Recently Sarajevo based animal welfare and rescue organisation Andjeo Sarajevo went on a feeding round of strays. They saw this beautiful dog. She has no paw on one of her front legs. They worried about her, as clearly life on the streets would be much harder for her than for a dog with all paws. Along with our group, AWAB Andjeo Sarajevo decided to rescue her, giving her the name ‘Bella’. However, funds are desperately needed as there are several other critical cases, including one dog who was recently found with a severe injury and had to have her hind leg amputated. But we could not leave Bella on the streets to fend for herself (remember that Bosnia is a country where stray dogs are generally considered to be vermin – they are poisoned, shot, tortured).

We have been seeking advice about Bella’s paw, as it is concerning that she might be suffering with infection or if it would be easier for her to walk if she had an amputation. Our experience of vets in Bosnia is that they will always do a ‘high amputation’, and this seems very drastic for this dog.

Based on the photographs, the overriding consensus was not to amputate unless there is infection that warrants such. A prosthesis might assist her and she needs to be monitored as there could be a problem with her paw that can cause it to start to dry off, in which case she could start chewing it to rip it off by herself…

Tomorrow morning she will go into pension, in the hope that someone will fall in love with her and offer her a home outside of Bosnia. If you would like to adopt her, please contact us.

In the meantime funds are needed to keep her safe off the streets in pension (120 euros a month, about 160 USD) and for a veterinary check up and x-ray of her leg. From her ear tag it seems she has already been spayed but she will need to be vaccinated. Please help!

This is what the rescuers say:

“People who were feeding Bella told us that a month ago she wondered off and came back with half of her paw missing and with wounds on her ears and neck. Someone attacked her, but we don’t know whether it was a dog or a human. We only know that she was suffering very much and these people didn’t know to whom to turn to. We discovered her accidentally. We went to feed one pack and she was in the pack, and asking around we found out this story. Ideal solution for her would be for someone to adopt her and get her a prosthesis of the paw. Here (in Bosnia) vets only do amputations, nobody is making prosthesis and unfortunately nobody would adopt her here. Please can somebody adopt her, save her, her paw, her life. She would make you very happy, she is very tame and peaceful…as soon as we came she was leaping with joy and kissed me!”

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DONATIONS Funds are needed not only to help individual rescues and to help us keep safe the 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.