We can' t let this shelter's 300 dogs starve!

1. In Romania, Alina and Anda will soon run out of kibble to feed the 300 dogs at their shelter. If no one intervenes, they will starve!

"We operate as a private shelter that accommodates around 300 dogs, and the situation has never been so bad in 20 years, since we first started doing this. These pandemic times have affected us as well, the lack of funds affects us constantly.

Until now we've managed to handle the situation, but if things keep going this way, it will be almost impossible for us to supply food for 300 dogs on our own shortly. We are afraid of not being able to provide for them anymore, everything is uncertain when you rely on donations, especially now.

At this moment we only have food left for today. Tomorrow we will go and buy somewhere around 400 kg, which will be enough for 2 or 3 days. My main concern is that, if we have a lack of food we’ll be forced to rationalize their portions, the dogs will start fighting for their food - and that’s something we always try to avoid, for obvious reasons. We have to prioritize the food matter, especially with winter coming soon."

2. Winter will be here shortly, the amount of dogs in distress hasn't stopped rising since the beginning of the pandemic. Without kibbles, Alina and Anda will not be able to do anything for them.

"We are at maximum capacity all the time. There are plenty of animals in distress we already cannot rescue, people keep coming here, just abandoning puppies or adult dogs near our shelter. If we don’t have enough food to feed them, we won’t be able to save any more dogs. So we’ll be unable to do anything for new dogs in distress.

Plus, the adoptions will be affected as well during winter time because of the difficult access here and because people tend to adopt less during the cold seasons. They have other things to think about, especially during these times.

It’s very difficult to look a dog in his eyes and see him looking hopefully at you, knowing that you can’t help them. Emotionally, it is simply heartbreaking"

3. Paralysed after being hit by a car, Gabin has just started walking again. But he remains fragile and desperately needs kibble.

"Gabin is a male of 3 years old. He was found hit by a car in Danubiana, Popesti-Leordeni. He couldn't move his back legs at all, he had a spine injury.

After many recovery exercises, he regained mobility on one of his back legs. He's still recovering, and he's in a more sensible state than the rest of the dogs, he really needs enough to eat to be able to keep on improving." 

4. Faced with dropping donations, Alina and Anda have already been forced to make several sacrifices. As their debts keep rising, they cannot keep on buying kibbles.

"The Romanian state is not involved in our shelter at all. Some Romanian companies could help us with the annual 20% tax that they are obliged to pay at the end of the fiscal year, but we don’t get much help from that. 90% of our donations come from private individuals, mostly from other countries.

Unfortunately, we are already in debt. At this point we owe around 3.000€ to the vet clinic where we usually take the dogs for sterilisations. We also have some debt to the other clinic where we take care of other medical interventions - around 2.500€. We used to organize sterilization campaigns for the homeless dogs in the surrounding areas 2 or 3 times a month and now we’re unable to do so.

There were more people getting involved and helping us before the pandemic, but now there are only a few neighbors in the village that keep bringing us 10-15 kg bags of food. And that is about it..."

5. Alina and Anda are not asking for money, only kibbles to keep the dogs from starving.

"Because of the education of Romanian people, the existing laws and governmental implication, I don’t have many hopes left that things will change for the better. Unfortunately I truly believe that things will stay the same for the years to come. The best thing we can do for now is to improve the shelter, making this place better for the loving dogs that we already have.

It’s so satisfying to see animal owners sending us photos of the dogs we rescued. It makes us realize that we really do make a difference when we see that the owners were able to give them a chance to live a beautiful life in a loving home, after we have saved them from the streets.

It’s in those moments that we realize that, through our work and passion, we can make a difference in a dog’s life. It’s a really magical feeling. This motivates us to go further on. And without the support of other animal lovers, we wouldn't have gotten this far."

6. If this campaign succeeds, Alina and Anda will not receive any money but 3600 kg of kibbles, 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. Alina and Anda regularly call for help, but donations are too rare and random to ensure that the dogs will have food.

"People are skeptical and afraid during this period that we’re transitioning, so their involvement has become limited. They could help in different ways, but they chose to stay aside because of various reasons. 

It is very tricky, you can be lucky and receive generous donations from 10 individuals this week, and the next week you can have no donations at all. Also, with food, diseases and injuries are our main issue, it often happens that we find an injured puppy that needs surgery, for example - there goes 500€. There are several unforeseen things that can happen, so this is how things go.

With winter coming soon, this uncertaintly is simply not manageable. We are slightly isolated due to our placement, so if it snows for one full day and night, the accesa here will become difficult or even impossible. That is also why we have to make sure we have enough supplies such as drinkable water, fuel for our generators (the solar energy we use here isn't enough), and of course, food. We truly need all the support we can get! Any help is welcomed and we are sure that the dogs will truly appreciate it."

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

If you want to come to Alina and Anda's shelter to help them or if you want to send them directly some kibbles or a check, contact Alina and Anda 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.