360 street dogs have found refuge at the Zarcovica Animal Shelter, on a mountain outside Dubrovnik in Croatia, where they are cared for by Sandra Sambrailo, a woman many people call the “Saint of the Mountain.”
Now it’s crunch time for the dogs
We exposed the previous mayor of Dubrovnik for lying about dog kennels he claimed to have bought and he lost his job. Now the battle is on for his replacement.
An election for a new mayor will be held on June 6. One candidate has pledged to create a no kill animal shelter, the other was head of an organisation that tried to seize the dogs in the middle of the night and send them to kill shelters.
Network for Animals has thrown its support behind mayoral candidate Mato Frankovic, who has promised to build a municipal animal shelter if he wins. Mato won the first round of elections but faces a tough battle on June 6.
If Mato loses, the dogs face disaster and death.
Even if he wins, it will take time to pass the laws to create a shelter and time is running out for the dogs.
Sandra Sambrailo told us with tears in her eyes that after 14 years of living alone on a mountainside that is freezing cold and wet in winter and baking hot in summer, she does not know how much longer she can continue.
Zarcovica has no sanitation, running water or electricity. The dogs need food, medical care and love. Network for Animals is helping. We have paid for vaccinations, shelters and medical care. But new dogs arrive all the time. We have to do more because the street dogs of Dubrovnik have no other hope.
Please, if you can, make a generous donation to Network for Animals so we can continue to help dogs in distress in Dubrovnik.
