K-9 Angels in Romania 27th July 2014
Mission:
- To start our mass ‘spayathon’ with money raised from the 300 mile cycle ride to visit shelter that the k-9 angels have funded.
- To visit public shelters to see how we can help better the lives of the hundreds of dogs left behind.
- To visit Cristina to see how we can help her with the 200 dogs in her care.
- Plus the difficult task of choosing a few dogs to put up for adoption.
Here is full account of this vital follow up to the trip which K-9 Angels embarked upon in March 2014.
With Gabriel Boriga during our previous visit
Last time we were in Romania we met Gabriel Boriga, Mayor of Targoviste, and he had promised that he would clean up the public shelter and not allow dogs to be murdered anymore. We now know he lied to our faces, and at the press conference which we held with him and all of Romania’s news channels. We were even on pro TV news, the top TV channel here, with the mayor telling his pack of lies. After we returned from our last trip we learned Mayor Boriga had been fired for fraud. Surprise surprise!
So we had to plan a return trip to not only see what, if any, improvements had been made at the Targoviste shelter (as most of the dogs in this shelter that we saw last time had been killed) but also to make a start on our mass spay campaign.
Not only that, but also to see the new shelter which Aurelia and Madalina are building with funds raised by the K-9 Angels team.
So much to do! And we had also planned to visit some public shelters to see how we could help.
We had a lot to do in just 4 days!!
On Sunday 27th July we took an early flight from Luton to Bucharest, Romania, after having just one hour’s sleep! Start as you mean to go on.
We arrived around 2.30pm local time and Cristina met us at the airport. (More about Cristina later in this story).
We then drove for over an hour to go straight to the vets’ in Targoviste area where we were about to make a start on our mass spay. As soon as we got to the vets’ we went straight into theatre where there was a dog all prepped and about to be spayed.
We scrubbed up and put our theatre gowns on to start spaying.
This was the most amazing and surreal experience for me as I had dreamt of this for so long. It was a momentous moment to say the least!
Together we spayed the first dog, with Pola and I as assistants helping the vet with sterilising, blood pressure, putting plaster/bandage on etc. the dog we spayed did not have a name so I named her Sheba.
Sheba needs a loving forever home by the way. We spayed 12 dogs, and stayed with them as they came around from the anaesthetic, so sweet to see their tails wagging and them knowing that they were safe and secure as we stroked them.
We will start the full mass spay in October, when we will spay 150-200 dogs with money raised from cycle ride.
We at K-9 Angels know that to end the cycle of horror we MUST spay as many dogs as possible, so spaying is an ongoing campaign for us. Please help us carry on spaying as many dogs as possible. It costs just 20 euro to spay a dog and this potentially saves thousands of unwanted pups being born into a short life full of misery.
Please donate through PayPal through the web address Donate@k-9angels.co.uk with the reference ‘spay’ – very important that you write the correct reference so your donation goes to the right appeal. Thank you x
After the spay we took we took the dogs that had been spayed back to Cristina’s shelter so the dogs could get some rest and come around from the anaesthetic in a happy environment.
We love coming to Cristina’s shelter because her dogs always look happy and full of hope. Her dogs know that they are in a safe place, and you can see this from them running around joyously.
200 beautiful dogs, but we could only choose a few to put up for adoption so we chose Beckham and Toby to promote for adoption.
Mother and her 5 puppies safe at Christina’s shelter and looking for a forever home
Cristina also showed us a mother with her 5 puppies and Hero the dog that she had tried to catch for 3 days but he was so scared.
Hero, with the wire embedded into his neck. He’s now safe and being rehabilitated at Christina’s shelter
Hero had wire embedded into his neck, he had had a very lucky escape from the dog catchers but unfortunately Hero would not let us anywhere near him. He hid behind a settee and cowered, shaking.
Cristina feels it will take a year before he will be able to be re-homed. Poor traumatised boy; we will keep you updated on Hero’s progress and recovery.
Do you remember Freda, the dog locked behind the bars in the wall of the shelter, who we removed from Targoviste shelter when we were there in March? Freda now runs freely and plays happily on grass! Freda will be ready for a loving home in 6 months’ time.
After visiting Cristina’s shelter we went to buy food to feed the street dogs. It started to rain as we were feeding the dogs. All of the dogs know Cristina’s car as she feeds them every night.
She drives and as she is pulling over dogs coming running out from nowhere to be fed.
As we drove back to Cristina house and with the rain getting heavier, 2 puppies were spotted at the side of the road just sitting on the wet grass so we pulled over very quickly and I ran to grab them both quickly. Poor puppies – so tiny, wet and shaking.
These puppies had been dumped as there was a box nearby.
What sort of a person dumps puppies to fend for themselves?
We wrapped them in clothes and quickly took them back to Christina’s shelter.
We named the puppies Sadie and Josie. Both puppies would hopefully need a forever home.
Sadly Josie died a few days later, but Sadie is fighting to survive and we hope will recover.
What a day! Totally exhausted!
Super-woman Cristina is an inspiration to K-9 Angels
Cristina Paun, WOW – what a woman you are! Cristina is a very rare person who I feel honoured to know. She gives me the strength to carry on helping. Cristina is a wonderful woman who has literally dedicated her life to helping the dogs of Targoviste.
Cristina not only has a full time job, but she has her own shelter which houses 200 dogs!
She has also run in a marathon to raise funds for these dogs, and every single night she goes out in her car and feeds the street dogs.
The street dogs know her car and appear from nowhere when she drives to feed them.
Cristina does all of this on just 4 hours sleep a night and she always looks so beautiful too.
I cannot sing her praises enough! If people did just a fraction of what she does for these dogs then there wouldn’t be this problem in the first place.
Cristina, from the bottom of my heart, I think the work you do is incredible and you are an example to us all!
To help Cristina, who wants to add on to her shelter so she can house another 100 dogs, and to help feed the dogs she already has and supply medical care for them too, please send whatever amount you can to Donate@k-9angels.co.uk through PayPal with the reference ‘Cristina’s dogs’
Cristina literally CANNOT carry on helping these dogs without these vital funds.
Thank you!
You can also support our work by making a monthly donation, we cannot carry out the vital work that we do without funds.
Please go to www.k-9angels.org
Love and doggy licks
K-9 Angels XXX
Words: Victoria Eisermann
Photos: Max Hamilton