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Trip to Tg-Jiu shelter April 3rd to 7th
Although I knew that the country is full of mountains, the long journey from the airport to the city of Tg-Jiu, after a short highway portion, along the poor-conditioned mountain roads came as a surprise to me. Luckily Jukka was an experienced driver. Along the journey, I saw plenty of dead dogs, and one cat. Luckily we didn’t see any dogs injured in an accident.
The stray dogs that we met at the rest stops were hungry. One of the best memories from the journey was when a dark dog, after getting its stomach full, tumbled with all four legs waving in the air.
 
There were more dogs at the shelter than I could expect. There were lots of dogs even in the warehouse; some of them were bitches recovering from the neutering. The dogs were lively and sociable, but some of them wanted to keep distance to a stranger. I didn’t go to every part of the cages, if some of the dogs were guarding their home. I certain smaller cages, other dogs gathered around me to get the attention, while one was guarding the situation from the roof of the dog house.
Because there are lots of dogs, the dog houses are important. In addition to sheltering the dogs during winter and long nights, their roofs add space to the cages. Some of the dogs had skin problems. We also saw bad teeth, healing wounds, blind eyes and dogs moving around with three legs. We all know that skin problems need very long treatment and some of it, like demodecy can reappear time to time from different factors. Those dogs who have skin problems in the shelter are constantly checked and given treatments. Leg injuries are usually memories of car accidents which happen too often on busy roads. Those few blind dogs are staying in the part of shelter where is more room to walk and run and the blindness did not disturb the dogs, who were running and playing in the shelter as the others.
There was a stronger smell down the hill, because the dirty water from the shelter goes to the mud pond over there. Geese and ducks thrived in the pond. If they will be eaten one day, they must taste a bit particular.
 
The shelter had an atmosphere filled with joy of life. I did not experience anything overwhelmingly difficult during the trip. We spent the days wondering around and socializing with the animals. It was rewarding when I and Sari cut the very tangled coats of two dogs. They let us handle themselves amazingly well, although the task was quite slow with the small scissors. We had to take a few breaks, because as the thick and oily hair reduced, the giddy animal started to “squirm”. One of the dogs had got used to grooming before, as Kiia had cut its coat earlier. By myself I petted and brushed dogs, because I can’t perform any care procedures. It was touching when dogs that had got to know me, when I had petted or brushed them, often stayed leaning on my leg. It was important for them to be close to someone. We didn’t have a mutual language with the shelter workers, so I could not share their work.
 
The most touching moments were at the city shelter and when I saw Carmen making her tour at the shelter and all the free-roaming dogs gathered around her. We also got our part of the attention when the dogs realized that we have goodies, as well. One small dog yapped at me in front of the shelter and later suddenly snapped my leg. The skin was slightly broken, but it healed quickly.
The city shelter was a hell for animals on earth; they should not keep any animals in the barren, cold concrete hall. The noise was unbearable, but seeing the apathetic animals that didn’t come to greet the people from the cages along the middle isle was even worse. Some of the animals were perhaps newcomers, as there were also dogs that wanted attention. The staff consisted of peaceful-looking men. Carmena brought food aid to the shelter. I saw two small ridge roofed dog houses; there were even just a few wooden platforms.
A bitch with five puppies, fed by Jukka and Kiia, stayed in the bunker next to the city shelter
 
The hospitality from the family of Carmena and Patricia was overwhelming. Thanks for the fellow travellers. Pro Animals Romania and Pro Animals Finland do an important job. I would like to urge anyone who is even slightly interested in visiting Romania to be brave enough to travel there.
Pirjo
- TL
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