Southwest Balkans - How are the street dogs doing.

Dear animal lovers

It is time again to give our friends and donors a brief overview of where we stand with our work. As is well known, we had to stop castrations in Niksic at the end of January because the country is not ready for the “community dog” concept as practiced in southern Italy. It relies on animal shelters, where many dogs vegetate miserably and are euthanized without adoption.

Unfortunately, Kosovo is also taking an example from the Balkans instead of from those countries that show progressive use of street dogs. The new animal shelter law, funded by the EU and the local animal rights organization, not only creatively limits design, but also apparently encourages politicians to care for dogs in insufficiently cared for and developed animal shelters without criticism. On the other hand, there was also a protest against the measures taken by the city of Pristina - with our support, among other things - which was well attended. Activists protested against the planned cleaning of healthy and peaceful street dogs from the city. We were repeatedly “live” as incompatible dogs were kept close to the Badovc animal shelter outside the city and would have killed themselves without the intervention of the activists; others sat in their own excrement. We were also there when activists visited the transit station of a veterinarian commissioned by the city and discovered that a still-nursing mother dog and her two-month-old puppies had all been castrated. We spare you the details, because on Facebook and Instagram, you can also see on our website how dreadful the situation is in Pristina - even if “desk animal rights activists” and politicians report otherwise.

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Yours Helen Wormser

President

Nicsic, MONTENEGRO

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As part of our prevention work through school visits, monitoring of reported cases of animal abuse and animal shelters by the KORINA association, it is noticeable how depressed and underemployed the dogs in these animal shelters are. In Brestice outside Niksic (pictured), some dogs are allowed to run freely, others are still chained or isolated. Thanks to Korina, the shelter, located 20 km outside the city in the mountains, is at least trying to get the dogs across.

And in Bosnia-Herzegovina on the border with Montenegro, in Trebinje, a new modern animal shelter was opened in collaboration with KORINA and 60 dogs from the old shelter were relocated.

After all, the team visited schools in seven cities across the country and used a children's book to describe how an abandoned dog is doing - a project that is intended to generate empathy for the fate of helpless animals in the next generation.

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Pristina, KOSOVO

For the first time, at the request of several activists, we became active in the city of Pristina and helped organize the protest against the measures taken by Mayor Rama. Various groups had called for this. We were able to make sure repeatedly via video transmission that an urban project was being carried out, which is causing the dogs more suffering than help. We not only informed the veterinary office, which promised checks, but also encouraged everyone to write to the mayor and organize a protest, which was extremely successful. We'll stay tuned. We don't want another Romania in the Balkans!

IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT THE NUMBER OF CASTRATED DOGS — IT IS ABOUT THE ETHICALLY IMPECCABLE INDIVIDUAL TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUAL ANIMALS THAT ONLY EXPERIENCE SUFFERING UNDER CURRENT POLITICAL MEASURES!

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Tierschutz Aktivisten in Pristina, Kosovo

Informations-Kampagnen in Pristina, Kosovo

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Mitrovica Sanctuary

Thanks to a nonsensical animal shelter law in Kosovo, which is also premature in view of the estimated 300,000 stray animals, our sanctuaries with more than 10 dogs must now be registered as animal shelters. In Mitrovica, the conditions are not met, as dogs come and go at the veterinary clinic, with sick owners' animals also staying for a few days and occupying the inner boxes. Our employees at least give the sanctuary dogs a change of pace and often run along the river where they can bathe, or they are driven into the mountains to run out. However, we would be happy if the well-socialized dogs were also adopted so that we can reduce their number.

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WE ARE COLLECTING DONATIONS FOR A NEW SANCTUARY IN THE MITROVICA/SKENDERAJ REGION! PLEASE HELP US WITH THAT!

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Castration program

Our castration program continues in four regions, those regions where we have contracts and dogs are neither cared for in animal shelters nor systematically killed. These are Gjakova, Vushtrria, Skenderaj (Mitrovica vet) and Drenas. In three out of four municipalities, we pay a reduced price thanks to financial support from the cities. In Gjakova, the city wants to commission the castrations, but due to bureaucratic obstacles, it has not yet succeeded in relieving us financially there. Due to a lack of donations but also out of care for street dogs, who are supposed to rest in the clinic for 3-5 days, we are reducing the number of neuters per municipality to 50 per month. (Photos: On the left, a treated street dog is abandoned again in Skenderaj and given food for the last time, on the right, our vet at North Animal Hospital near Vushtrria is castrating.)

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Tierarzt fütter Hund auf der Strasse neben ambulaten Klinikbus

Kastrations-Operation in Tierklinik Kosovo

We can do almost nothing without your support. And this is missing in 2023. Please help usto enable the humane treatment of stray dogs in Kosovo. We are still the only foreign organization working with dogs in Kosovo!