Pro Animals News 03/22/09

Spring greetings from Tg-Jiu and about the shelter visit in early-summer

There is already spring in Tg-Jiu and summer is getting closer by the day! In the end of June Carmena is celebrating her 50th birthday and we’ll be sure to be there, too, celebrating her. As always, we are welcoming eager travel companions to join us!

City’s clarification on action towards stray dogs

For several weeks Carmena has been in local media since Pro Animals Romania along with Romania’s national animal welfare organisation F.R.P.C.A demanded a clarification from the City of Tg-Jiu when it comes to capturing stray dogs and treating them as well as funds used for it all the way from year 2002.

The City gave their clarification claiming that during the years 2002-2007 it had collected only 15 dogs of which some had been set free and the rest taken to Pro Animals Romania’s shelter. These procedures had cost the city over the years 878.661 RON (approx. 250.000 euros).

The City government also gave their clarification of stray dog procedures in 2008. In 2008 they had captured 86 dogs that had been brought to the city shelter next to Pro Animals Romania’s shelter. Only one of these dogs had died, according to the clarification. As you know, Carmena and Patricia have been keeping an eye on the city shelter every day, Carmena gives the dogs additional food and treatments on a daily basis and they had witnessed tens of dogs dying on the shelter. There are also photographs of several dead dogs to prove it. Last Friday a city shelter worker carried two dead adult dogs from the shelter and when Carmena called the manager of “the dog catchers”, she received a harsh reply “simply close your eyes and pretend you didn’t see anything”! In 2008 the shelter maintained by the city was funded with 281.617 RON (approx. 80.000 euros) worth of money.

According to all related to this case we can conclude that the funds granted by the city to deal with the stray dog problem have been used for totally different things than to what they should’ve been used for.

For some reason the citizens as well as even several authorities of Gorj County seem to have the idea that Pro Animals Romania is getting EU funding and for that reason they are so willing to handle the animal protection issues of the whole county. Some authorities have even asked to consult with the women on how to apply for EU-support. The reality is a whole another matter, as you know, and Pro Animals Romania has to take care of a shelter of hundreds of dogs as well as all animal protection issues of the county with the same monthly amount of money as e.g. the city of Turcen takes care of their shelter of 50 homeless dogs. Luckily there are some local media in Gorj County that wish to tell in public how the things really are.

Search for the new shelter site continues

Carmena and Patricia are still looking for the site for the new shelter and at times there have been reasonably promising sites on sale. Latest one of these was located on the outskirts of a poor village and the price wasn’t too bad either. However, when Patricia did a little research on how to get electricity to the site, there seemed to be too many problems so for now the intentions to buy this particular land have been put on hold. Carmena was in contact with the authorities of the area and they told that this piece of land had been sold to its current owner for 1500 euros which indicated that these owners now ask ridiculously high price of the lot. The authorities of the area have shown interest in presenting other sites for Carmena and Patricia so we are now hoping some of those sites would suit our needs.

Carmena had also already asked the authorities of Tg-Jiu of special regulations and laws they should know about when purchasing the lot. However, these authorities had been rather uncooperative and told they had no information whatsoever on regulations for these kinds of projects. What makes this peculiar is that one instance had told that one must have at least 100 meters distance to the nearest residence and another told that it was actually 300 meters. This kind of bouncing from a person to another seems odd since the city of Tg-Jiu is actually building their own dog shelter almost to the city centre!

PAFi already sent pleas of help to several EU instances as well as to local authorities of Romania in clarifying the regulations for animal shelters and dog shelters. Luckily we got a few replies and hopefully they will be useful for Carmena and Patricia.

Animal-friendly people meaning well

Every once in a while I have told you that surely there are numerous animal-friendly people in Romania, too, but the fear of authorities is still too great for them to come out in public and report about animal cruelty. There are also people who believe they are doing good deeds but in reality they’re prolonging the animal’s suffering. Here’s an example.

Carmena had received a call from a woman in a city nearby. She told that for a month she had nursed a dog that had been ran over but now its condition had gotten so worse that she could no longer help it. When Patricia arrived, the woman guided her to a concrete bench under which she had placed the injured animal. There was a pile of rugs over the dog and when Patricia had removed them, she had been hit by the most revolting smell of rotten flesh, feces and urine she had never – though dealing with all kinds of smells every day in her work – experienced before. Patricia had asked the woman why on Earth had she not reported of the dog earlier or taken it to a vet since now it was all too late to do anything for the dog except end its misery. The woman was baffled and told she had given the dog painkillers and believed it would be enough. She was utterly wrong. As you can see, education among these well meaning citizens would absolutely be necessary.

The same week they encountered another similar case but luckily the dog that had been hit by a car and injured its hind legs was taken to a vet and to be x-rayed after having suffered “only” a week without any veterinary help with some well-meaning people. In Romania dogs get run over or hit by a car terribly often and unfortunately those that don’t die instantly are usually left to die alone or some well-meaning people try to take care of the dog, however, without any proper care. One night when returning from the shelter Patricia also picked up a dog that was curled up on a street in a shock from being hit by a car. Each of these dogs is recovering quickly under Carmena and Patricia’s loving care.

Frequently asked questions

PAFi has added a FAQ-section to its website. If you have anything related to Pro Animals’ puzzling your mind, check the FAQ for an answer. Please, do send more questions if you have any, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

PAFi’s annual report 2008 and strategy 2009

You can read PAFi’s annual report and this year’s strategy from PAFi’s website (column on the right in INFO-section). Annual report and strategy can be found soon also in english!

PAFi’s Facebook-group

Now you can find PAFi also from Facebook! We welcome you all to join the group! Here’s our FB-group: Pro Animals Finland –group .

“Help homeless and abused animals of Tg-Jiu, Romania”

We have also created a Facebook Cause “Help homeless and abused animals of Tg-Jiu, Romania” , you are all welcome to that, too!

Shop!

Remember to check out PAFi-shop, who knows if you might find something for yourself or your friends…:)

PAFi in Faunatar of Jumbo, Vantaa, on Saturday March 28th from 11-15 pm

Please, come and say hello at Faunatar Jumbo !

Wishing you all a sunny spring,

Kiia