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Update Dec 19th 2009
Now the electricity has been reinstalled inside the warehouse and also in the caravan. The electricians had told Carmena that at first they hadn’t wanted to come and do the job either like all the other electricians of the city. These electricians had either ignored Carmena’s calls or switched off their phones so they wouldn’t have had to answer her calls. Eventually these two electricians had felt so guilty and felt sorry for Carmena and Patricia that they had decided to help. So it seems that we actually needed a fire that might have turned out very fatal in order to make even two city citizens feel guilty about not having done anything to help Carmena and Patricia to maintain the shelter.
The next day two local newspapers reported about the fire. Carmena also put a little announcement on the paper asking the locals e.g. to volunteer or make a little donation. No one has contacted them or showed up offering to help. I can’t help but wonder how indifferent and uncaring people can be. The city authorities let alone decision-makers have made no contact either or offered their help. Instead, Carmena and Patricia are constantly asked to check animal cruelty reports though people are well aware that they have their hands full with the shelter.
It has snowed in Tg-Jiu and it’s getting so cold that the water bowls are instantly frozen. They forecast c. -20 degrees which make Carmena and Patricia anxious since the freezing weather makes the work at the shelter even more difficult and freeze up the pipes. Every day the shelter workers have set up a campfire in front of the shelter to warm themselves up and according to Carmena and Patricia are warming up and having a coffee a bit too often since the workers seem to neglect some of the work that needs to be done.
Patricia and Carmena have tried to make the conditions for the workers as comfortable as possible and bought them warm and waterproof work clothes, boots and gloves for the winter. During breaks they can warm up in the caravan since there are radiators now and have a cup of hot juice or coffee. Despite all of this the workers complain from day to another and don’t bother to think anything themselves though Carmena and Patricia work exactly in the same conditions as they do.
Though the locals in Tg-Jiu are unwilling to help, let’s show them once again an example what it’s like to care. I’m a firm believer that whatever we are ready to do and give for our closest ones – whether they were two or four-legged or even legless – it will surely come around to us in our lives.
There is a challenge on PAFi Forum to cover the costs of the damage caused by the fire and I will also update one of the topics whenever I get new information from Patricia and Carmena.
You can participate to cover the costs by donating. PAFi’s account is still the same 504506-291815 and you can add a message ”tulipalo” or ”fire” to direct the donation for this certain purpose. The donations will be directed to Pro Animals Romania’s account during December.
Here are photos of the electrical installations of the caravan.
And here are photos of the new installations of the warehouse.
Tg-Jiu shelter in winter
Update on Dec 17th 2009
Carmena had finally found a man who had arrived to the shelter with his partner to reinstall the electricity of the warehouse. Hopefully these men were professionals since the job was probably quite difficult. The costs of the job including the work and materials are approximately 1300 euros. The heaters etc. lost in the fire had cost about 500 euros and the materials for the new roof panels were also about 500 euros. Carmena’s father (72 yrs) and brother had fixed the roof panels so the job had cost nothing. The costs to cover the things damaged in the fire were luckily half less than what we had expected. However, the balks of the roof were quite badly damaged in the fire and may not hold up the new roof for long. The balks have always been a problem when fixing up the roof.
Patricia told that she had just noticed that the pills in the medicine cabinet had suffered some damage from the water and cannot be used anymore. Luckily not all the tablets were in the same place but the reality is that medicine is much needed at the shelter and there can’t ever be enough of them.
Update Dec 15th 2009
Someone from the city electricity had visited the shelter on Monday and told that the electricity could be put back on. So far no electrician has offered to do the job, everyone has had some explanation for not coming. I’ll update the situation as I know more. For acute information, check out PAFi’s forum.
Update Dec 13th 2009
Last night I received a shocking message from Patricia. There had been a fire at the back room of the warehouse of the shelter. The fire had been caused by the damaged external wires of the warehouse. As you remember, in August 2006 a Finnish electrician fixed the hazardous internal electrical installations of the warehouse but he couldn’t touch the external wires because of the dangerous voltage. The power should have been switched off before fixing anything. The city decision-makers have had no interest in helping with the electricity. Maybe they had hoped for something like this to happen so it would be easier to evict Carmena and Patricia away from the site along with their dogs.
When the fire had started, Carmena had been on her usual round at the city shelter and Patricia was retrieving leftovers for the dogs from a market nearby. When Patricia had arrived to the shelter, there were two fire trucks putting out the fire. There were ten dogs still inside the warehouse because the shelter worker had managed to rescue only one dog. The firemen wouldn’t go inside the building so Patricia had made a quick decision and had gone to rescue the dogs and cats herself though the room had been filled with thick smoke. Most of the dogs had been unconscious already but with Patricia’s quick and efficient first-aid all dogs had regained consciousness. According to the firemen, Suzy the cat had jumped out of one of the broken windows when they had started to extinguish the fire.
After Patricia had somewhat recovered from the shocking situation, she told me that the only thing she and Carmena want now is to see the bright side of everything, meaning that no dog or Suzy had died in the fire. If the fire had started late the previous evening or night the situation would’ve been completely different and it would have been likely that no dog would’ve survived because of the smoke. It was miraculous that the firefighters had arrived so fast! If they had arrived even five minutes later the fire would’ve spread to the larger room. The walls of the warehouse are made of stone but the roof is flammable.
Right now there’s no electricity in the warehouse. Next week we’ll know more about how big of a process it is to reinstall electricity and how it can be done. Apparently we also need a permission from the city to install the electricity. Of course we are hopeful that the electricity could be reinstalled for a reasonable price and in a way that it causes no danger anymore. All radiators and heaters as well as some of the roof panels were damaged in the fire but luckily no other valuables were lost. The back room of the warehouse was mainly used for rags and food bowls.
Here are some pictures of the damaged room after the fire. Here are also photos of the rescued dogs
The back of the warehouse. Above you can see the hole that leads to ”the attic” and the dangerous wires.
Below photos of the rescued dogs.
Here’s Suzy who suffered only minor burns when escaping from the fire.
- AK
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