Let's continue to get involved together!

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER FOR KOSOVO'S VETERINARY SECTOR

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1. In the third year since we started working in Kosovo in January 2015, we have focused very heavily on sharing knowledge. In March 2017 Stray dog expert and ethologist/vet from Bari, Michele Minunno, and President Helen Wormser of the StrayCoCo Foundation at the Pristina Veterinary Faculty gave a presentation on CNVR (Catch-Neuter-Vaccinate-Release) and the behavior of street dogs in freedom after treatment.
2. termination August 2017 We engaged veterinarian DVM Nusa Schumet from the Slovenian Animal Welfare Organization, who taught 9 veterinarians and two students castration techniques, especially on the female dog, for 5 days. This is in view of the state castration campaign on all street dogs planned for 2018.
3. From September 12-16, 2017 Dr. Valdet Gjinovci, CEO of the Food & Veterinary Agency, stayed in Switzerland by privately paid invitation and visited the Zurich Veterinary Office, the Zurich City Police - responsible for dog control - the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office and AMICUS/ANIS. He was not only very impressed by the Swiss organization, but also went back to his country and initiated the first milestone, the decree by Prime Minister Haradinaj, according to which all street dogs should be castrated in 2018. In December, the country's parliament approved the budget request of 1.3 million euros for this purpose.

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RESPONSIBLE DOG HUSBANDRY EDUCATION

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In Mamusha, we launched a program in December 2017, according to which all dogs should be chipped and dog owners registered. The community representatives are delighted. Dog owners are asked to castrate their animals if they let them stray. And the Susy Utzinger booklet for children was distributed in schools, which was also translated into Turkish by this foundation. Mamusha is spoken in Turkish. This film was shot and designed by BERLIN ILLUSTRATOR Anna Fleischhauer, WHO LIVES IN PRIZREN, AND FILMMAKER Isuf Bytyçi. The film is being promoted on Facebook in Kosovo and over 20,000 Kosovars have already seen it. As far as adults as well as children are concerned, we primarily need to work visually - Facebook also lends itself to that. 77% of Kosovars are practically illiterate... and even worldwide they no longer read just watch :-)

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OUTLOOK - NEXT FEW WEEKS

We are waiting for the nationwide neutering of street dogs to start - for the time being, we have to continue working on our own account and are very grateful for castration donations. But a new problem also awaits us: The state of Kosovo wants to generously compensate for euthanasia instead of castration (75 euros for castration, 50 euros for euthanasia).

Since most vets cannot castrate, extensive killings are to be expected, especially where there are no small veterinarians - i.e. almost everywhere except in Pristina and where we work. We definitely require the statistics to be published! Since only street dogs are to be castrated at government expense, our focus is increasingly on dog owners, the cause of the problem.

Old, sick, no longer used shepherd dogs are thrown out onto the street, their puppies are “disposed of” in various ways - it is important to prevent unwanted puppies from coming into the world, it is important to show how this can be prevented and, especially for poor people who barely have anything to live for themselves, we must offer free treatment of their dogs. The last private dogs were treated in the town of Decan at the request of some old owners. The pension in Kosovo is 70 euros per month - no vet can be paid with this. If we don't help, no one helps and the animals are abandoned.

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Since the distances to the rented clinic in Nagavc are often too far and the dogs have to be transported for a long time, we bought a VW Crafter privately, which is being transported from Austria to Kosovo these days. As soon as there is a budget for interior design for an animal ambulance, we will seek donations for this as well as for further projects.

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MORE INFORMATION

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1. Overall 1597 street dogs were treated and castrated by our team in western Kosovo 300 street dogs with our financial support from partner organizations such as “Pro Qen Albania” and “JETA Tier und Mensch” in Albania.
2. Would you like to see for yourself what your donations do? The planned trip with sponsors to Kosovo takes place from October 26 - 31, 2018 instead of (the independent arrival or departure can also take place earlier or later.)
3. which Donation receipts for the year 2016 are being processed and will be sent to you by post at the end of January 2018. This automatically applies to Switzerland, if someone outside Switzerland would like a receipt, please write to us.
4. And occasionally someone asks us whether we spend donations on gifts and administration and, if so, how much. The fact is, 95% of donations go 1:1 to the dog, the remaining% is spent on Federal Foundation Supervision and Auditing, for the costs of, for example, the small film and for printed matter such as school books, information flyers, etc. Travel, stamps, envelopes, pens, etc. — everything you need for the administration of a foundation and for good contact with donors and partners in Kosovo is paid privately.

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With thanks - Your Dr. Helen Wormser for the StrayCoco Foundation