The Friday morning was sunny again and when we had had some breakfast we went to the shelter after stopping by at the supermarket. When we arrived at the shelter I almost immediately left with Carmena and Patricia to see Rona, the horse. On our way we picked up a local vet and stopped by at the police station of Bumbesti Jiu. Two police officers joined us. Also the local TV-channel of Tg-Jiu had sent a reporter and cameraman to do little reportage of the rescue operation of Rona for the evening news. 

The animal welfare law of Romania was renewed in January 2008 but the authorities aren't really aware of the contents of the new law. That is why the police officers of Bumbesti Jiu first had to read the printout of the law Carmena had with her and tried to delve into it. Also the vet found the law completely strange to him and that we had to realize the hard way on the next few hours. 

Our "rescue team" of nine members arrived at the home yard of Rona's owners about 10:30 am and called the family to negotiate. The negotiators of the family were Rona's so-called main owner, his wife, brother and grandmother. First they checked Rona's condition and it was obvious that Rona would never rehabilitate to be a workhorse. After over three hours of negotiations and pressuring the result was that Rona's owner was given a fine and if Rona's condition wouldn't improve in a couple of weeks, the owner would be given another fine. After this second fine if there'd be no change for the better in her condition they would start to think whether Rona should be moved elsewhere. 

We were completely amazed how these authorities couldn't do anything else for Rona. When I was interviewed for the news of the local TV-channel I clearly expressed my shock and how the Romanian authorities seemed to be completely useless also in these situations. Of course our comments were translated to the police authorities and so they began to flood with explanations. Carmena and Patricia told us afterwards that it might have been that the police wouldn't have even bothered to show up if they hadn't known that Finnish animal protection people would accompany Rona's rescue operation.                     

Photos of Rona's rescue operation behind this link

At some point in the middle of the rescue operation Heli called me and told that the municipal dogcatchers of Tg-Jiu had come to the shelter and were taking one of the dogs from "the city side" away. We asked Heli and others to take a video clip of the event so we could use it against them if necessary. Heli called me again and I asked Heli to give the phone to the catcher so he could tell Carmena where they are taking the dog. After the phone call Carmena told that a company with its warehouses nearby needed a guardian dog and the dog from the city shelter had been taken there. Carmena and Patricia promised to check if the dog had actually been taken to where they had said and not someplace to be killed. 

While driving back to the shelter Carmena read us a local newspaper. It was said in the newpaper that the mayor of the city of Rovinari was bragging how the city had a 1,5 hectare EU-standard quality shelter and that he'd pay the citizens 10 leis per caught and brought stray dog. We decided to visit at the Rovinari shelter later in the afternoon. The shelter is located about 30 kilometers from Tg-Jiu. 

So we soon headed towards Rovinari and the shelter maintained by the city. When we arrived we witnessed an agonizing view. The shelter sure had a 1,5 hectare so-called large, fenced area but there were only a couple of dogs there and trucks drove across the area all the time bringing tree stumps.

The shelter itself was about 150 sq meters and completely opposite of EU-standard quality. We managed to get inside the shelter and realized immediately that there wasn't even enough water for the dogs. There were also two immobile dogs in a very bad shape. Patricia and Carmena carried the dogs to the car to take to their own shelter to receive proper care. 

During our visit an employee of the shelter came to feed the dogs with half a bucket of dry dog food. He threw this food to the ground for the dogs to eat from as if he was feeding chickens. About 40 dogs tried to grab as many bites from the ground as they could to fill their empty stomachs. There were several dogs locked in cages and these dogs were given no food while we were at the shelter even though we pointed it out several times.

While we were at the Rovinari shelter we noticed that an awful smoke appeared all of a sudden from somewhere. I felt nauseous right away and several dogs began to cough too. When we got outside the shelter I had to check where the horrible smell came from. There was a piggery behind the shelter and for some reason they were burning garbage right behind the dog shelter.