SAVING HERO, HALF BLIND ROTTWEILER LEFT TO DIE!

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Sandra Jensen

On the 21st Andjeo Sarajevo, animal rescue organisation in Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina, got a call for help. It was about a Rottweiler who had been lying on the ground for 10 days with an open leg fracture infected with septicemia, and in addition the dog had an infected, missing eye.

It was very hard for Andjeo Sarajevo find the location where the dog was, because it was dark, it was a secluded place and there was thick fog, but Andjeo Sarajevo succeeded. When they arrived people crowded around and told them they called the vet’s surgery and several animal organisations, who told them they would come but no one ever came.

The dog was very friendly, lovely and full of love, full of enthusiasm for life, a pure bred Rottweiler. Apart from his blindness in one eye, the front leg looked and smelled very bad. It seemed clear the leg would have to be amputated.

He was absolutely starving, he ate 2 big cans of food and half a kilo of crunchy food. Miska Oksanen from Finland, who has been working closely with our group AWAB (Animal Welfare Advocates for Bosnia-Herzegovina) and with Andjeo Sarajevo named this beautiful boy HERO.

On the 22nd he was treated at the veterinary faculty. It was a nerve-wracking time as he was fighting for his life during the surgery. But he made it through, and here is what Andjeo Sarajevo said:

“We just got back home. We have had a very intense day because of our Hero. When we got to the clinic, before the operation, we got some bad news… Besides the leg and his eye, our Hero is also missing a part of his skull… We were shocked! They believe that he was hit by a car, maybe even more than ten days ago, and that he has been suffering for a long time, too long. The vet staff who arrived on sunday for the operation were amazed by his kindness, love, braveness, and most of all STRENGTH. He is unbelievable… Even with his injured leg and eye and a bit of his skull missing, he`s still wagging his tail and kissing the hands of everyone who reaches out to him…

He will need a X-ray of his head, but not before his leg is amputated and also his eye. The eye couldn`t be saved because most of it fell out in the impact. The rest has to be removed to avoid an infection… The most important is that he was wagging his tail even after the operation… He is just amazing and a true HERO… He is fine for now, he`s still at the clinic and the next 48 hours will be critical… But we know he will pull through… We believe in him… Our Hero is a true Hero…“

Please send all your love and healing energy to make sure he continues to get better. Also funds are needed for his surgery and for his after care in pension. At the moment costs are 250 euros for his surgery but we don’t know what the full costs are or what he will need. Pension is 120 per month – he will need lots of high quality food and vitamins, and ultimately, a really wonderful home.

If you think you can offer him a home, please email us at info@awabosnia.org. Details of how to donate are below, please make sure you mark your donation for ‘Hero’.

There are, of course, numerous other dogs and cats in dire straights right now, so any donation for them too is much appreciated. For example, Jela, an elderly lady who takes care of many stray cats, has no heating in her house and winters are terrible in Sarajevo. The cats are getting sick with flu and we hope to raise money to help with heating bills and vet treatment for the cats. If you can help. please mark your donation for ‘Jela’.

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DONATIONS
Funds are needed not only to help individual rescues, abused or wounded strays 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 . 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.

Hell Hole for Dogs in Bihać – PART TWO

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Sandra Jensen

Please read my August 12th post about Gorjevac ‘shelter’ in Bihać, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

To reiterate: This shelter was built in June 2012, and conditions were reported as inhumane as soon as December, 2012. It is said that this Gorjevac “death camp” is built on top of a mass grave where “euthanized” animals were buried.

There is no adequate food or medical care for the existing dogs. In winter, conditions are worse than dire. These recent photographs speak for themselves. Nothing but white bread for food. Corpses of dogs and puppies left amongst living dogs. Dogs devouring dogs they are so hungry.

As with so many of the so-called shelters in Bosnia-Herzegovina, this situation is complex and it seems once again the shelter is used to funnel money into human pockets and not spend it on those it is designated for: the dogs.

It is our understanding that the director of the city’s veterinary station Dr. Zekerijah Ika Alagić is to blame what is happening in Gorjevac ‘shelter’, Bihać: as elsewhere, money intended for dogs is not used for them. Instead workers feed the dogs with dry bread. Dr. Zekerijah Ika Alagić has been director of the veterinary station for 22 years, and is called by local activists the “Eternal Director”.

It seems Dr. Ika Alagić is protected by the Municipal Mayor of the city, Emdzad Galijasevic. In an article published in local newspapers Dr. Ika Alagić denies everything and says that the images you see on this page and in the slideshow below are fake.

The Bihać animal welfare Association “SALVATION” (SPAS) with volunteers and President Rosic Senad has for many years been leading a battle to change the situation for the dogs, but the political parties are very powerful.

If you are wondering why we are campaigning so hard to ensure amendments to the BiH Animal Welfare Act are voted against tomorrow in BiH Parliament, it is because the amendments will allow for continued misuse of funds intended for the benefit of the strays, but more importantly, all efforts should instead be made to ensure that the existing Animal Welfare Act is implemented.

The laws for animal welfare in BIH are in fact very good, requiring proper care for strays in shelters, prosecution of those who abuse animals and so on, but these laws are simply ignored. Instead the BiH Parliament spends time and energy on discussing, preparing and voting for amendments that will chip away at the welfare laws and meanwhile they ignore the ongoing illegal activities against animals throughout the country.

Please sign the petitions, but more importantly continue to write to your MEP if you live in Europe and to your Embassy in BiH. Details on Action to Take.

To help the dogs of Bihać Shelter, donations can currently be made by bank transfer to SPAS, the Bihać animal welfare group:
Uni Credit Bank Bihać
BI10 20011855001
Local Reporting Code 502012
IBA 393385004861224662

Or via Paypal to AWAB, send it to donations@awabosnia.org as outlined below but please mark it ‘for BIHAC’

And please keep contacting IFAW, Four Paws, WVS and The Harmony Fund in case they can provide assistance.

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Animal welfare organization in Bihać: SPAS
Facebook Group
Facebook Page (English)
President of SPAS, Rosic Senad
Petition
Stop the inhumane treatment of the animals at the dog shelter in Bihać

HRESA “SHELTER”:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three

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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.

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Doberman And Puppies Left To Starve In Locked Garage

Posted on October 15, 2013 by Sandra Jensen

Andjeo Sarajevo, animal welfare activists in Sarajevo, Bosnia have saved a Doberman and her puppies from certain death. They were locked in a filthy garage with barely any food or water for who knows how long. This is their story:

“We received a telephone call from people saying they heard an awful sound of whining and barking from a garage and that dogs inside have been locked in for months now, with no care other than some man coming once a week, sometimes only once in 2 weeks, bringing maybe a litre of milk. The people who called us didn’t have an idea what kind of dogs were locked inside or how many there were. They called us, hoping that we can help these dogs and to help them, because they couldn’t sleep from all the noise and because of the smell they couldn’t even open a window.

We went to the location and saw 2 shut garages, locked. There was an indescribable barking and moaning coming from inside, a cry for help, like they are dying in misery. We thought about breaking the door immediately, but in the hope the police might help, without us having to break into private property and get God only knows how high a fine, we called them. When they came and when we explained to them in detail what is going on, they only looked at us with a grin and asked, “Why were we called?”… We were left speechless. We could hear the moans of poor dogs and they were laughing at us, because it was “Only dogs”. They made a report and told us to go to the vet inspection and left.

So we were back at the beginning and we couldn’t hear the cries of the helpless dogs any longer, so we broke into the garage. When we opened the door, we had something to see. One purebred poor DOBERMAN girl who is a living skeleton, she has no meat on her bones, and her 8 little babies. We were shocked and we didn’t know what to do, while the poor puppies and her rushed to the outside to the light of day.. It was an awful sight to see. Our assumption is that someone has her for breeding and selling her babies, but she has been impregnated by a non-purebred dog and these babies are not “real Dobermans”. So he decided to lock her in a garage until both she and her babies die in agony.”

Andjeo Sarajevo managed to get the dogs out and then to King Pension, the best pension in Sarajevo, where all dogs were immediately seen by a vet and given proper food and care.
Sadly inspite of best efforts by everyone, one of the puppies died. It was just too late.

But the others are doing well. HELP IS DESPERATELY NEEDED HOWEVER. The cost of keeping this family at King Pension is 480 Euros (650 USD) a month. This is a lot of money, but I can attest that they will get the very best care there. Almir Kuduz, who runs King Pension, is an exceptional man who has taken in some of the direst cases, bringing the dogs back to health. But it can’t be done for nothing. If you can help, that would be wonderful – just one euro or one dollar – it all adds up. Please mark your donation for ‘the Doberman family’.

Ideally of course we need to find a long term home for the whole family. If you can help please contact us. It would have to be in Europe as the cost of bringing these dogs to the USA is too high.
We are very wary of someone wanting the purebred mother and not the mixed breed puppies, so we need a real dog lover, someone who will not simply get rid of her puppies and sell or use the Doberman mom for breeding. We cannot let any of them suffer any more!

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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.

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Dog eaten alive by worms in Bosnian dog ‘shelter’

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Sandra Jensen

UPDATE: 21 OCTOBER sadly Donna lost the fight. R.I.P. beautiful girl. Your last days were full of warmth and love. I’m so sorry we did not find you sooner.

If you have been reading this blog recently you will know that Jelena Paunović and animal activists are visiting and documenting the horrific conditions in the so-called ‘shelters’ of Bosnia-Herzegovina in order bring a report to parliament. They barely have funds to pay for petrol to visit these shelters, but it’s impossible for them to ignore the plight of these dogs and not try to save them.

The dog above was found in Doboj shelter, lying in her own excrement, in the filth that is the ground all the dogs there must live in. She is just a bag of bones and she is unable to walk or stand.

When activists inspected her closely, they saw her immobile hindquarters being eaten by maggots. Her eyes are infected and she is in a terrible state. They could not leave her and brought her to Sarajevo where she is getting vet treatment.

If you can help with her care, she’s called Donna, please go to the bottom of the page for details of how to make a donation. Any amount no matter how small will help. It’s possible it is too late for her. If you can’t bear to read on, here is a button for Paypal donations. Please mark your donation ‘for Donna’. The situation in Doboj like most of the government funded ‘shelters’ is beyond belief, and is entirely against the animal welfare law that currently exists in Bosnia, which is why activists from Sarajevo are doing their best to document these abuses of the law. dogs crammed into cages, the usual stale white bread to eat (if anything). 150 dogs screaming for food.

Another shocking case from this shelter is a dog with a botched neutering operation. This dog also has a damaged eye and an open wound from a dog bite. This dog was also brought back to Sarajevo.

Edina Pasic, of Andjeo Sarajevo animal welfare organisation says the following:

On my way back from Zagreb I went to Doboj and found him covered in blood after enduring a non professional castration. They didn’t let me take a photo of this horrific scene. He’s a male and they placed him with another very dominant male who fiercely attacked him, his leg was very badly bitten. I couldn’t look so I just started screaming and said I was taking him with me, the guard was against it, I couldn’t take it anymore, I attacked him, I asked how it is possible that a shelter which is in such a bad state doesn’t have the rehoming of animals as a priority, and asked if it was all about money, like it has been in every shelter until now. The man was dumbfounded. I fed around 20 dogs and 4 cats against his will, he didn’t let me take pictures and I didn’t insist because Jelena had taken a lot of photos the day before…The dog is now in pension and he needs help for pension and for veterinary care.

Could YOU visit these “shelters” and not save a dog? Even though there is no money, no place to keep the dog? Jelena Paunović tells her story on her Facebook page:

Visiting dog shelters has its dark side. When you go there, you see so many desperate dogs in need. The first thought is “Hmm… how can I save them all?,“ and the second thought is “I have to save this one. I know I have to… somehow“… That’s how I have three new cases without financial support yet.

We saved Mica from Gorazde…
We found her in a cage with 15 other dogs. They didn’t allow her to drink or eat even though their “food“ was just one piece of bread for them all. The “Shelter“ in Goražde is one of the worst I’ve seen, 150 dogs living in terrible conditions, there are no any activists to take care of them. I believe we are the first activists who visited that shelter- ever. When we saw Mica, she was shaking, her eyes were telling us “Please save me!“.
For the last ten days Mica lives in my house but she can’t stay here until we find her a good permanent home, because I already have three dogs and cats, and most of the day I am not at home, so I have to find 120 euros for her pension per month and another 50 euros for her vet expenses.

When we visited Trebinje shelter, we heard one puppy screaming. We asked the worker what’s happening, but he wasn’t interested to even talk with us. My friend jumped over the fence and found a 20 day old puppy in the sewer. He saved her and we decided to pick her up and try to find her a forever home.
We call her Petal. Since the 21st September this little girl is in pension. One day cost 4 euros, we already owe 28 euros.

Third case I am responsible for is a sick little girl from Doboj shelter.
Worker said: “I think this dog is sick!“. My God! When we saw her, half of her body was covered with worms! At the Vet faculty in Sarajevo, the vets cleaned her wounds and gave her therapy. The vet made a x-ray of her spine and there are no fractures to explain why she cannot walk. But she is very sick and something is wrong with her eyes, so we have to have her checked for distemper and other diseases. She is pension too and we’ve named her Donna. Funds are needed for her pension and for vet care – just one test for distemper costs 20 euros.

Doboj shelter is one of many where people don’t care about dogs.

When I said that I want to visit all shelters and start writing stories, I totally forgot how many injured dogs I will see and how desperate I will be if I don’t help any of them. I also said that I am done with pensions but it seems I can’t live without helping animals, case by case… and God knows how many animals I saved. Of course, every single case costs and I can’t do anything without your support. Please help me save these three lovely girls, Mica, Petal and Donna. Thanks in advance.

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PLEASE SIGN THE PETITIONS:

Demand Investigation into Horror Shelter in Hresa, Bosnia

BOSNIA! IMPLEMENT HUMANE STRAY-DOG AND CAT POPULATION CONTROL AND TREATMENT

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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.

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Saving Lucia and the dogs of Foča and Gorazde

Posted on September 18, 2013 by Sandra Jensen

This week animal welfare activists from Sarajevo visited dog ‘shelters’ at Foča and Gorazde, about 100 + KM from Sarajevo.

One of the dogs saved during this trip is Lucia, a sweet dog, virtually starved and with a critically injured paw.

She was taken to King Pension in Sarajevo and today will be operated on to see if the paw can be saved. The cost of this operation is estimated at 225 euros (approximately 300 USD). The cost of her stay in King Pension (the best in Bosnia, the only one that is suitable to take care of such a thin and injured dog) is 120 euros (160 USD) per month. Funds are desperately needed to take care of her. If you can help please send donations via Paypal to donations@awabosnia.org – mark ‘for Lucia’. For more details. see the bottom of the page.

Gorazde “Shelter”

Gorazde shelter is situated in a small area in the middle of the woods, housing about 150 dogs. Dogs there are given terrible treatment. An employee told the activists that a vet comes once in a while and just randomly chooses dogs to be killed.

“What we saw there can’t be described with mere words but only feel, I was screaming,” said one of the activists. The dogs are stuffed into small, filthy cages and given dry bread to eat, nothing more.

Taking photos and walking around is prohibited by warning signs, all photos of the shelter were taken undercover, but only a few could be taken.
In the photographs taken you can only get some glimpses into the general condition for the dogs there. What is clear, is that the dogs in Gorazde are on death row. All of this is happening in disrespect of the current animal welfare law and, no doubt as with so many of the other shelters somebody is stealing money meant to help these dogs survive. “We saw one dog with broken legs… Worker said that they are waiting for the vet to put dog in sleep but I know how their “euthanasia” looks like.”

The activists managed to take out only two dogs, one of which they immediately found a good home for in Sarajevo, a purebred pug (which had many offers of a home outside of Bosnia too. Unfortunately the demand for purebred dogs is high everywhere, and yet there are so many beautiful mixed breeds desperately needing homes.)

This little girl below, called Mica, lived in a cage in Gorazde with 15 other dogs who wouldn’t allow her to eat or drink.
“She was shaking and practically begging us to save her…” said the activists. So they did. She is currently in foster home but will need either to find a long term home very soon or be put into pension (kennels). If you can help please contact us or perhaps you can make a donation towards her care.

On a soft bed at last……

Foča shelter

Activists said: “Even though we thought we will see horror there as there is no information about Foča shelter available it turned out to be heaven compared to Gorazde.”

“Scruff” at Foča shelter:

The man that worked at Foča shelter told them that they need all help possible and that they can’t manage to take care of the dogs adequately without assistance.

Currently there are 5 dogs there, and they are only fed white bread.

However, compared to other shelters and to Gorazde, this shelter is not so bad. Conditions are clean, but there is no adequate protection for the winter where temperatures can drop to well below freezing.

But the activists saw that the man working there really gives his best: “Dogs walk after him and listen to him well.” We started a Facebook page to help these five dogs: Saving the Dogs of Foča.

One of the dogs may have a home in Sarajevo, and the little one we call ‘Scruff’ might have a sponsor to take her out of the shelter and into a pension in Sarajevo.

But this lovely dog we call Alexia has an eye condition and might be going blind. We are trying to raise funds for a vet to give her an examination:Funds are needed to keep them fed on proper dog food and warm in the winter. Every trip to Foča shelter to deliver food etc costs about 50 euros (70 USD) in petrol, one 20 kg good quality food costs – 40 euros (55 USD), one 20 kg bag low quality costs 20 euros (30 USD). This will feed 5 dogs for about 10 days.

Little Scruff….

The trip to Foča and Gorazde shelter is part of a project to investigate and document contraventions of the animal welfare law in Bosnia, which requires that dogs are kept in good conditions in shelters and that only suffering dogs be ‘euthanised’. It is well known that dogs are routinely killed in shelters, regardless of health, and usually by extraordinarily inhumane methods: injections of bleach, clubbing and so on. The next session of the BiH Parliament will be held October 5th 2013 and at the session the issue about the animal welfare law in Bosnia will be heard. Examples of the law being violated are critically needed for presentation at the session. Please sign the petition on this post BOSNIA! IMPLEMENT HUMANE STRAY-DOG AND CAT POPULATION CONTROL AND TREATMENT.

Relevant articles from this blog:

Dog Shelters in Bosnia: A Complex Situation
Horror Camps for Animals in Bosnia
Concentration Camp for Man’s Best Friend
Concentration Camp for Man’s Best Friend PART TWO
Mass Graves Found Near Dog “Shelter”

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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.

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Bella Needs a Paw (and a home…)

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Sandra Jensen

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.

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Saving Sacha

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Sandra Jensen

This beautiful dog, a stray on the streets of Sarajevo, was found in early July after being run over by a car. She was taken to a vet for a full examination.

Sacha’s front leg had multiple fractures and the wound was very infected. Unfortunately the only option was a high amputation. She recovered well from this and with donations was able to be kept off the streets in pension. However now there are no more funds to keep her there. We are looking to put her in foster care, but funds will be needed for her food, and her vaccinations and microchip.

Activists are trying to find her a permanent loving home, can you help? Sacha is very lively girl even though she is handicapped. While living on the streets she lived on people’s lunch leftovers so she is still more interested in potatoes then dog food! She has no issues with other dogs but she haven’t been tested with cats yet.

If you think you can sponsor this sweet dog, or help find her a home, please let us know: info@awabosnia.org. Donations can be sent as per the instructions below. Please make sure you mark it for ‘Sacha’ or send us an email.

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Sadly Sacha’s case is just one amongst thousands. Although Dogs Trust UK recently completed a spay-neuter project in Sarajevo of 3000 dogs (the original count was 11,000 strays), activists say they see more dogs on the streets than ever. Dogs are routinely abused, shot, used for bait in dog fights and worse.

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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.

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Can You Help Lovely Lady Find Her Forever Home?

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Sandra Jensen

This beautiful girl was rescued from the streets of Bosnia. She was one of the 15 rescue dogs our group, AWAB, brought out of the country in June to their forever or foster homes in the UK, Germany and Norway.

Lady is about one year old and is fostered in Dorset. She is now looking for her forever home. She’s spayed, vaccinated and has a real zest for life! She’s good with dogs, cats, hens and children. She has a lovely loyal, gentle and calm nature and loves the opportunity for playtime. She particularly loves a tennis ball and Hide and Seek/Peekaboo.

Lady adjusted well and quickly into family life, and her health is excellent. She’s put on weight and strength, which she needed – nearly all the rescues were underweight and lacked muscle strength. Her few patches of demodex have gone, her fur growing in beautifully thick where it was once patchy.

You can watch Lady here, romping through the lovely Dorset countryside with her foster family:

Lady’s story: she was found last year as a young puppy with her sisters in Sarajevo, one of thousands of strays. She and her siblings were rescued by animal welfare activists and put into pension (a kind of kennel). Donations from all over the world came in to keep them fed and safe. Unfortunately there was an outbreak of canine parvovirus in the city and five dogs out of thirteen died. It was a terrible time. But Lady survived.

Because of her lowered immune system, she caught a mild case of demodex which is a non-contagious illness that is very common in strays, a result of malnutrition, illness and stress. But Lady was always a sweet, friendly dog, in spite of spending most of her young life in a dog pen and having limited interaction with people. You can see from the photograph slide-show below how she’s changed, and quite radically since she arrived in the United Kingdom barely a few weeks ago.

Lady would make anyone a fabulous pet. Please contact AWAB if you think you might be the right forever home for her, or if you have any questions: info@awabosnia.org.

Photographs of Lady in both Sarajevo and Dorset:

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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 and finding homes for, 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.

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Harpo and Zeppo need your help!

Posted on July 21, 2013 by Sandra Jensen

These poor babies are about 5 months old, two brothers, we are calling them Harpo and Zeppo. They have open wounds and bald patches which could be a very bad case of demodex (mange), but a veterinary examination is necessary to be sure. One of them is in a particularly terrible condition, I’m told he looks worse in real life than in the pictures. His brother also is in a bad way. If it is demodex, it can only get worse if left untreated. These two dogs are currently still on the street where people ignore their plight and much, much worse: they kick them and throw whatever they can find at them, because they are disgusted by their appearance and think that their disease can be transmitted to humans. This is not true, demodex is not contagious to other dogs and certainly not to people. The primary cause of this illness is malnutrition, immune system impairment and stress.
What Harpo and Zeppo need is gentle care and veterinary treatment. Pension (kennels) for one month per dog is 240 KM ( 120 Euros / 160 USD ) + veterinary treatment 100 KM ( 50 Euros / 65 USD ). To save these two little guys 340 Euros (450 USD) a month is needed for pension and treatment. These dogs can only be helped through joined forces and they have already suffered so much.

If you can sponsor one or both of the dogs or make a donation – it all helps, however small – it can go straight to the animal welfare group responsible, Andjeo Sarajevo (FB profile is here) via PayPal to: andjeosarajevo@gmail.com, please mark for “Harpo and Zeppo, the brothers with demodex” or via PayPal to our group, AWAB, and we will make sure the money is sent where needed – see below for details.

The situation for Harpo and Zeppo is sadly very common in Bosnia. The country is overrun with strays, and there is a cultural negativity towards dogs. Add this to the fact that life is very hard for most people, who have to live well below the poverty level, in a country where corruption is rife in every situation. Please see my post on Dog Shelters in Bosnia: A Complex Situation which explains some of the issues.

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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.

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Saving Laurel and Hardy Part Two

Posted on June 9, 2013 by Sandra Jensen

Laurel
Please read the first post here: Can You Help Save Laurel and Hardy?

Laurel and Hardy are getting better! Their appearance is beginning to improve slowly. Medication, the quiet environment, food and good nutritious care and cuddles are starting to work their magic. Laurel’s skin is already showing signs of healing. His wounds and demodex diseased skin is treated daily. Mia says he’s such a wonderful dog and will be a very handsome boy once his treatment is over.

Lovely Laurel.

Hardy

Hardy’s condition is getting better as well. “His wounds have healed entirely and his new gorgeous wheat-coloured coat will soon be a show stopper!”

If all goes well, in three months they will be cured and ready for adoption. But we need to ensure they can stay on highly nutritional food and supplements and the veterinary medicine. Donations have been generous and we are very grateful for this, but money is still needed for the veterinary bills, special creams and shampoos and vitamin supplements.

If you look at the pictures, poor Laurel still looks so thin, but believe it or not he’s put on weight since he was rescued.

We are also looking sponsorship for a lovely old dog, Granny Bubi.

This poor old girl 12 years old, belonged to a wonderful man, 86 years old, a hiker and retired high school teacher. He found her while hiking on a mountain. She was in a terrible state, with a very bad case of demodex (mange). Unlike so many others in Bosnia he did not throw stones or kick or ignore her or call others to help. Instead he took her home himself, all the way down the mountain in his arms. He looked after her inspite of the fact where he lived Bubi was not loved. His own family – his brother and his wife – said that when he dies, the dog will be kicked out. He paid for her care, and expensive veterinary surgeries out of his minimal pension.

Two months ago, he developed cancer and was rushed to hospital. Although the brother and his wife knew that if anything happened to the old man they were to call the animal rescuers, they did not, they put her in a terrible kennels. For weeks Mia and others tried to find out where Bubi was, but were told lies. Finally they found her, but the owner of the pension said she was aggressive, sick and and that he will euthanise her unless she was taken away.

Granny’s awful home for two months

After much difficulty Mia went to the kennels and poor Bubi ran in fear, . She was so scared and afraid Mia started to weep, that such a lovely once-cared for dog was in such misery. Mia found her a place in the wonderful King Pension, where she is slowly gaining her trust and confidence, and slowly healing. Mia is looking for a long-term home for her, but in the meantime any help is much appreciated towards the cost King Pension (120 euros/ 160 USD a month ). Please mark for ‘Bubi’.

Slideshow

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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 and finding homes for 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.

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IN MEMORY OF VUČKO

raising awareness and funds to stop animal suffering in Sarajevo and Bosnia-Herzegovina

Category Archives: Dogs needing home

SAVING HERO, HALF BLIND ROTTWEILER LEFT TO DIE!

Hell Hole for Dogs in Bihać – PART TWO

Doberman And Puppies Left To Starve In Locked Garage

Dog eaten alive by worms in Bosnian dog ‘shelter’

Demand Investigation into Horror Shelter in Hresa, Bosnia

BOSNIA! IMPLEMENT HUMANE STRAY-DOG AND CAT POPULATION CONTROL AND TREATMENT

Saving Lucia and the dogs of Foča and Gorazde

Bella Needs a Paw (and a home…)

Saving Sacha

Can You Help Lovely Lady Find Her Forever Home?

Harpo and Zeppo need your help!

Saving Laurel and Hardy Part Two