In the month of June, we continued our critical aid work in Ukraine while helping to battle animal abuses and emergencies in various other parts of the world. Your donations are pivotal to our work. Here’s how you helped animals in June.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
There are some sights that move you so deeply, you never forget them - no matter how hard you try. This was the case when we saw the heart-rending situation for street dogs in Trebinje. When we first saw the dogs living on a garbage dump visited the shelter - we stepped in immediately to help. The dogs, discarded like trash, lived in true horror. Ninety percent of puppies taken there die almost immediately.
We met with city officials and promised that, with your help, we will build a shelter. Where the dogs are now, on a stinking garbage dump, they have little hope of being adopted. These poor animals sit there, day after day, hopelessly waiting for human love that never comes because no one wants to go there… and then they die.
We have found the land and we paid architects to design a modern shelter - all we need are the funds to get started. We asked for your help in giving the dogs of Trebinje a better life. You responded generously, but we still have a long way to go before we can give these sweet, loving creatures the life they deserve. They do not deserve to live and die on a garbage dump, being eaten alive by flies. Your help is still very much needed - click to donate now.
South Korea
In June, we told you about the horrors of puppies being fattened for slaughter and to be eaten. This kind of ritualistic animal abuse is a tradition in some South Korean families, who have been known to torture their own pet dogs to death to eat at picnics. Many years ago, even before NFA was founded, our founders helped kickstart South Korea’s anti dog-meat movement, but there is still much work to do - particularly as the three-day Boknal Days period in July and August looms. During this time, the hottest days of the year, almost all dog-meat slaughter happens, and it is gruesome, ruthless and utterly detestable.
Together with partners on the ground, we help to rescue, rehabilitate and, critically, rehome dogs saved from the brutal dog-meat market. It is a costly exercise because it can cost around $100 (£80) per month per rescued dog - but it is worth it to know that we have saved these animals from excruciating and sickening death, and that they will one day find loving homes where they won’t be slaughtered and eaten.
Severodonetsk, Ukraine
As we promised, we continue our work in Ukraine. We are helping to get critical aid to hundreds of animals in the gravest danger, thanks to your support.
While there have been many tragedies, there have been a few happy endings, too. Tripod was just four months old when he was severely injured in an explosion near Severodonetsk. He was found by soldiers with his back paw hanging on by just a tendon. They rushed him to an infirmary and treated him alongside wounded soldiers, where the only option was to amputate the paw - a surgery made possible by your donations.
Today, Tripod is happily living in a foster home with his new fur-siblings. He is healing well and enjoying life just like a puppy should. Sadly, the war clinic where he was treated no longer exists, another victim of this terrible, savage war.
Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine
Since the start of the war, our partner, Ecoprotection of Starokostyantyniv (EPS) in Khmelnytskyi, has taken in hundreds of animals from some of Ukraine’s worst-hit areas, including Kharkiv, Kyiv and Mariupol. EPS is struggling to keep up with the never-ending stream of war refugee dogs and cats, all of whom need food and shelter. They simply can’t afford to keep up with the constant influx – already they shelter 300 dogs and 40 cats and recently rescued 14 cats and a tiny kitten from a heavily bombed region. They turned to us for help, and we turned to you.
Because the shelter is massively overcrowded, they acted FAST and rented an apartment as a shelter for the cats, but this was just a temporary solution. We urgently needed to increase the size of the EPS shelter and provide food for the endless flood of animals seeking shelter and sustenance.
Once again, we reached out to you, and you opened your hearts to the animals of Ukraine - animals with nothing, not even roofs over their heads or scraps to eat. You can read the latest on our work in this war-torn region here.
Croatia
For six years, we have supported hundreds of dogs at the Zarkovica shelter in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik. It is a private shelter run by one severely overworked woman; it only exists because the city has not built a municipal shelter - even though it is legally obligated to do so. Zarkovica has fallen into disrepair due to the sheer volume of animals and lack of municipal support, and the national government - fed up with the state of it - has ordered it to close immediately.
As you read this, we are fighting to buy more time for the dogs, but the shelter WILL close and many of the animals will face euthanasia. This is because those considered too ‘costly’ to treat will simply be put down. We are fighting the clock to raise funds to help vaccinate, microchip and treat the dogs so they can be sent to other European countries to be adopted or fostered, or sent to shelters where they will not be euthanized. We will not give up on the dogs of Zarkovica, even as the police move in to shut the doors for good.
In the news:
Man Given Huge Fine for Dumping New-born Kittens in Garbage Bin
Authorities from the Greek island of Crete have fined a man who dumped five new-born kittens in a garbage bin an unprecedented amount of $263,000 (£214,000) under new Greek pet ownership laws. The man also faces prosecution for a felony charge and, if found guilty, could spend up to five years in prison. [Read More on the new born kittens that were dumped in a garbage bin]
As always, these life-changing, life-saving campaigns are made possible by your kind and generous donations. Thank you for continuing to support our work so that we may fight to help every precious life possible.
Image credits: Image 6: Keep Talking Greece
