The Clock is Ticking for Three Bosnian Dogs

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Sandra Jensen

Gizmo

If we don’t find homes for Gizmo, Willy or Gizmo, these poor dogs may end up spending the rest of their lives in ‘pension’ in Bosnia, which is not much better than a dog shelter. They live in a small pen, are fed and let out for a run, but that’s it. Even then, we cannot guarantee that funding for the pension continues – we rely completely on donations – in which case the dogs will have to be returned to the street. Please help us ensure this doesn’t happen.

WILLY

Willy was rescued from the streets as a very young puppy by Jelena Paunovic. She took care of him in her home, where he and little Zossy the cat ate and cuddled together (Zossy was an abused kitten who lost one eye, but is now very happy in her forever home in Nevada).
Sadly Jelena had too many dogs of her own in her small apartment to continue fostering him so he had to go to pension. He’s a lovely collie-mix, and as Jelena says, he’s just ‘love thirsty’. We really hope this young boy can be found a home, it would be very sad for him to be left behind.

More photographs of Will in the slideshow below and on his page on our sister website, AWAB (Animal Welfare Advocates for Bosnia): http://awabosnia.org/willy/

LES

I’ve written about Les before here. He needs a special home. He was found on the streets of Sarajevo with chain-marks scars around his neck, and his behaviour indicates he was badly abused. He’s a gorgeous dog, outgoing and very healthy and friendly. But, he can get aggressive if he thinks you are going to pick him up. He’s lived in pension since being rescued, and we believe that with the right home and work with a dog trainer, he will settle down very well.

More photographs of Les in the slideshow below and on his page on our sister website, AWAB (Animal Welfare Advocates for Bosnia): http://awabosnia.org/les/

GIZMO

Gizmo was also rescued as a young puppy last year – he and his siblings were found in a garbage bin. I have already posted up about him and his siblings here and here. Gizmo is amongst the few survivors of a bad outbreak of canine parvovirus, and has lived all his life in ‘pension’. Because of a poor immune system he and his siblings caught demodex. He’s slowly recovering, but living in pension, while is safer and better than on the streets, is not at all what he needs. The only way he will fully recover is if we find him a forever home where he can get special loving care in addition to medical treatment.The neurological causes behind demodex can only be helped with a stress-free, calm and loving environment. Such dogs need stability, familiar people and environment to live in or the condition will re-occur. But with the right care his coat will grow back fully, and he will have a beautiful wolf-like appearance.

Gizmo has a sponsored place on our transport, and the sponsor has asked that he preferably go to a forever home rather than a foster. This would in any case be better for him, as he needs a stable, secure environment to heal properly. More photographs of Gizmo in the slideshow below and on his page on our sister website, AWAB (Animal Welfare Advocates for Bosnia): http://awabosnia.org/gizmo/

Our group, AWAB, Animal Welfare Activists for Bosnia, have arranged overland travel from Bosnia to the UK, set for mid-June. Dogs can be dropped off en route. We have already found adopters for several dogs, but not for these three. They deserve to be on this transport and on their way to a forever home.

Please contact us if you feel you are the right home for one of these lovely dogs: info@awabosnia.org and, please share this page and tell your friends!

You can find the full list of dogs available for adoption or fostering on the AWAB website. There are three beautiful dogs who have a foster home in Bosnia, Nova,Bubi, Mama Puppy, but it would be much better if they had a home in the UK or Europe. These particular dogs are healthy, friendly and quite socialised, so would fit in very quickly to a new home.

Bubi, Mama Puppy, Nova

Please also consider fostering. This would provide a dog with a safe and caring home environment (far superior to that of a Bosnian pension) as well as providing the dog with house-training, human/animal contact and getting the dog used to a new domestic environment. It would also offer the opportunity of the dog finding a forever home locally! Through fundraising, we would pet insurance (including public liability) for the dog while it’s in the foster home. In addition AWAB would continue to collaborate with the fosterer to promote the adoption of the dog.

Another way to help is to sponsor a place on the transport. The cost is about £245 or 300 euros. We have some offers of foster homes, but we do need financial assistance for this. If you think you could sponsor a foster dog’s place on the transport, please contact us at info@awabosnia.org.

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DONATIONS
Funds are needed not only to help individual rescues and to help us keep safe the 20 rescued dogs we are sponsoring but also to continue our advocacy work in Bosnia, uncovering the truth about what is happening there.

On our sister site, Animal Welfare Advocates for Bosnia, you can set up a monthly donation via PayPal, or if you want to make a one-off donation, please go to your PayPal account (or set one up, it’s very easy) and send the money to: donations@awabosnia.org as a ‘gift’. Click on the image below to be taken to PayPal’s home page.

Or if you want to use the customised PayPal form, click the link below. However, a transaction fee and a percentage (2- 5.4%) will be deducted by PayPal for any contribution made.

If you want your contribution to go to a specific dog or cause, please make a note in the PayPal comment box. If you wish to contribute via bank transfer or have other difficulties or questions, please go here.

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This site is dedicated to Vučko. Read his story and don’t let him have suffered and died in vain. Please help the stray dogs and cats in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The situation there is utterly dire, Vučko is but one amongst many horrifically abused animals. Go here to find out how to help them. Money is needed for food, medicine and foster housing. Even just one dollar or one euro will help.

Abused Dog Needs Forever Home

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Sandra Jensen

Les was found on the streets of Sarajevo with chain-marks scars around his neck, and his behaviour indicates he was badly abused. He’s a gorgeous dog, outgoing and very healthy and friendly. But, he can get aggressive if he thinks you are going to pick him up.

Arijana, who rescued him, says: “For a new environment maybe he will be little aggressive but soon he will be real guard the place of residence and people who live there, and he does not like to play with people too much, he has a limit for play and he will tell you when you must stop. With me he is just a regular dog, but for new faces he is little aggressive, not much, he must see who you are and what you want.”

I have no doubt that with the right care and handling Les will turn out to be a perfect dog. He’s obedient in traffic on a lead, gets on well with female dogs and puppies.

Our group, AWAB, Animal Welfare Activists for Bosnia, have a transport from Bosnia to the UK, set for June. Les deserves to be on this transport and on his way to a forever home. The transport can do drop-offs enroute.

Please contact us if you feel you are the right home for lovely Les: info@awabosnia.org

There are still several rescued dogs who haven’t had anyone ask about them, or offer them home, and Les is amongst these. You can find the full list on the AWAB website Please note that some of the dogs listed have foster homes but we are still hoping to find forever homes for them; and one or two are awaiting a home-check. But Nova, Bubi, Mama Puppy and Les have not had any enquiries and they are beautiful dogs.

Nova, Bubi, Mama Puppy

Another way to help these dogs is to sponsor a place on the transport for a dog. The cost is about £245 or 300 euros. If you think you could help, please contact us at info@awabosnia.org.

Please also consider fostering.

This would provide a dog with a safe and caring home environment (far superior to that of a Bosnian pension) as well as providing the dog with house-training, human/animal contact and getting the dog used to a new domestic environment.

Fostering would also offer the opportunity of the dog finding a forever home locally!

Through fundraising, we would provide both the food and pet insurance (including public liability) for the dog while it’s in the foster home. In addition AWAB would continue to collaborate with the fosterer to promote the adoption of the dog.

More photographs of Les:

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Very Special Dog Needs Very Special Home!

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Sandra Jensen

UPDATE! GREAT NEWS. ENDY HAS A FOREVER HOME IN SCOTLAND AND WILL BE TRAVELLING THERE IN JUNE.

Endy was found on the streets of Sarajevo with distemper. She was put into pension and treated, and she survived. But poor Endy was such a fearful and timid dog, she hardly came out of her pen. Who knows what suffering she experienced before she was rescued. Jelena feared there might be no possibility of a life for her at all.

So we placed Endy at King Pension and with Almir Kuduz help Endy is slowly gaining confidence. However she really, really needs a loving home, someone to love and care for her and to continue the good work Almir has done.

Almir says:

“She is not even close to the dog I took with me some time ago, and she is still far away from lap dog (I hope you understand what I mean). What Endy need is 1:1 relation. All success and progress I’ve made with her was achieved while she was with me, inside my house. Therefore I am almost sure she will continue with that progress once she can establish that same relation with her adopters. I can not guarantee that she will ever reach that point to jump into someone’s lap or roll over in front of someone, but it is possible too. All she need is experienced owner with lot of time for her and even more patience. The rest is up to two of them.

The most important is – not to give up on her. She is just one scared soul. Nothing more…. but she really needs love and attention.”

Our group, AWAB, Animal Welfare Activists for Bosnia, have a transport from Bosnia to the UK, set for June. A very generous sponsor has donated the cost of Endy’s travel expenses. Endy deserves to be on this transport and on her way to a forever home. The transport can do drop-offs enroute.

Please contact us if you feel you are the right home for lovely Endy: info@awabosnia.org

There are still 12 rescued dogs who haven’t had anyone ask about them, or offer them home, and Endy is amongst these 12. You can find the full list on the AWAB website.

Please also consider fostering. This would provide a dog with a safe and caring home environment (far superior to that of a Bosnian pension) as well as providing the dog with house-training, human/animal contact and getting the dog used to a new domestic environment. It would also offer the opportunity of the dog finding a forever home locally! Through fundraising, we would provide both the food and pet insurance (including public liability) for the dog while it’s in the foster home. In addition AWAB would continue to collaborate with the fosterer to promote the adoption of the dog.

Another way to help is to sponsor a place on the transport. The cost is about £245 or 300 euros. If you think you could help, please contact us at info@awabosnia.org.

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Please help Betty and her sister Lady find a forever home!

Posted on April 28, 2013 by Sandra Jensen

LADY

Betty and Lady were found as very young puppies with their sisters in Sarajevo, in the middle of nowhere. They were all rescued and put into pension. Unfortunately there was an outbreak of canine parvovirus and five dogs out of thirteen died. It was a terrible time.

But Betty and Lady survived. Because of their lowered immune system, both then caught a mild case of demodex, but were able to heal and are doing much better now. Betty is gentle, lively, an ‘ideal’ dog, she’s been described! Lady is a little more dominant, very playful and cuddly. They know how to walk on a leash, love people and just love to play. They have spent all their lives in pension (kennels), so we really need to find them that perfect home where they can get the comforts and cuddles they deserve.

BETTY

Both are medium sized dogs, about a year old, a collie-mix, black and golden coloured with thick coats.

Our group, AWAB, Animal Welfare Activists for Bosnia, have a transport from Bosnia to the UK, set for June. There are still 12 rescued dogs who haven’t had anyone ask about them, or offer them home, and Betty and Lady are amongst these 12. You can find the full list on the AWAB website.
Please also consider fostering. This would provide a dog with a safe and caring home environment (far superior to that of a Bosnian pension) as well as providing the dog with house-training, human/animal contact and getting the dog used to a new domestic environment. It would also offer the opportunity of the dog finding a forever home locally! Through fundraising, we would provide both the food and pet insurance (including public liability) for the dog while it’s in the foster home. In addition AWAB would continue to collaborate with the fosterer to promote the adoption of the dog.

Another way to help is to sponsor a place on the transport. The cost is about £245 or 300 euros. If you think you could help, please contact us at info@awabosnia.org.

Lady and her sister Betty. Can you help them find a home?

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Mass Graves Found Near Dog “Shelter”

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Sandra Jensen

The following is a translation of an article published yesterday on Bh-News.com:

Four mass graves have been found around Praca shelter
The NGO Iskra has made a statement at a press-conference yesterday.

In the last seven days, dog shelter Prača has been in the media focus once again and all because of the incident which took place at the shelter’s premises, betwen Amela Turalić, the Shelter’s director and the members of the NGO Iskra.

Due to this event, the NGO Iskra has made a press conference which we are now presenting in full. The press release is signed by Elmedina Devlić, the president of the NGO Iskra.

“In this manner we would like to make some clarifications and to shed some light upon the situation which developed and is in the media frenzy during these last six days, along with putting a stop to the spread of vicious lies and rumours spread by the Shelter’s director Amela Turalić against our family, our NGO and the Shelter.

Her statements are unsubstantiated and undocumented but nevertheless have been published in a variety of media coverage. We will most certainly be filing a lawsuit against her, but at this moment it’s much more important to shed some light upon her work at the Shelter and to explain the exact reasons which lead us to react in the manner to stop the endless catastrophic situation in this Shelter from continuing.

The truth is that the company “Murai Komerc” (one of three owners and the investor of Prača Shelter) is the legal and responsible entity for the shelter from the day the shelter opened until to this day. The company hired Miss Amela Turalić to be the Shelter’s director and manager and has given her the responsibility to take care of the Shelter’s premises and the welfare of all dogs that are brought there. as the co-owners of the Shelter (a signed copy of this Agreement has been attached to this press release) and as the NGO which signed the contract with the ”Murai Komerc” company (a signed copy of this Contract has also been attached to this press release), have been warned by the Shelter’s workers on numerous occasions of various irregularities conducted at the Shelter by its director Amela Turalić.

We have tried to talk to the director and perhaps get some clear insight into all those stories, but Turalić wouldn’t answer our phone calls nor was she every willing to arrange a meeting to see us.

On April 15th 2013, we came in front of the Shelter’s premises, so we could once again try and clarify with the director these irregularities, but after seeing us she quickly phoned the police and started yelling and screaming at us. When the police came, we showed them our documentation which states that we are the co-owners of this Shelter and have a legal right to be here and the director Amela Turalić was escorted by the police out of the Shelter (there is a written report at the Police Department of Prača).

As Shelter’s legal co-owners, we have then decided to make a comprehensive inquiry of the work done by the Shelter’s director, which later showed:

1. In the Shelter and around it, there are 4 mass graves each of them containing around 30-170 corpses of dogs (this information was provided by the Shelter’s workers). There are also 1-5 smaller mass graves shattered across the forest situated down the road which leads to Gorazde. The dog-corpses were also thrown into holes near the river so we can’t say with certainty just how many corpses are left there, nor from exactly what type of diseases the dogs died from and what consequences will this all have on the water and overall environment. With this act, the director violated the Federal Environmental Law of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Acts 11, 18, 104 and numerous others acts from this and other Laws.

2. None of the dog-corpses possess any medical/veterinarian documentation, no history of health, the way in which he/she died, an obligatory blood test (because the animals are buried at the Shelter’s premises), and pose as a serious health threat to all other animals and humans in the Shelter as well as the human and animal population surrounding the Shelter, violating directly all State and Federal Veterinary Laws.

3. In the Shelter’s cold storage facility, we found 5 tons of rotten food which was meant to be used to feed the dogs.

4. In one of the Shelter’s rooms we also found a broad range of chocolate cookies which were meant to be used as dog food.

5. They have spayed/neutered puppies of 2 months of age.

6. The wounds of other spayed dogs are infected.

7. Due to the fact that the Shelter was taking more dogs than they can handle or feed, the dogs would usually kill other dogs and eventually eat the rotten dog corpses.

8. According to various testimonies from the locals living in this area or near it, the vast majority of the dogs were set loose from the Shelter and started attacking their livestock or were shot down by the local hunters in the forests ( the surrounding area of the Shelter is a legal hunting area of wild game).

9. The director Amela Turalić has forbidden the entrance of any “unsuitable” Animal Welfare organizations which were not privately associated with her or close to her.

10. The “Murai Komerc” Company is the investor and the owner of the constructed facility which takes the rent from the Canton Sarajevo, the City of Sarajevo and various other Municipalities . The Company is therefore the responsible but is not the owner of the dogs there nor of the numerous donations which came for the dogs from ordinary foreign or domestic citizens. No one, not even the Shelter’s co-owners nor the various NGOs were allowed to see the Shelter’s documentation, work, donations, bank accounts, cash-register or any other documentation.

11. In the night of April 17th 2013, the director Amela Turalić came back to the Shelter and took away all the donated drugs and medication.

We also must state that from the streets of Sarajevo Canton, an estimated 1.500 dogs were brought into the Shelter Prača.

According to the Shelter’s director Amela Turalić, around 500 dogs are at the Shelter and 150 dogs have been adopted (for those adopted dogs we have not found any details or documentation or any other info to whom and where were any of them adopted), this means that around 850 or more dogs are scattered around the forests and in these mass graves. During our visits at the Shelter, the police have been informed of this misconduct as well as the Municipality and the veterinary inspection (Edin Alagic, the Veterinary Inspector) and they have all made reports of the situation at and around the Shelter.

We therefore ask the relevant institutions and NGOs to help us making this Shelter a better place, with a normalized protocol and a much better director.”

VIDEO:

PHOTOGRAPHS:

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This is PART THREE of posts made about ‘Prihvatilište KS Prača’ in Sarajevo, commonly known as ‘Praca’. Part one and two below:
Concentration Camp for Man’s Best Friend
Concentration Camp for Man’s Best Friend PART TWO

Please note that the situation regarding dog shelters in Bosnia is very complex. One cannot attribute blame to any single person for the shocking conditions and events that occur in these shelters. They are a part of a general problem occurring in Bosnia where many aspects of society are built on systems of corrupt values and the wrongdoings of many.

Construction Company Invested One Million Dollars in this “shelter”
Prača is a private shelter built by Murai Komerc (a construction company managed by Muris Alić) with contracts with Sarajevo municipalities to take in dogs from the street (on a per dog basis) and to provide them with appropriate care.

Murai Komerc claimed to invest around 750,000 Euros/1,000,000 USD (1,500,000.00 BAM) in building this shelter in March of 2011. It is our understanding that the shelter was never finished as planned, and that the building was highly unsuitable for the housing of dogs. In the current economic situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina this is a very large investment in a non-profit project which according to Bosnian laws does not provide any tax reduction.

Municipalities Owe Money
Muris Alic has recently been in the news stating he will have to close the shelter and return the dogs to the street as funds promised from municipal mayors (800,000 KM/400,000 Euros/500,000 USD) for the maintenance of the shelter not been paid.
(The following articles are in Serbo-Croatian: More than 500 dogs from a shelter will be back on the street / Asylum cannot wait for the first anniversary?)

As quoted in my post last November, Horror Camps for Animals in Bosnia, an animal advocate in northern Bosnia states: “Dog pounds are used to launder money from public budgets and they don’t want activists to poke around and witness how dogs are mistreated or abused at the dog pounds that they dare to call dog asylums/shelters. Population control and promotion of spaying and neutering as well as implementation of the animal welfare law is not in their interest because they want and need constant flow of new dogs through the dog pounds so that they can justify the funds spent each month from the budget. This is common knowledge.“

Please write to the Veterinary Inspector, asking that this shelter be thoroughly investigated and that remaining dogs there be given proper care according to the animal welfare laws of the country:

Director: Midhat Hadžiomerović, DVM
Address: ul. Maršala Tita 2, 73000 Goražde, BiH
Tel: ++ 387 38 228 639
Fax: ++ 387 38 228 641
e-mail: inspekcija@bpkg.gov.ba

NOTE - this email does not seem to be working, although it is the correct one listed on the government website. We will try to find another and will update as soon as we can.

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Concentration Camp for Man’s Best Friend – PART TWO

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Sandra Jensen

In March I made a post about the dog “shelter” called ‘Prihvatilište KS Prača’, commonly known as ‘Praca’. Please read the post: Concentration Camp for Man’s Best Friend.

The following is a translation of an article published yesterday on Protest.ba:
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A, GDJE JE AMELA? So, Where is Amela

A group of animal welfare activists visited Praca dog shelter today. They visited the shelter after they had been asked to do so by locals and by Mrs. Elmedina Devlic, the wife of one of three co-owners of shelter. Both locals and the co-owners have had claims of their own about the bad management of the shelter, headed by the Director Amela Turalic. The locals claim that they are exposed to potential danger of dogs while the co-owners claim that dogs suffer because of the bad shelter management.

“The Situation in Praca shelter culminated four days ago when the shelter Director Amela Turalic wanted to spay a pregnant dog just two days before the dog gave birth, also only few days ago she allowed a three month old puppy to be neutered. As per her order the dogs were fed rotten innards and baby cookies. Despite many conversations and warnings, Amela never stopped doing things she saw fit,” explained Mrs. Elmedina Devlic.

During today’s visit to Praca shelter, we found cold storage room where slaughterhouse leftovers are kept as well as baby cookies. Mrs. Devlic claims this is the only food that dogs are fed.

“Stench from the cold storage room can be smelt a mile away! Turalic was obviously thinking that rotten meat and biscuits with chocolate are “the best” food for dogs. Praca workers have claimed for many months that dog food collected at charity events mysteriously vanishes from the shelter. Fortunately, dogs are not hungry because of the efforts of a few of us good people make. However, it does not mean that someone’s arbitrariness should not end,” explained Devlic.

While approaching the shelter, it is evident that many dogs are outside of the shelter confines. Locals, people who live in surrounding villages, complain that dogs are deliberately released from shelter. Such dogs scare children, slaughter sheep and then in the end are “dealt with” by hunters. A school van that provides transportation of children to school is located in front of the shelter. Parents are concerned about safety of their children.

“It’s no secret that Amela and her Italian volunteer Mara, deliberately set dogs free from the shelter. Municipal authorities get on average five to six reports about it from concerned locals every day. Had she done her job responsibly, all this would have never happened! Nobody hates dogs here, but they should stay at the shelter and not in settlement!

I fired Amela Turalic today and have banned her from ever entering the shelter again. I have the right to do so. According to the signed agreement,
Murai Komerc was authorized to take care of the shelter and its employees until March 13, this year. The date has expired. Whatever will happen further, I stand firm that the former practice is obsolete,” Mrs. Devlic categorically claimed.

Municipal authorities are outraged by the presence of stray dogs that roam freely in the nearby countryside, it is a problem and authorities appeal for a solution.

We tried to contact Amela Turalic but she did not answer our calls.

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Another Horror Shelter in Bosnia

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Sandra Jensen

I have written about Gladno Polje Shelter in Sarajevo before, here:
Horror Camps for Animals in Bosnia.

This shelter houses about 200 dogs, who live in appalling conditions due to lack of funding from the Municipality and Agricultural co-operative who started the shelter. Please read the above post for details of the conditions of the shelter.

Essentially the workers in the shelter were given responsibility for the dogs on a minimal wage and without health insurance and so on, but no adequate fund to actually care for the dogs.

Sanela Kotorić Etterle and Adnan Smailbegovic, who volunteered thousands of hours of their time right from the start of the shelter, and were employees of the Director (Almir Džanković) for a few months, have been banned from entry to Gladno Polje. Sanela Kotorić Etterle and Adnan Smailbegovic have been told by the Director of the shelter that they are “not needed.”

The Director has changed the locks on the doors and has not given anyone any adequate reason why he has banned them from even visiting the dogs they have cared for for so long.

Our group, Animal Advocates for Bosnia (AWAB) has raised funds for food and spay-neuter programmes at Gladno Polje and I know from personal experience that Sanela and Adnan have only ever had the dogs’ well-being in mind. Sanela has worked tirelessly, putting her home-life, her health, at stake, to try to help the dogs at this shelter.

Sanela constantly begged the Director for more support for the dogs. She says:

“I didn’t want to start any arguments or wars. I’ve been always the one who wanted peace and contacted the other side to negotiate, to discuss in a civilised manner everything. When myself and the Director would meet, the story was always the same : he always gave the same promises which were never fulfilled.

I never asked for money. I worked all this time to provide for those dogs everything they might need. All I asked from him was to hire normal people to work there, who would maintain the hygiene at the shelter. I have stopped asking questions concerning spaying/neutering, vet care , food and everything else. When it comes to costs of transportation those dogs to the vets or to transport food to the shelter from people who have donated it to the shelter, all of that was financed from my own pocket or from the pockets of several other volunteers.”

Note that our group, AWAB, raised funds for the spay-neuter of over a dozen dogs at Gladno Polje, in particular the 10+ dogs rescued from Hresa last year who were then placed at Gladno Polje. We have also raised considerable funds for food, and have photographs and receipts to prove that the money was used appropriately.

On the fifth of March, Sanela wrote the following on Facebook:

“Adnan Smailbegovic and myself, Sanela Kotoric Etterle, received an official restriction to approach the Shelter Gladno Polje, a restriction to approach the dogs in this shelter. We have been banned and prohibited from taking these dogs to an event at ‘Importanne Centre’ to help find them adopters and to collect financial and material help for the dogs at Gladno. In short,we have been denied access to these dogs in any way. I was not given any explanation. They hung up when I tried to contact the Director or anyone who in authority.”

It’s important to note that, unlike workers at some other dog “shelters” in Bosnia, Sanela has always been quite clear about the terrible conditions for the dogs at Gladno Polje, and has published countless photographs on Facebook and appeals for donations.

On April 7th, a group of volunteers visited the dogs at Gladno Polje.

The purpose of the visit was to spend time with the dogs and to bring them food. After they were denied access to the shelter by an employee, volunteers explained that they were there during visitation hours, as the shelter sign clearly stated. They received a very confusing answer by the same employee, who explained that they are currently not accepting any visitors, because Sanela and Adnan are banned from the shelter and that Sanela and Adnan, according to the employee, were thieves who collected food for the dogs and then stole or sold it. This information was given to the employees by the Director.

Volunteers told the employee that they will contact the local media. Entrance was immediately granted to see and feed the dogs, but the employees of the shelter oversaw the entire feeding process and claimed that the dogs were not hungry and that the volunteers were wasting food.

The shelter employee then immediately proceeded to remove the shelter sign which showed the visitation hours of the shelter.

Dženita, one of the employees at the shelter, is a veterinary technician, but because of the primary problem of horrendous living conditions for the dogs, she was not able to use her training as all her time was needed to keep the kennels clean. Sanela says: ”Dženita was a cleaning lady who worked for a little bit of money, which she hasn’t even barely received to date. She was a puppet (like some of us) to those who comfortably sat in their chairs and received their salaries on time, including insurance and benefits. They received their salaries from the money that was supposed to be spent on the dogs in the shelter.“

However, the Director of Gladno Polje pulled his Administration Assistant from his office and sent her to the shelter to take care of the hygiene and to oversee the entire process with the dogs.

Sanela tells us: “A woman who hasn’t walked into the shelter for months, not to mention that she doesn’t know those dogs and dogs in general (like the Director himself). This woman couldn’t even tell two dogs apart on the website when we only had 30-40 dogs at the shelter. So, today this woman told Dženita that all the shelter needed was a woman’s hand for everything to run smoothly…“

Dženita has now also been banned from the shelter.

On April 8th, the cantonal veterinary inspector visited Gladno Polje and witnessed the terrible conditions for themselves.

They returned two days later to find that the hygienic condition had improved. The kennels were cleaned up, the fence surrounding the shelter had been fixed so the dogs could not get out, and the dog kennels that were destroyed by the wind had been fixed.

However, advocates have heard today (14 April) from Haris, a visitor to the shelter that conditions are still very bad.

This situation at Gladno Polje is complex and confusing. So-called improved conditions – if there are any - are unlikely to remain. And certainly, the sacking of Sanela, Adnan and Dženita is entirely unjust and the well-being and livelihood of the dogs there remains in a very precarious balance – as always.

Sanela says: ”I believe and I hope that every day will get better and that they will continue to work in a positive direction for the dogs, even if I’m not allowed access to the shelter… Even at the cost that I’m never again allowed access. All I want is better conditions for the dogs. It is sad that it had to come to all this and that everything I begged for months has now been executed in two days. I will always suffer for and miss those dogs, but I will survive. I only hope they never have to suffer again. At this moment we are still waiting for vet inspection report and then we will make our next step together.”

Addition, 16 April: More details from Haris the visitor to Gladno: ”Conditions are horrible, staff absent (and returned drunk 20 mins. later). Dogs have no water, lying in their own feces, pups month old wandering unsupervised! Staff completely inept, letting people take dogs without any paper trail.”

Sanela’s Facebook page where you can find more photographs: https://www.facebook.com/sanela.etterle

Petition to sign:
Change.org Petition demanding an investigation into Gladno Polje

Letters to write (Please be polite and clear):
Main veterinary inspectorate chief (female) Joka Hlubna - email address:
joka.hlubna@kuip.ks.gov.ba

Head of the Municipality Prof. Senaid Memic - email addresses:
kabinet.nacelnika@opcinailidza.ba
opcinski.nacelnik@opcinailidza.ba

The Director of Gladno Polje Almir Džanković :
FaceBook page https://www.facebook.com/almir.dzankovic.9

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