When I started this blog I told myself that I wasn't going to discuss the Romanian dog problem. I was going to have this blog be as positive as possible and it is hard to be positive when talking about the hundreds of thousands of street dogs that have no one to care for them, face the threat of torture and abuse, and die from starvation and exposure. And this all happens in a country that no one in the US even knows where it is. However, the truth is that I have a wonderful dog that I adopted from Romania two years ago and since then I have brought over 3 other dogs to foster that I found loving homes for. SO, Romanian dogs are a part of my daily life and there is something important that I want to talk about. Because I could talk for hours about this, I will keep it short.
My Romanian dog, Wallace
Katy, the Romanian dog I fostered this Spring, who now lives in Pittsburgh
There is a brave, caring, and hardworking lady in Romania named Irina who cares for over 70 dogs by herself with just her mother to help her. She takes care of sick puppies, old blind dogs, dogs with disabilities, and perfectly fine unwanted dogs that no one else will help. She builds them dog houses, carries their food and water, does a lot of the medical treatment herself - and all without a car and while working multiple jobs to support all of this.
She has just very recently moved the entire pack of dogs (and even some cats!) to a new location on the other side of the country in Romania because she was going to be evicted from the land where she kept the dogs. She now needs donations to build a new shelter. She is literally working night and day and does not have time to fundraise, so luckily she has some angels that are helping her. One of them has created the site below to make it easy for people to donate to Irina. This is totally legit. It is not the Romanian version of the African cousin that we all know who needs money if you'll just respond to his email.
If you have an extra dollar in change in your car or if you skip that morning chai latte that I just talked about in my last post, you can use the link below to send the money to help Irina. She pours her heart, soul, and every penny she has into keeping dogs alive and giving them a chance when no one else will.
I broke my self-imposed rule, but I am a believer that some rules are meant to be taken loosely.
http://www.youcaring.com/pet-expenses/new-shelter-for-street-dogs-in-valcea-romania/80769