Here is the earlier story of Hreša:  Part One – Part Two – Part Three – Part Four
Also see my post on shelters in general in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Horror Camps for Animals in Bosnia 

As most of you know Hreša ‘shelter’ is open again and has been for some time now.

On Monday night activists went there to find 20 dogs in cages without heat (temperatures are well below freezing), with nothing to eat but scraps of old frozen bread. Any water available was frozen. Activists were not allowed to provide food. However, they managed to rescue some of the dogs, including one mother dog and five of her puppies. Four of her puppies were frozen to death. She had given birth on frozen concrete.

Ibrahim Hadžibajrić, Mayor of Stari Grad Municipality in Sarajevo, has stated he has signed an agreement with Hreša Municipality to send dogs from Stari Grad to Hreša ‘Shelter’ and that 30,000 KM (15,000 EUR/ 20,000 USD) have been allocated for this ‘project’, ‘renting’ the Hreša shelter. The contract as yet is still not signed, however.

Although Ibrahim Hadžibajrić denies that the goal behind this agreement is elimination of dogs, note the following: there are over 11,000 strays in Sarajevo; Hreša is in a part of Bosnia (Republika Srpska) which allows killing of dogs in shelters, whereas in Sarajevo it is not allowed to do this.

The Republika Srpska law states that any dog in a shelter that is not homed after 30 days may be euthanized, it does not say it must be euthanized. Only dogs who are suffering in extreme agony, who are aggressive, very old, or sick beyond help and similar must be euthanised by law. However it is common practice in this municipality to mark perfectly healthy dogs as being sick or injured and euthanize them on the day of arrival to the shelter or few days later, especially when there are many dogs arriving and they start running out of space. Also, over six years old can be considered ‘very old’. Furthermore, the dogs are kept in such poor conditions they usually become weak and sick within a week and so fulfil the requirements.

Note that “euthanization” practices in this country include injections of bleach.

Last year animal activists from Sarajevo visited Hreša ‘shelter’ several times and dogs just “disappeared” and employees told them they had been killed, and also that pedigree dogs were kidnapped and held for ransom in the shelter.

Although pressure from animal activists inside and outside Bosnia brought about an investigation by the State Veterinary Office, we have heard absolutely nothing about the result of this investigation. In November Dogs Trust Bosnia stated they will “monitor the progress of this investigation and subsequent intervention and where this stalls or is insufficient we will act.” We will be following up with Dogs Trust as we have as yet had no updates.

THE GOOD NEWS IS: Daliborka Colic, who runs a Bosnian/German rescue organisation (http://sosvergessenepfoten.de) has secured 5000 Euros to pay for legal fees involved in taking action against the manager of the shelter and any authorities involved. Daliborka says that the authorities can take dogs to Hreša but activists will simply go and bring the dogs back to Sarajevo each time. Activists will constantly monitor the conditions in Hreša and will inform the media. Daliborka will also rally her German friends and organizations to get involved as much as possible.

I am awaiting news of how we can help Daliborka. Please return for updates.

Many of you have commented on the posts here about Hreša and about the situation for strays in general. We are all outraged at what is happening, but is important to realise that Bosnia is very different to the United States or the United Kingdom and similar countries.

To quote from someone living in Sarajevo: “Please imagine a different reality. I’m in Sarajevo and I can tell you many people here are living on 45 euros a month or less. 18% of the population are below the (low) poverty line and 30% are on or just above it, yet many costs are nearly as high as the UK. Many people cannot afford to pay their heating bills, or for their local authority services, which are owed millions. There is no social security. There are 11,000 dogs on the streets in Sarajevo, a lot dumped because their owners cannot afford to keep them. Now in winter they wander around in packs looking for food and some are (sadly) aggressive, especially when cold and hungry. Many people are frightened of dogs, especially when they are in packs. We’ve seen people in tears, scared stiff of walking past them. It becomes a political issue, but the authorities have no money for housing such large numbers, which are growing daily.

There is nearly 50% unemployment and there are people desperate enough to earn a few hundred euros who’ll kill dogs. On the other side, there are wonderful people here who give as much time and more money than you can imagine to help, and organisations outside Bosnia (such as AWAB) who help a lot too. But we’re helping a few hundred if we’re lucky. We’d welcome good ideas to solve the problem.”

Please sign and share the following three petitions:
Demand Investigation into Horror Shelter in Hresa, Bosnia
Protect the stray dogs instead of killing them
Stop the slaughter of stray dogs in Sarajevo, Bosnia

Please join our Facebook groups for updates:
Animal Advocates for Bosnia –http://www.facebook.com/groups/AWAbosnia
Save the Hreša Dogs – http://www.facebook.com/HresaDogs

News Articles: (Serbo-Croatian, but you can use Google Translate)

– NEANDERTALACI NASELJENI U VUKOJEBINI

– Ljubitelji životinja: “Hadžibajrić želi da se psi prebacuju u RS kako bi ih tamo ubijali!”

– Načelnik Hadžibajrić zatražio 543 izvinjenja

– Hadžibajrić zatražio izvinjenje: Mi sklanjamo pse s ulica, a vi se brinite o njima

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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HOW TO HELP
Funds are needed not only to help individual rescues and to help us keep safe the 26 rescued dogs we are sponsoring but also to continue our advocacy work in Bosnia, uncovering the truth about what is happening there.

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.

The following is a translation of recent article (original here) published on the 22nd January. It is important as media negativity towards the strays of Bosnia has risen recently, saying that the dogs are dangerous. There are rumours that the government is going to implement a kill-after-30 day policy for all shelters. The truth of the “danger” of the strays is very different…Please read on.

INTERVIEW: BERISLAVA STOŠIĆ

Berislava Stoši

On Friday, January 18 2013, the media reported that a man died because of a dog attack in an improvised shelter in Doboj, Bosnia Herzegovina. An autopsy later determined the cause of Emil Kaser’s death was a heart attack. The tragedy has garnered considerable media attention and many people are blaming Berislava Stošić, the owner of the improvised dog shelter near where the tragedy occurred. Ten dogs were taken from Mrs. Stošić’s apartment by warrant from the municipalities inspectors

Activists of Sarajevo animal welfare associations “Život” and “Av Mau” headed to Doboj to check on the situation at Mrs. Stošić’s shelter. They had a long conversation with Mrs. Stošić, touching upon many topics relating to abandoned dogs in Doboj (north of Sarajevo). The group also inspected her shelter.

The following is a transcript of the interview.

When did you first start helping animals?

Although I have had a dog or a cat as a pet my entire life, my active participation in the protection of animals began in 1992. The beginning of war, poverty and famine forced many residents of Doboj to abandon their pets. All of a sudden, there were many suffering and traumatized dogs on the streets. I considered it to be my moral obligation to help them. I took care of animals in the backyard of our family house. We sold this house a long time ago. 

You are the head of the Association of animal friends “Lesi”. Can you tell us more about this association and your involvement?

Association of animal friends “Lesi” started working in April of 2006. The goal of the association was to stop cruelty and torture against abandoned animals that constantly took place on the streets of Doboj. The initial enthusiasm and our faith that we would awaken the conscience of citizens to treat animals in a humane manner diminished with time. It is only my love for the animals that has not stopped my devotion to fighting for their rights. It seems to me that all of my discussions with those in charge were futile. I have personally reported different forms of dog abuse, but to this day no charges have been brought against anyone for what has happened. We have created numerous public appeals to stop the abuse of dogs and cats, but no one listened to these appeals. Humanity here equals zero.

What forms of animal cruelty are you talking about?

Many things have happened. It was a common practice in Doboj for hunters to kill dogs in the streets during the early morning hours. There have been numerous incidents. The animals warm bodies, bleeding and mutilated, were later thrown in the quarries, with their tails cut off. The municipality of Doboj paid 50KM (€25) for every tail of a dead dog or a cat. There was always enough money to pay for killing.

Is there any particular case that affected you more than the others?

It was not easy during all these years to look at the bloody streets and fight against the tide. And when hunters stopped with their “work”, Doboj municipality started giving funds for the dog pound (Preslica). Dogs in this pound are suffering without food or water. Many of them are locked in small stalls. They look at you filled with fear, and anyone who goes there can feel the death in the air. I understand that the municipality pays 20 KM (€10) for each dog. This municipality pound (Preslica) is in fact called The Animal Shelter and is in the grounds of the Sport and Recreation Center. 

Considering the amount of cruelty that I’ve personally witnessed, it’s difficult for me to include all of them, however there are a couple of incidents that will remain with me: 

During the summer of 2011, when the temperature outside reached some 40 degrees Celsius, I visited a pound with a couple of activists. We encountered dehydrated and hungry dogs. Flies had already started eating the flesh of some of the dogs. I will never be able to erase that image from my mind.

The other incident happened recently. A little female dog that we were taking care of was hit by a car on the street. We needed 100 KM (51 Euro) to help her. No one would help us take her to the vet’s office in Gračanica. She died, tortured from sepsis in my apartment. 

During the last couple of days, there has been a lot of noise in the media about your “wild” shelter. How did you come to making a shelter? Did you speak to the authorities and get all the necessary approvals and working permits for the shelter?

My shelter—a piece of unfenced land on which I had abandoned dogs, did not have any permits. Also, the conditions for the dogs are not nearly what they should be. But considering my financial abilities, I could not do anything more or better. If I do not take care of a dog, we all know death awaits it at Preslica. I have been keeping dogs here for ten years. People, the municipality and inspectors have always targeted me. I requested permits, contacted everyone I heard of who should be able to assist us and – nothing. It is hard for me alone, with help of a couple of people to get necessary food, old dishes, blankets… This is not the first time they have taken dogs away from me. One time they came from the pound with a warrant from the inspectors, took all the dogs with chains and collars, took all the dogs houses, ripped off the tin roofs, pillars and the fence… They took away everything I had built, apparently according to some municipality law. I rebuilt it again from scratch, all on my own.

What is your comment on newspaper articles in which journalists claim that Mr. Emil Kaser died because your dogs attacked him?

I was not around when all this happened. I am sorry this happened and that my name is being connected to it. I knew Emil personally. His family has two dogs, and recently they have contacted me to help them take care for a third one they found on the streets. On that unfortunate day, Emil came alone to my shelter, on the recommendation of a common friend to make stalls and a fence for the dogs I take care of. I found out about everything else from the media. Emil had a serious heart condition, had artificial valves and a pacemaker. He died due to failure of his heart muscle. Although he had bruises from dog bites, this was not the cause of death.

Were the dogs in your shelter aggressive? We were here when they barked at cars and some passersby.

They do not usually bark when I am not around. When I am here, they bark because they are protecting me. On the other hand, since they are tied up most of the time, and I am not able to provide enough food for them, it is small wonder they would bark. All I know is they would be dead if they were not here. I could not let that happen.

Is there a castration and sterilization program in Doboj? 

The only project of that sort that we have ever had was organized by me with the assistance of an organization from Denmark a couple years ago. There are still dogs on the streets that were sterilized as a part of this program.

Ten dogs were taken from your apartment by the warrant from the inspection.

Yes. These are also dogs that I rescued. The media reported that they were living in poor conditions and that my apartment was very dirty. It is true that I was away from the apartment for two and a half days. I did not want to return as they would immediately take dogs to the pound. But in the end I had to give in. It pains me deeply, because I know how they are being treated there. Now not even God himself can save them from the certain death. One of these dogs was chipped and vaccinated and was about to get a home. Now the dog can only be killed.

During the last couple of days I have read a lot of negative things about you. We have already touched upon the subject that you are being directly blamed for the death of Mr. Kaser. The media has given the impression that in looking after these dogs you were creating a problem. After seeing what you have done, we clearly get an impression that you are in fact the only one who have been doing something positive. Your work was represented in the book of Mirko Jelač “Čekaonica za snove” (a book about people from Doboj who do good things for their community).

Media can write what they want, but I know I am a humane woman. After everything I have experienced, I must say I love animals more than people. I am grateful to everyone who supported what I am doing in any way. I am grateful to all owners of restaurants, bakeries and butchers who give me food leftovers for my dogs.

What pains you the most?

The inhumanity and the criticism of my work in my efforts to make the community we live in a more humane place.

***

We spent an entire day with Mrs. Stošić. Visiting the places where she cared for the dogs, the locations where she feeds them and the town’s pound.

I would like to mention what citizens of Doboj told us about this case. Some support her work, others do not, but no one blames her for the death of Emil Kaser.

Everyone agrees that what she does is humane, but they believe that over the years she has been overwhelmed by her situation. Over a long period of time, her neighbors have complained about barking from her apartment. People living near her shelter also complain about barking, but when asked the public “What do you think about all this?”, everyone we talked to blamed the government for everything, and not Mrs. Stošić, as the media would have us believe.

It is interesting how the inspectors issued an urgent warrant to take the dogs from the apartment of Mrs. Stošić but not those from her shelter. Mrs. Stošić explains this as fear, because the inspector told her she had to be at the shelter because the dogs are aggressive. On the contrary, the people of Doboj continue to live, work and pass by the shelter and those very dogs on a daily basis, without harm.

***

If you want to see the difference between Berislava Stošić’s Private Shelter and the Municipal Shelter, please view the following videos.

The Municipal ‘Shelter’:

Berislava Stošić’s Private Shelter:

Slideshow of dogs at the Municipal Shelter (not Berislava Stošić’s Private Shelter)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 ______________________________________________

HOW TO HELP
Funds are needed not only fo help individual rescues and to help us keep safe the 26 rescued dogs we are sponsoring but also to continue our advocacy work in Bosnia, uncovering the truth about what is happening there.

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.

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

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.