JUNE 7 UPDATE HERE: Three Dogs Saved – But Does the Pope Care?

June 5:
The notorious “dog catchers” of Sarajevo have been systematically ‘cleaning’ the stray dogs from the streets of the city in preparation for Pope Francis’s visit tomorrow. Many of the strays are dogs that our rescuers have cared for and fed for months, if not years.

Activists were able to photograph the dog catchers in action: “During his one-day visit, Pope Francis will meet with the Bosnian bishops, members of the presidency and the representatives of other religious communities in the country. The visit is likely to bring large number of Catholics to the Bosnia’s capital, some estimating that around 100,000 people will come from the neighbouring countries. Preparations for the visit have already begun, and they will include not only religious, political and ceremonial, but also substantial security arrangements.” And… killing dogs.

Pope Francis adopted his papal name in honour of the patron saint of animals, St. Francis of Assisi, and recently sparked an animal rights debate when he said “One day, we will see our animals again in the eternity of Christ… Paradise is open to all of God’s creatures.”

In March 2013 Pope Francis “…blessed a golden Lab, the service dog of a visually impaired Italian journalist. Last December, on his 77th birthday, he invited four homeless men and one homeless dog to his birthday breakfast at the Vatican.”

We are certain that the Pope would be appalled and horrified at what is happening in Sarajevo in HIS honour, and indeed at what is happening to animals in the country of Bosnia Herzegovina in general. You know what this is, you only need to scroll through these blogs. Rescuers and advocates are out on the streets doing whatever they can to save dogs. You can help them by donating to keep their rescues save in pension until they find forever homes for them. One such rescuer is Caki Bravo, who was instrumental in helping animals during the awful flooding of last year. You can help Caki by going here: https://www.youcaring.com/CakiBravoRescues

We are begging for a call to action:

The Pope has a twitter account: please tweet to the account asking him to tell the Bosnian authorities to STOP removing the dogs from the streets: https://twitter.com/pontifex

Also you can contact the Vatican’s press office at av@pccs.va – and a list of Vatican email addresses is here: http://www.vaticanhistory.de/vat/html/vatikan_e-mail-adressen.html Please send emails, and feel free to use any photographs from this blog to send to them.

You can also copy and paste this list of email addresses into one email: cultdiv@ccdds.va, vati335@csaints.va, cepsegretaria@evangel.va, vati059@ccscrlife.va,  pcjustpax@justpeace.va, corunum@corunum.va, office@migrants.va, cultura@cultr.va, pccs@vatican.va, pcomm.arch@arcsacra.va, eucharistcongress@org.va, asv@asv.va, academy.sciences@acdscience.va, scavi@fsp.va, ornet@ossrom.va, tipvat@tipografia.va, lev@publish.va, sedoc@vatiradio.va, ctv@ctv.va, accreditamenti@pressva.va, vis@pressva-vis.va

JUNE 7 UPDATE HERE: Three Dogs Saved – But Does the Pope Care?
JUNE 11 UPDATE HERE: Aftermath of the Pope’s visit: Police Harassment of Bosnian Activists
Please read related articles/blogs on this site for more information:

Sarajevo Demonstrations Against Illegal Dog Catchers
Former Military Base in Sarajevo involved in dog killing?
“DOG-CATCHERS” OF SARAJEVO CAUGHT IN ACTION!
AUTHORISED SLAUGHTER OF DOGS IN SARAJEVO
2014: What is happening to the strays of Bosnia Herzegovina?
Animal Advocates Assaulted in Sarajevo
Bosnia: Let’s Respect Animals and their Right to Life
Veterinary Office of Bosnia: is it possible to solve the problem of stray dogs?
The “Aggressive” Dogs of Sarajevo
The Campaign Begins With a Slaughter: You will kill the dogs, but what will you do with the beasts?
Stray Dogs of Sarajevo to be Killed in Election Ploy
Stop the Killing of Strays in Sarajevo
Bosnia: Sarajevo set to become the next Bucharest
BOSNIA: kill and slaughter until the dog is no more…
Bosnia Killing Dogs – No Different to Romania!
ANTI KILL-LAW FIGHT – NOW WHAT?

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DONATIONS

Funds are needed to help individual rescues, for spay-neuter projects, for education also to continue advocacy work in Bosnia, uncovering the truth about what is happening there. Donations are managed by AWABosnia, an independent group of animal advocates. On their website, 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. 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 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. Even just one dollar or one euro will help make a difference.