To everybody’s relief the year 2010 at the shelter and at Carmena’s home started without any damage caused by the fireworks. The weather in Tg-Jiu has changed a lot – at times it has snowed heavily up to tens of centimetres and sometimes it has been freezingly cold. In mid-January it was so warm that the snow melted away and we were already hopeful that it could’ve been the end of the winter. However, a couple of days ago it began to snow again and it’s about – 10 degrees Celsius now. The temperatures are said to stay low at least until the early-February.
The everyday life at the shelter after the shock and extra work caused by the fire has stayed pretty stable. Sure in addition to maintaining the shelter every day, Carmena has been troubled by the problems at the city shelter and she has also continued to feed the tens of dogs e.g. at the old landfill. We mustn’t forget either that Carmena takes care of dozens of pets of her own, about 20 dogs on a yard across her house as well as horses Dona and Daria.
The fire in December and other time-consuming tasks took so much of Carmena’s “free time” that she wasn’t able to prepare herself for the exams needed for her doctorate degree at the University so she had to postpone them. Patricia has also had so much to do at the shelter, trying to find the new lot for the shelter and when taking about a dozen shelter dogs to a vet in Craiova (since the local was unable to treat them) that she hasn’t participated in her veterinary studies in Timisoara this month. She will take the missed classes later. It is also likely that Patricia will come to Finland next summer for a couple of weeks to get to know to a Finnish veterinary clinic. This introduction period in Finland is, of course, related to her studies.
We are still actively looking for a new lot for the shelter. A while ago Carmena and Patricia were busy trying to figure out how suitable would a certain piece of land by a river nearby the city of Tg-Jiu be for the new shelter. This lot was ideal when it came to the location and size but the river nearby caused a lot of trouble since the risk of floods was not only possible but great. Carmena and Patricia collected information of the risk of flooding as well as the river from the local environmental officials and they confirmed that the risk was indeed considerable. We already pondered the possibility of building a dam that would stop the water from flooding to the lot. Then we found out that there was a cesspool nearby that apparently hadn’t ever been emptied and the sewage had softened the soil even more as well as poisoned it. After receiving this piece of information we decided not to pursue the land so the search continues.
Here are some photos of the river and lot:
About the city shelter
Despite our numerous protests, letters and petitions, nothing has changed in the shelter maintained by the city of Tg-Jiu. It has become painfully obvious that if no higher national authority or someone from EU is able or willing to generally supervise the animal cruelty crimes at municipal shelters, nothing will change in the near future. I can’t even imagine how Carmena is able to visit the city shelter every day and help the suffering dogs the little she can. Carmena told me in her latest message that if she didn’t get some strength from the dogs of her own shelter, she wouldn’t be able to face the suffering the dogs at the city shelter have to endure.
Carmena and Patricia still take photos of the city shelter dogs every week and report about them to the national officials since they say it has caused even some alertness in the city decision-makers. Recently PAFi sent the report of the city shelter compiled in last autumn for Docs4Dogs, an organization collecting material of e.g. the situation of Romania in order to improve the animal welfare. This report has also been sent earlier e.g. to EU, national authorities of Romania and international animal welfare organizations. In addition to these the report has been forwarded to the Council of Europe and World Organisation for Animal Health that together with the EU have given the joint declaration on animal welfare in Europe (Strasbourg Nov. 24th 2006).
Collecting of dog food for the shelter continues
In November we managed to collect and take c. 3500 kilos of dog food and 500 kilos of horse feed to the shelter to reinforce the winter stock and fill the gap left by the Brigitte Bardot Foundation. BB Foundation won’t continue their monthly food supply (1/3 of the whole supply of the shelter) so PAFi and our friends are now forced to help to fill this gap. I strongly believe that together we will succeed in the task though we may have to do some extra work for that.
The next food delivery to the shelter will be sent to the shelter in mid-February or a bit after that depending on how we manage to collect c. 4000 kilos of food. The costs of the delivery are the same as in November, 1600 euros that is and we have now half the amount collected.
In future we may have to consider if in addition to the monthly donations, we could be able to collect some extra to secure the food supplies now that BB-Foundation doesn’t deliver anymore. To secure the situation we could buy the needed amount, about 3000 kg of dry food a month from a supplier in Romania. Collecting and organizing food here in Finland is such a challenging task that we'd always need a small army for it. Pro Animals Romania might be able to negotiate with local import companies to sign a contract of a large, regular dog food stock for a reasonable price.
You can still participate in our dog food campaign by donating to PAFi’s account IBAN: FI08 5045 0620 0918 15, SWIFT: OKOYFIHH. Add a message “ruokakeräys” or “for food”.
