We can't let this shelter's 120 dogs starve !

1. In Serbia, Svetlana is running out of kibbles to feed the 120 dogs living at her shelter. They will starve if no one intervenes! 

“I have now reached 120 dogs at the shelter, with new ones arriving on a daily basis. It represents an overwhelming workload, especially for a woman my age. And the more dogs I rescue, the more precarious the food situation becomes.

I do receive a weekly donation of kibbles from a public utility company in Srbobran, but it is far from enough to feed everyone. No matter if I have 50, 100 or 200 dogs, they won't increase the amount. I can't leave my dogs hungry. Especially now, when it's so cold in winter time, they need to eat more.

So I save up, I calculate, I do everything I can just to have my dogs fed.  But I have come to a dead end: I will be out of food by the end of next week.

2. Subjected to hunger, the dogs might kill each other at the shelter: Svetlana already has to renounce to certain rescues to prevent the situation from getting out of hand.

“I absolutely need to prevent the dogs from being hungry at the shelter, so that they stay calm and don’t fight over food... I already can’t bring in the most vulnerable dogs, who are weak or bleeding, because others might kill them. This behaviour will become worse as the lack of food intensifies and I am increasingly worried about them killing each other.

Lacking food also prevents me from rescuing more stray dogs, why would I bring the animals at the shelter to starve ? In Serbia there's a lot of dogs on the streets, most people are afraid of them, they don't even want to look at them, not to say feed them or adopt them.

Cold weather makes everything difficult for these dogs, they cannot find any food, and when they are hungry they start killing farm animals, then people panic and start poisening the dogs. Hungry dogs on the streets causes even more stigma, and alienates people from them even more."

3. Paloma and her siblings were left with no food nor water for two weeks. Attacked by her sister as they were fighting for their lives, Paloma is still weak and traumatized, she needs kibble to recover.

"Paloma’s owner died, leaving her along with her brother and sister trapped in the house with no food nor water for two weeks. We managed to rescue Paloma and Kana, her sister, but we came in too late to save their brother.

Food deprivation has taken its toll: I had to put the two siblings in separate places, because Kana considers Paloma as a threat to her survival and keeps attacking her. 

Paloma has really been traumatised. She is just recovering her strength and her body condition has improved a lot, but she won’t make it if we start rationing her food. Food is crucial for her to recover from her trauma."

4. Svetlana has only meagre resources to run the shelter, she cannot buy kibble, and resourcefulness is no longer enough to cope with the dogs' needs.

"I fought hard to have this shelter, and I've been doing my best to reduce the amount of dogs on the street, bringing as many as possible to the shelter to try and fix the strays issue in the area. But the needs are constantly rising while public help is flatlining, and I am left to deal with everything. It is hard.

I don't have electricity at the shelter, we lack both human and material resources, so I am left with a lot of tasks to be done : cleaning, therapy, feeding, posting online for adoptions, dropping everything in a hurry to go catch a stray before it runs away... Which doesn't leave me much time to fix the food issue. And we have a lot of expenses, between veterinary care, sterilisation, repairs, and of course food.

I do get some additional donations from time to time,  I sometimes get bread from a person in Novi Sad, or leftovers from a supermarket for instance, but they can go a whole month without calling me. Meanwhile, I cannot leave the dogs hungry. I accept everything, whatever people offer me, I make sure the dogs have it, and all help is welcomed."

5. Svetlana is not asking for money, only kibbles to keep the dogs from starving.

"My association has existed for 12 years. It is a legit, registered and non-profit organisation. I am doing everything from rescue to administration, I make sure all requirements are met, I keep track of everything.

I am getting old, but this is keeping me alive. Even though I complain from time to time that I am exhausted, or that my legs hurt, I would not know what else to do if I stopped and would lose any willpower to live. I am 100% dedicated to this.

I fought with all my resources and power to make this possible and I am proud of that. I love each and everyone of the dogs I rescue, and will never leave them, no matter what, I will always be there for them. And I strive every single day to fight for them and make sure they are well taken care of."

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

Animal Webaction has a logistics platform directly in Serbia, which enables us to intervene quickly and deliver kibbles.

7. Requests for help to governmental bodies, international foundations, search for partners, etc. Svetlana is running out of options and needs help to get kibbles.

“I reach out all the time to organisations, send applications, project proposals, to international foundations, the Serbian government, to the municipality, the city etc... But animal welfare is not taken seriously here, they think they should give to other causes, but not for the animals. Previously, the Brigitte Bardot Foundation has helped me as far as the sterilisations are concerned which is wonderful, but I haven't yet received a reply for my last application. 

I’m also posting the photos of the dogs at the shelter online, so people would adopt them, but the problem is that people are not coming at the shelter to see the dogs, potentially connect with them and then adopt. Frequent adoptions would decrease the number of the dogs I need to take care of, and therefore help a lot with the food issue as well."

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 Serbia, street dogs are hunted by the State and ignored by the population, volunteers like Svetlana are their only hope!

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

If you represent an animal welfare foundation or NGO, please help Svetlana's dogs, please contact us and we will put you in touch!

If you would like to come to Svetlana's shelter to help her or if you would like to send her kibbles or a check directly, please contact Svetlana via the association's Facebook page. (Note: direct help is your own responsibility.)

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