Even though today it is snowing in Chisinau, the last few days have been quite sunny and it is starting to feel like summer here again. As well as the LIVE dog shelter, I regularly work at another dog shelter just outside of Chisinau on Strada Petrocani. While the sun was shining I felt like taking some pictures of some of the shelter’s residents….
This is the heartbreaking story of Teffy, a beautiful sweet natured dog who has been left with a permanent disability following repeated brutal and violent beatings carried out at Necropolis, the notorious public dog ‘death shelter’ in Moldova. These beatings have affected her spinal cord which in turn have affected her motor skills and she can no longer walk in a straight line. Teffy was rescued by staff from the Areal Moldavian Dog Rescue Shelter and she now lives in safety at the sanctuary of this Shelter and despite her disabilities, she is a happy and loving dog. Everyone who meets her adores her, she is a true survivor of Necropolis.
The Areal Dog Rescue Shelter was set up in June 2014 by a wonderful woman called Natalia Nasa. This remarkable lady and her small team of dedicated staff work endless hours, often donating their own money in order to help rescue the stray, abused and abandoned dogs, many of whom are traumatised and provide them with a safe place to live where they will be loved, fed, vaccinated, neutered and looked after. Some will find loving homes, other dogs like Teffy may not and their forever ‘home’ will be the Shelter.
I founded Friends of Moldavian Strays (FOMS) in the UK following a donation I sent in July 2014 and as I learnt more about the work of the Shelter, the staff who run it and the appalling and cruel treatment of the stray and abandoned dogs in Moldova, I was determined to help them and this has now become a huge part of my life to raise funds to support the continuing good work of the Shelter. Friends of Moldavian Strays is a small committed team run by three ladies in the UK and one in Canada. This Shelter is run purely on donations.
I am writing this appeal for help because the Shelter has a crisis situation and with the best will in the world we cannot raise funds quickly enough to help. The Shelter has recently been forced to find a new plot of land to relocate to due to a high increase in the rent on the current plot, which we cannot possibly continue to pay as well as covering costs for veterinary treatments, neutering and sterilisation, food, fuel, etc. A very large plot has been found for 100 Euros a month and is available for a long-term rental period of 10 years and through previous fundraising efforts, we have paid for three years rental in advance. However there is an enormous amount of work needed here before the dogs can be relocated. The main work includes fencing, gates, the connection of water and electricity, building dog aviaries, dog kennels, renovation of a small building to use as an office/shelter for staff as well as the need to pay for the transportation costs for 250 the dogs.
Without this Shelter dogs like Teffy would have died a terrible death in the public shelter, now she and others like her can live in safety. Time is of the essence here, so can you please help us by making a donation in order that we can get this urgent work completed for our new Shelter. For more information about the Shelter please visit our Facebook page Areal Moldavian stray dog rescue or our website www.moldaviandogrescue.com
A few days ago, Andrei got in touch with “Live” shelter workers. Right before his eyes a car hit a stray dog and rolled on, the driver didn’t even bother to give another look at the injured animal. As the dog tried to crawl off the road, Andrei came to its rescue.
Andrei took the injured dog to the vet, who preceded with a full check-up. The results, unfortunately, were heartbreaking. The back was broken. The vet refused the payment, Andrei bought the meds and brought Nameless to “Live”.
As the days passed, “Live” workers tried to gain trust of the feral dog and continued injections. Andrei and his wife kept calling about the dog and coming over to visit. Sadly, the damage was too great, as the blood stopped flowing to its hind paws, the dog started developing necrosis and had to be put down.
Countless dogs become victims of car accidents, very few of them survive. While some of the injuries may heal, a broken back and inability to move two paws is, in most cases, a death sentence. Many of the dogs with such injuries do not even make it to the shelter altogether, while the others are likely to be destined for a life in the shelter. While “Live” managed to obtain two trolleys thanks to the kind donations that have been pouring in over the last few months, it should be noted that the trolleys are quite rare. They are too expensive to afford for the shelter or an average Moldovan citizen and have to be ordered from abroad.
Each month Friends of Moldavian Strays (FOMS) UK will be holding a monthly raffle to support the work of the Areal ‘Live’ Dog Rescue Shelter in Moldova and our very first raffle is on Valentine’s Day! One winner will become the proud owner of this stunning bear who we have named Heart in memory of one of the very first residents at the Shelter, also named Heart, who sadly died last week. This gorgeous bear will arrive holding a chocolate red rose, heart balloon plus a box of delicious Thornton’s Hearts & Kisses truffles. All proceeds from this raffle will go directly to helping the dogs at the Shelter. As this is our first ever raffle, we will even cover the cost of the P&P! Don’t delay, buy your ticket today!
RAFFLE TICKETS: £2 per ticket (Closing date 7pm on 14th February 2015).
HOW TO PAY: Payment is requested via our Paypal Address: fomsuk@hotmail.com
Please follow these instructions for Paypal Payments:
1. Click on ‘Pay or Send Money’ tab
2. Enter the fomsuk@hotmail.com paypal address
3. Enter the payment amount in GBP
4. Click on the ‘I’m sending money to family or friends’
5. Please mark payment as ‘FOMS Raffle’ plus your full name
6. Click ‘Continue’
Can you help our dogs at Live Shelter please? The food supplies are running very low and it is freezing, -22 degrees today. There are 240 dogs to feed every day and in order to feed these dogs just ONCE a day, the Shelter goes through:
3 x 25g bags of grains (such as porridge, rice, macaroni or pearl barley) = £13.25 or $20
2 x 25kgs of meat and bones = £13.25 or $20
2 x 15g bags vegetables (potatoes, carrots, beets) = £6.63 or $10
In addition they need firewood to light the fires in order to cook the food and keep these fires lit throughout the night for warmth = £2.75 or $4.13.
The total cost to feed the dogs ONCE a day is £35.88 or $54.13.
Please can you make a small donation, whatever you can afford to: Friends of Moldavian Strays UK at our Paypal address: fomsUK@hotmail.com
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FROM ALL OF US AT THE SHELTER
Melting snow from the surrounding fields over the fire, all – to get water to cook food and give the 200 dogs a drink. That’s what “Live” shelter workers had to face over the last few days, when the winter colds hit hard and the water froze over in the pipes. Unfortunately, the extra layer of lining they used didn’t withstand the cold.
Thankfully, Ann, whom you may have read about in one of our first articles on the blog, and her husband Igor, managed to replace the faulty parts and restore the water supply to the shelter on their own. A few photos from the plumbing operation.
Natalia Nasa and her crew of dedicated people at the Live Life Dog Приют для бездомных собак/ программа ОСВ “Живи” – “Live Life” Dog Shelter rescued Leon and gave him love. The little one was injured and could not use his hind legs. He was to be given a trolley, a surprise present from Oxana. The trolley arrived from Germany the same day Leon died from a hemorrhagic stroke. Physically broken this little one still had much love to give people. Rest well little one…
Winter has well and truly arrived in Moldova and at Bacioi dog shelter, as you can see from these pictures. Last week an unfortunate few days of weather combining rain, snow and below freezing temperatures turned the shelter into an ice rink and both the workers and the dogs were slipping and sliding all over the place. We had to lay tracks of sand down to help us walk without falling over.
At this time of the year it is really important for us that the dogs keep warm enough, especially at night, because we don’t have much indoor spaces, or enough kennels for the number of dogs that we have. For this reason if anyone can spare some fabrics – old clothes or blankets – that we can use for the dogs, either to make clothes for them or to fill their kennels with, then we would really appreciate it, and I’m sure the dogs would too. Thanks for reading.
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