A few days ago Mia Ožegović made a post on Facebook about a dog her friend had discovered living in the yard of a house in the city centre of Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina. The dog was chained by a 1 metre rusted chain and living in horrific squalor. It was clear the chain never came off… and most likely the poor dog lived on the end of it 24 hours a day, day in, day out for all of her young life. She’s a purebred Belgian Shepherd (malinois) female, probably about 2 years old.

Mia wrote: “Around her “doggie house” you can see mud, stale bread ….and more mud and faeces and junk of all kind …. ”

As this is Bosnia, Mia and her rescuer friends knew that calling the authorities would have no effect. They tried for two nights to release the dog, but their pliers were poor and couldn’t cut any part of the chain which was wrapped around a wooden post (used to conduct electricity to households in that area), so tight and thick that they could not dismantle it nor cut it, and the chain itself was wrapped tightly around the dog’s neck twice and had a padlock which held it in place.
They considered offering to buy the dog from her “owners” (a Roma family) but from other experiences with similar situations, they knew this would cost an enormous amount of money, money that would be needed to keep the dog in safety and give her proper veterinary care and good food and help her find a new family that would actually take care of her and give her the love she deserves….
Last night Mia and her friends bought second-hand bolt cutters and went again after midnight, and this time they succeeded ! The cutters snapped through the chain. The dog is free!

Mia named this beautiful dog Sheba. Sheba is now in a pension (kennels) where she will get premium food, indoor stay, regular walks and a clean warm bed at night.

Mia says, “She is hyperactive, funny, great, loving and so far we haven’t noticed any major issues with her. She smells a LOT and has fleas.” She’ll be given a bath and a proper vet check.

****Funds are needed to pay the pension (105 EU/ 120 USD per month) and also for veterinary checks and vaccinations. If you can help, please donate via Paypal to: ozegovichmia@gmail.com and mark for ‘SHEBA’*****

All that is needed is for someone to fall in love with Sheba and offer to adopt her! If you are interested, please email Mia at: ozegovichmia@gmail.com

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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.