2022 Autumn letter from Kosovo

Dear animal lovers

On our own behalf, we regret to announce the resignation of three Board of Trustees. Veterinarians Dr. Hans-Ulrich Rey and Dr. Mona Irmer have left the Board of Trustees. Dr. Rey recently gave up his practice for reasons of age. He was the co-founder of the StrayCoCo Foundation and visited Kosovo repeatedly to take a look. Dr. Irmer was also there from the start and helped us generate significant donations. Laura Shqipe Frei joined us later and managed our accounting department. We really appreciated the years spent together. A new addition is med.vet. Nadja Berger, she is not only a veterinarian but also an animal psychologist and VIETA Association member. As an expert on behavioral problems in dogs, she Dog courses.

Montenegro is currently going haywire again politically, the government has been removed, meaning that there are signs of change in the veterinary office once again. In Niksic, we have pulled out all the stops to register all dogs. Our partner vet goes from house to house chipping dogs. Our media campaign is also running in the city and in the villages.

In Kosovo, we are in direct contact with the head of the veterinary office, whose team is once again considering mass euthanasia of dogs instead of moving forward and introducing dog owner control. The Kosovo Animal Rights Foundation exerts political influence wherever possible. We and our partners will fight against this form of “extermination” of wonderful and peaceful dogs until the very end. That is our promise to you!

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yours
Dr. Helen Wormser
President of the Board of Trustees

MONTENEGRO - NIKSIC - Current programs!

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Plakat Kastration Informations-Kampagne in Montenegrog

Schulunterricht über Haltung von Haustieren in Montenegro

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We rented billboards throughout the Niksic region and asked them to chip, castrate and not abandon the dogs. The campaign is in line with the one we carried out in spring with the Animal Rights Foundation Kosovo. Translated into Montenegrin and provided with the appropriate legal bases, the city also supports this campaign with its logo. Posters are hung up in the villages, schools are visited and last but not least, our partner vet DVM Aleksandra Krivokapic spent two days in the national scout camp and taught the children about dog husbandry and the causes of the street dog population.

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TV appearances for the dogs!

In an intensive appeal at the local Niksic TV station Our vet (left) has called on all citizens to chip their dogs, register and not abandon the animals. It's in Montenegrin — but you'll get an impression.

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Attempted animal rescue Niksic

This female dog was pulled out of the canal completely hypothermic by the fire department, she had several bites from other dogs and unfortunately did not survive despite all efforts. But the people in Niksic also show their hearts for animals! That's why we're helping there.

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Feuerwehr rettet unterkühlten Hund in Niksic, Montenegro

Feuerwehr trägt unterkühlten Hund zum Auto in Niksic, Montenegro

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KOSOVO

Kosovo is currently not pleased - with the exception of our contract partners and the mayor in four regions. For the first time since 2017, there has been loud thought about mass euthanasia in planned animal shelters, while the Veterinary Office is not implementing the regulations which could hold irresponsible dog owners accountable and could contribute to reducing the stray population.

We have been in direct contact with Flamur Kadriu, interim head of the Veterinary Office, for some time and are trying to prevent the worst. We contacted several animal welfare NGOs here, but received no support. On the other hand, the Four Paws and stray dog expert Manuela Rowlings spoke to the Kosovo Animal Rights Foundation against the euthanasia of healthy street dogs in animal shelters. And above all, they share our view that no animal shelters should be built in Kosovo at the moment - there are too many stray animals and we want to prevent a second Romania in Kosovo.

Thank you for this expert support!

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Informations-Kampagne in Kosovo gegen das Töten von Strassenhunden

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Drenas Kosovo

For the time being, our strategy in Drenas remains the expansion of rural infrastructure for pets. Supply creates demand — our vets condemn mass euthanasia and save dogs' lives.

The clinic in Drenas with Sanctuary is already under construction. We urgently need donations for completion.

In addition to the old abused JETA, YAVIS, a young blind male, lives in the sanctuary. The vet Shaban Mehmeti is very fond of animals and as part of the castration program, he and Artan, his employee, capture most dogs by hand - because they approach them in a friendly way and not like dog catchers in commercial veterinary practices.

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Bau StrayCoCo Gnadenhof in Drenas, Kosovo

Hunde in geschütztem Bereich in Gnadenhof

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FINALLY: TOURIST SERVICE MENTALITY!

Would you like to work for us? You will experience the Blue Wonder as tourists “help” street dogs today. Twice a day during the summer holidays, we receive emails, messages, etc., because the day before they leave Montenegro, Kosovo or Albania, “the tourist” realizes that the street dog or puppy they feed must be helped!

He/she sends photos without giving a location where the street dog (one in thousands) is standing, with the request that we pick him up and take him to a (non-existent) animal shelter! No one thinks of taking a suffering dog to the vet, at least deworming it, perhaps paying for the first vaccination.

We condemn this thoughtlessness and abdication of responsibility in the strongest possible terms! That is not animal welfare but convenience. The money is enough for a trip - but not to help a dog? Allow me to be sarcastic. The idea of EU and Swiss travelers in cheap countries that there is the same infrastructure there as here is incredibly naive!

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Your foundation president!