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Hi there,

we have once again visited at Tg-Jiu shelter. We got the chance to experience a lot of things while we were there, and as always, we are now having all kinds of emotions.

Here’s a little summary of our trip, I hope it’s enough for you to get the idea what we experienced. Tuuli is still staying in Tg-Jiu until the end of July helping Carmena and Patricia at the shelter and I’m sure she’ll give us more information of what’s going on in Tg-Jiu as well as in the surroundings. I can guarantee that the things will get very interesting as the time goes by.

For me and Jukka it was already eighth trip to Tg-Jiu and also Anu has been with us several times. Last autumn Tuuli spent two months at the shelter, volunteering, so we easily include her as a part of the shelter already. Originally we had a few others interested in joining us on our trip but at the last minute something came up and they couldn’t make it. We hope these people could join us the next time on our way to the shelter.

The flight to Bucharest went well though we had a little episode at Helsinki-Vantaa airport. We had already given our luggage at the check-in, but had quite of an amount of 150 g dog and cat food (wet food) packed into our hand luggage. Of course these foods were considered as liquid products at security inspection. We already thought we’d lose all the food when they were taken out of our bags. Luckily one of the security personnel pointed out we could take all these food removed from our handbags to the check-in to be delivered to the cargo. So we did. Of course we would’ve packed these products to the luggage already earlier but since they would’ve added extrakilos to our luggage, we decided to include them in our hand luggage. Eventually we didn’t have to pay any extra, so we were really relieved. These dog and cat food came very handy since we fed several dogs on our way to Tg-Jiu and the food lasted for many days when feeding the hungry dogs and cats of Tg-Jiu streets.

We arrived in Tg-Jiu at about 7 pm on Saturday. Of course we headed straight to the shelter where the guardian dogs Gogu, Kitza and Nemo waited for us. The previous day some young dog had appeared in front of the shelter, desperately trying to impress Gogu. He most likely understands that in order to become a guardian dog, he must get Gogu’s approval.

Nemo & Kitza with Gogu and his young adjutant

After greeting the guardian dogs of the shelter as well as Carmena and Patricia, in request of Carmena we went to check out how things were at the shelter maintained by the city of Tg-Jiu. Carmena was taking additional food for the dogs since the city provides the dogs such inadequate daily meals. The city shelter looked utterly miserable with sick dogs everywhere. We found a dead puppy and during the evening we picked up three other puppies that were in an awful state. We took the puppies to Pro Animals Romania’s warehouse building. There were already six puppies in there that had been saved from the city shelter.


A dead puppy and his mother at the city shelter

We accommodated ourselves into a hotel and after a quick shower we were invited over the family of Carmena’s brother. We were served a very fulfilling supper and when we managed to get into bed, it was already 1 am.

The next morning we headed to Kaufland to buy some necessary items and puppy food to the shelter. Anu also bought food for the dogs of the city shelter, about 150 kilos.

When we had unloaded the equipment we had bought, we separated for the next few hours, everyone doing something on their own. After the noon we went to check the situation of a puppy that had been thrown into the basement floor of an apartment house about six months ago. After that we were meaning on saying hello to Dona the horse and her precious foal Daria and of course all Carmena’s lovely pets.

Early in the morning we arrived to the yard of a two-storey apartment building. Some children had thrown the little puppy in the basement of this particular building in January and ever since the dog had lived in the darkness getting food from two kind residents using a hatch that opened up to the basement below. For the dog living in its agonizing prison, it’s the only contact to the outside world and through a couple of these hatches the dog can get even a glimpse of light. Though the dog has been living in isolation for six months he recognizes the voices of the two women who feed him and is brave enough to fetch the food from their hands. In other ways the dog is too timid even for a brief touch.

Jukka and Patricia landed into the basement using the hatch. They had about 50 metres of cable and some light with them. As soon as they landed, Jukka told us that the smell down there was revolting and the floor was filled with sewage, human faeces and dead rats. A couple of hours of exploring the floor Jukka realized that the area was enormous, the floor was as large as the building itself. Jukka tried to block as many escape possibilities as possible so the dog could be cornered to a smaller area when needed. We concluded that the next day the dog should not be fed so it would be as hungry as possible when he is given food the next time. In this food we were planning on hiding some sedatives to finally get the dog out of his prison.

Below some pictures of the space the dog comes to be fed.

Then we headed to Carmena’s to greet her pets and horses Dona and Daria. When we arrived at Carmena’s we were greeted by a pack of eager dogs and much to our surprise Carmena’s cats were also at home resting on a sunny afternoon. The best time to hunt for mice is of course as soon as the night falls.

After that we were already hurrying to meet Dona and Daria. Dona protected her little one and didn’t let us too close. Of course we got to take photos of the two, Dona was practically glowing with motherly pride and Daria was so touchingly sweet.

After stopping by at Carmena’s we headed to take a quick look at a site that could be one possibility for the new shelter. However it’s not easy to get water and sewerage to the site and these also demand for quite a big financial investment. So far the decision-makers of the city haven’t been able to give Pro Animals Romania a new site for the shelter which makes the situation quite difficult.

We were once again invited over a dinner at the family of Carmena’s brother. After a lovely meal we were soon hurrying back to the shelter. In the evening, after 10 pm, we gathered up to eat a late night snack with Carmena and Patricia though we were all very tired.

The next morning we went straight to the shelter to help out since it was Carmena’s birthday and we wanted to ease up her day as much as possible. The day was quite long and when we finally managed to celebrate Carmena it was already 11 pm. The atmosphere at Carmena’s birthday was warm and we got the chance to meet Carmena’s delightful parents. Carmena was very touched that some of her friends from Finland managed to join the celebration and thanked with tears in her eyes for the many gifts. Carmena also told us she would be so happy to have the same kinds of friends there in Tg-Jiu that she has here in Finland.

On the third day at the shelter we were meaning to meet the director of technical services of the city in order to discuss about the cooperation to remove the stray dog problem in the city. The meeting was very peculiar and the message the city gave us was pretty clear. They expected that we would have the financial resources as well as a strategy how we could help the city residents. They told that the city didn’t have the funds for spaying & neutering programmes. When we tried to ask about this year’s budget reserved for handling the stray dog problem in Tg-Jiu, they silenced at once. We told that it is very likely that their budget is ten times the budget Pro Animals Romania has to cope with in order to take care of 400 dogs and dogs of the city shelter as well.

Eventually we concluded that we would make a thorough report of the stray dog situation of Tg-Jiu and how the city has acted in the case as well as the situation in the whole Gorj County since it appeared that the decision-makers of Tg-Jiu find the situation of the city ideal in comparison with the other areas of Gorj. Maybe it is but it surely is not a reason not to cooperate when offered. We will send our report to EU, the national authorities of Romania and of course for the information of local authorities of Tg-Jiu.

Here’s the director of technical services along with Anu and Patricia.

We tried to persuade the city to make some improvements to the current situation of the city shelter where dogs reproduce recklessly, are not taken care of properly and do not get sufficient amount of food but they didn’t seem to pay attention to any word we said. Maybe one of the reasons is that in Romania men make the decisions and if there are women commenting on something, it’s not even worth listening or doing anything about. Maybe a sack of money would miraculously help but unfortunately we weren’t able to offer them that. We agreed to meet again in the autumn and draw up suggestions e.g. to start the spaying & neutering programme. Right now it seems somewhat impossible to come up with financial resources for the programme if we don’t find some larger organisation to back us up. 

For the past few days the media of Tg-Jiu has reported of the new EU-standard quality shelter of the city. Here are pictures of the shelter. You can all guess if the shelter really is EU-standard quality. Maybe the premises of administrative fill the EU-standard, but defenetly the premises for dogs does not. The dogs don’t have any access to outside as you can see. Water is dripping through the walls and roof, there is no sewerage other than one grating in the furthest cages.

Here's the "sewerage" of the new city shelter. 

On Tuesday afternoon it was time to try to catch the dog in the basement. Despite after three hours of trying the dog managed to escape to his hideaway though being under the influence of sedatives. Below is a picture of the dog’s hideout. So the dog rescue still continues.

The roof of the warehouse in the shelter area has partly collapsed thanks to the shelter cats Suzy and her new friend Missy. We are already worriedly thinking of the upcoming winter unless something miraculous happens when it comes to the new shelter.

 

Here are pictures of the residents of the warehouse. All puppies have been saved from the city shelter. Recently spayed Panditza has adopted three of the smallest puppies. In the pictures below can also be seen other residents of the warehouse.

On the night we arrived Tg-Jiu, there was a small puppy in the city side of the shelter that was vomiting black foam. The puppy sat on a tiny nook between the warehouse of the shelter and the surrounding fence so we couldn’t get it out of there. The next morning when we came back to the shelter I immediately ran to check up on the puppy and to my horror saw the puppy lying on the ground exhausted, covered in its own excrement. We didn’t come up with any other solution than to find tongs to cut the fence. Then I took the half-dead puppy to the warehouse, bathed it, tucked it to a terry towel and gave it water using a small pipet. The puppy managed to swallow small doses of water just barely. In the afternoon Patricia gave the puppy fluids and in the evening we gave it some milk replacer. The next day the puppy already ate on his own and after getting his stomach full, he fell adorably asleep with his head on the bowl.

Below a picture of Dona’s former stall by the shelter. Nowadays it’s filled with puppies and Nalle and Vierme who suffer from problems in the eyesight.

Here are a couple of photos of the guardian dog of the shelter, Nemo, and two dogs in front of the city shelter. These two seem to enjoy their nap right by the road. On several occasions I moved Nemo further away from the road since I feared someone might run him over.
 

There is so much to do at the shelter and it’s also important to mingle with the dogs. At times hours go by without us volunteers even speaking to each other and we only see a glimpse of each other. The time goes by so fast in Tg-Jiu and the time to say goodbye is always too soon. In the evening of the last day when saying goodbye to the dogs the tears begin to flow, you just wouldn’t want to leave again. It’s also always tearful to say goodbye to Carmena and Patricia. Luckily we find comfort in the fact that we will meet again soon. Hopefully we still will though the fear of an eviction of the shelter is always strong and casts a shadow on every trip we take. Sometimes it’s just inevitable to think sad things. Our fight still continues despite all the hardships.

More pictures of the shelter dogs, Carmena’s dogs and cats as well as Dona and Daria can be found from Picasa .

-Kiia-