Some of this month’s Romanian strays in our care

Whilst the media furor around the new law legalising the murder of stray dogs has died down the situation on the ground had not improved.  We carry on taking in injured strays from the streets and rescuing injured shelter dogs, left to die with no hope other than us.  In this post we will also give you an idea of some of the costs we face for treating these injured dogs – and why we desperately always need funds.  If you would like to help towards the costs of any of our rescue dogs’ vet bills below please donate via paypal (hopeforstrays@yahoo.com) and mention which dog you are supporting in the subject line.

Piciu was a  happy, full of life, playful little puppy in the shelter.  We had him de-wormed  and were due to have him vaccinated the next day. However on the next day when Aniela returned to the shelter she found him lying in the grass, in the yard of the shelter, with his legs hanging in a weird position.  As is always the case for emergency cases Aniela rushed him to the vet clinic in Bucharest.  It turned out he had multiple fractures in his legs and needed to have surgery on three legs – we can only presume he was attacked in the shelter or escaped and was hit by a car.  He will have a long recovery period but he is a brave, chatty chap and his outlook – if he eventually finds a home – looks good. Piciu means small boy in Romanian but after so many surgeries and a long hospitalisation this small boy will have a huge bill – estimated at around €600

Perhaps the saddest rescue though is Maya who our founder Aniela came across through a video showing her dragging herself and her poor back legs along in a parking area.  It was heartbreaking to see her in so much misery so we went out and found her and took her to the vets.  She was in a  horrific state with a broken spine and severely damaged legs.  We considered euthanasia but she had such a will to live and had been fighting to survive for weeks despite her horrific injury we felt she deserved a chance at life.  She ended up getting one leg amputated.  She has now been in the clinic for a month and will soon be well enough to leave and she will be able to walk with the use of a wheel chair.  The cost of her treatment and clinic stay is around €500 and we will also need to pay for her wheelchair.

Another dog we came across injured in the shelter was Oskar.  This very skinny chap was found in the big kennel with a fractured leg.  The conditions in the shelter are dreadful and injured animals do not generally receive treatment – they are left to either recover and survive, or die. We took him out of the shelter and he was hospitalised for surgery.  This initial treatment will cost around €300 and then he will need a second surgery in a few months.

Fatmy was a little chap who Aniela found on sterilisation day and she made sure he was kept  in the puppy kennels along with the other babies as he looked very frail. We  vaccinated him but unfortunately shortly after he then became very ill with distemper. He was so ill and emaciated that Aniela could knew he would not survive in the shelter so she took him home with her (even though she has very little room in her small flat).  After many days under treatment,with perfusions and everything he needed to help him recover, our skinny boy started to feel better.  He started to eat more and to bark and to sleep, snuggled up with Aniela.  His treatment cost came out at around €300 – the cost of Aniela’s love … priceless.

Just with these four cases we are left with vet’s bills of around €1700!  That is a huge amount of money for a tiny charity like us – and these cases are just a specific examples.  We also have many other cases such as tiny little Maria, fighting the terrible parvovirus,  or cute little Ciufy who has a broken foot or poor Kenny found blind and injured on a field.  We have no idea how we will pay for this next batch of emergency cases but we will not abandon them.

With your help, support and donations we will continue to be there for the injured and abused dogs of Romania.  We will do all we can to provide emergency care and hope to these poor animals who would otherwise be left to die or live in pain.  We know it is worth it – we have enough happy endings to give us hope for these new emergency case.  Remember Anda one of our special needs dogs?  She was in our care for one year, being nursed back to health, before finding a forever home in Germany where she continues to receive special care.  As her photo testifies there is a very bright light at the end of the very dark tunnel for some of these injured dogs – let’s all work together to help pay for their care and find them forever homes where they can live in peace and free from fear, pain and persecution.