shelter, the president of the association is unfortunately helpless as far as food is concerned :
"Ildiko is doing everything she can to give these dogs a better life. We helped her to build the boxes, but our association supports more than 40 shelters in Romania [...] I would be very grateful if you could help her"
Very supportive, Ildiko does not hesitate to help other associations when they need it, and has been involved in several critical rescues following calls for help from others. Today, she is the one who needs help.
Ildiko created the shelter in 2014, but was already rescuing animals before that, which requires a lot of sacrifices. "It cost me my marriage," she says about her first husband, who once asked her to choose between him and the dogs.
A part-time hairdresser, she runs every day between her job, the shelter, the vet and the search for food. She invests all her time and money in the protection of dogs. Despite the difficulties encountered, she remains determined to continue along this path:
"I am optimistic: as long as I am healthy, I will do everything to help the dogs. I have faith in the human being, and I know that there are good souls to accompany me in this task, even if I have received little help so far."
If the collection succeeds, the 4800 kg of kibble will be used to feed the 275 dogs at the shelter for several weeks.
- Animal Webaction has been helping more than 833 animal welfare associations over the past 5 years, with more than 1,967 deliveries in 8 countries (see photos).
- We make sure to contact each partner association, inquire to ensure its reliability and always ask for supporting documents.
- Our partner associations only receive physical products, which means we never send money. When you offer 10kg of food, we deliver 10kg of food to the association.
- We also deal with transportation ourselves, and make sure all the products collected are properly brought where the association needs them to be, so a quick delivery is guaranteed.
- We will notify you by email as soon as the product bought thanks to your donation has been delivered.
- We will ask the association to take pictures of the food received, and will send you these pictures.
- If you change your mind, we will refund your donation upon request, without charge or proof of any kind.
- If unfortunately the collection fails, we will not deliver anything, we will refund you the full amount of your donation.