SOS STRAY DOGS
IN SOUTHWESTERN BALKANS
StrayCoCo = Straydog Control through Cooperation
Our vision for stray dogs in the Southwest Balkans
With your donation, you are helping dogs in Europe's poorest area: KOSOVO
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SINCE 2024, WE HAVE ONLY BEEN ACTIVE IN KOSOVO
Why Kosovo in particular? It began with Andreas Wormser, who used to work at the Swiss Embassy in Pristina, and then opened Hotel Graçanica together with two Roma friends. Whoever visited him talked about the sick and suffering dogs abandoned on the street. These reports were so burdensome that Helen Wormser decided to act instead of looking away. The situation was unimaginably bad, worse than all reports from the Eastern Balkans.
Nevertheless, Swiss animal welfare organizations were not prepared to help. In 2014, this led to the decision to establish a foundation for SOS stray dogs. Kosovo — just recently plagued by war — is worth the effort. A lot has changed since 2014, and we have been significantly involved. Today, it is still painful, but positive changes can be seen, at least in regions of Kosovo where we work. We are in four regions active: Gjakova, Drenas, North-Mitrovica/ Leposavic, and Vushtrri (currently only privately kept dogs and emergencies). We also repeatedly helped in the Kosovo-Turkish community of Mamusha in 2022 and our vet from Vushtrri is currently castrating in the Serbian districts of Graçanica-Preoce.
We would also like to emphasize that in 2015 neither the Veterinary Office nor any other politician was aware that continuous castration work reduce the stray dog population. By chipping dogs, irresponsible owners can be held accountable and education about SOS street dogs and animal welfare can change a lot. Since then, the state of Kosovo has repeatedly carried out castration campaigns based on our example and individual municipalities continue to do so. We have the model CNVR (catch-neuter-vaccinate-release) brought to Kosovo, and we are proud of that!
our locations since 2015
Our main location in Kosovo is Gjakova. It is our oldest location established in autumn 2018. This was the first larger small animal clinic in the entire Western Balkans, professionally managed by the Pro Vet team under DVM Blendi Bejdoni, our project manager for the South-West Balkans.
We worked in western Kosovo in the Peja, Gjakova, Rahovec, Decani, Malishevo and Mamusha regions until 2018. We also able to motivatee the NGO 4 Pfoten to continue castrations in Decan/Junik - and thank them for their commitment.
In 2017, intensive operations were also carried out in Graçanica and Preoce, a mostly Serbian-speaking region and the Roma village next to it. From autumn 2018 to 2025, we have been constantly present in Vushtrri and continue sporadically in the Graçanica region. And now since autumn 2020 also in Drenas, later in Mitrovica, and in Skenderaj, Nord-Mitrovica, and Leposavic.
We had a strong presence in Shkodra, Albania in 2018-2019. Whenever donations allow, we support operations by other animal welfare organizations in Durrës and Fieri.
Since autumn 2019, we have have led a castration project with scientific support in Niksic/Montenegro. For the first time, we are also taking care of stray dogs in shelters, helping to expand the infrastructure - so that they no longer have to sit in cages! There are now freewheeling zones. At the beginning of 2023, we ended the program because the local vets no longer wanted to defend themselves against the city's political machinations and allowed them to violate our joint contracts.
Please ask us anything you would like to know
In 10 years, we paid over 10,000 castrations, around 80% in Kosovo alone. Countless wounded and injured dogs were treated and taken into one of our four sanctuaries. Unfortunately, the sick dogs stay with us for life. Rescued puppies are placed wherever possible, at home and abroad. Treatments and investments in infrastructure consume 120,000 - 200,000 euros annually.
Our vet in Gjakova received an old X-ray machine from Switzerland as a gift... back then the only one in the entire country used for animals! Our vet continued his education and is now the only vet in Kosovo conducting difficult operations! In this way, even seriously injured dogs can be helped. The second X-ray machine was delivered to Vushtrri.
Since 2017, we have been in contact with the Veterinary Office again and again to encourage chipping and registering domestic dogs. After all, we co-financed the program that started at the end of 2022 and paid for the dog passes, as the state did not raise any money for them! Unfortunately, the state does not really care about chipping, punishing and castrating dogs and letting them dry up. However, in April 2025, the Veterinary Office finally launched a related media campaign - financed by the EU.
WE HELP CASTRATE DOGS IN SIX KOSOVO MUNICIPALITIES: GJAKOVA, VUSHTRRI, DRENAS, Leposavic, Graçanica AND NORTH-MITROVICA
These posters were created in collaboration with the Kosovo Animal Rights Foundation (kick-off from us). We paid for the campaigns in all regions. They have also been published in Serbian for the relevant communities in the country.
Gjakova
Vushtrri
Mitrovica
Drenas
DEVELOPMENT OF WORK IN KOSOVO
KICK OFF:
First and foremost, we brought committed animal lovers from Pristina to address the topic of street dogs and animal rights.
We established contact with the Swiss Foundation “Animal in Law” which has since been the Kosovan Kosovo Animal Rights Foundation provides advice.
We initiated the animal welfare organization KSAVA based on the model of the Swiss Small Veterinarians Association and prepared the statutes so that pets that have been neglected receive good veterinary treatment.
START UP:
We opened the first large small animal clinic in the southwest of the country in Gjakova in 2018 to not only provide our partners, veterinarians Blendi and Eriola Bejdoni with an income but also to facilitate our castration work for stray dogs and emergency assistance “SOS stray dogs”, a job that previously took place in containers.
In 2020, we built the second small animal clinic in the east of the country in Vushtrri, giving vet DVM Zenel Zhabari and the region's street dogs a future.
We opened the third small animal clinic in the center of the country, in Drenas, in 2023 and thus help the animals there in a simplified way thanks to treatments by DVM Shaban Mehmeti and his partner Burim Sejdija.
The fourth small animal clinic will be built in 2024/25 in the north, Mitrovica, under the direction of DVM Labinot Osmani. Up to this point, we have rented an old factory.
Each clinic has a small sanctuary attached to it. It houses cheerful if sick or injured, dogs that would no longer survive on the streets.
Important articles about street dogs in the Balkans
Be careful! Not all Veterinarian are the same!
If you travel to Kosovo, you will find numerous abandoned puppies, sick dogs, and cats. Would you like to help, and have them treated?
Be careful - what is called a vet is insufficiently qualified in 70% of cases. Many rip you off as a foreigner and treat your animal incorrectly. Don't be fooled! If you want to take your pet to the EU or Switzerland. In addition, there are a lot of regulations to comply with - and many veterinarians do not know these regulations. When you enter the North, you will experience their miracle, either euthanasia or expensive quarantine, return flight to Kosovo, and wait 4 months!
On the other hand, we can recommend the veterinarians trained by us. Pictured here are DVM Kreshnik Rogova and the trainer from Slovenia, DVM Nusa Schumet from the Slovenian Vets for StrayPets (SVSP), (a dedicated group of instructors who have been instrumental in advancing small animal medicine in Kosovo), a team of great instructors who have been incredibly helpful in setting up small animal medicine in Kosovo in particular.
Which vets can we recommend without reservation?
- DVM Blendi Bejdoni, Pro Vet Gjakova Clinic
- DVM Eriola Bejdoni, Gjakova
Both are exclusively small veterinarians.
List of the best veterinarians in Kosovo
In Pristina
- DVM Iliryan Yusufi
- DVM Dardan Pozhegu
- DVM Visar Dumani
In Vushtrri
- DVM Zenel Zhabari
In Gjilan
- Veterinary Station “Fauna” - but be careful, dirty animal husbandry in cages
In Suhareka
- DVM Kreshnik Rogova
In Peja
- DVM Genc Muzlijaj
In Istog
- Haki Bytyci
In Drenas:
- DVM Mehmeti Shaban
In South Mitrovica and Skenderaj
- DVM Labinot Osmani, small vet
In Rahovec
- DVM Bujar Mustafa, rather a large animal doctor
We cannot recommend vets in Prizren, Peja, Podujevo or Vitia.
Be careful! Not recommended:
- DVM Avni Kadriu, Mitrovica
- Vet Tech Blendor A. Kadriu, Mitrovica
- Vet Tech Faredin R. Mujaj, Prizren
- DVM Turhan Nila, Peja
- DVM Safet Osmani, Vushtrri
- DVM Adelina Rexhepi-Komoran, Drenas
- DVM Agron Pajaziti, Ferizaj and Mexhid Haxhimusa
- DVM Fidan Krasniqi, Prizren
These vets are also responsible for the killings of street dogs and puppies, as well as lousy neutering!
IF YOU ARE GIVING MEDICATION TO DOGS, CHECK THE EXPIRY DATE!
BEFORE EXPORTING A PET TO YOUR HOME COUNTRY, CHECK WITH YOUR STATE VETERINARY OFFICE AND NOT WITH VETERINARIANS IN KOSOVO (EXCEPTION PER VET GJAKOVA, NORTH ANIMAL HOSPITAL VUSHTRRIA, CITY PET CLINIC DRENAS AND MITRO-VET MITROVICA).
Donate for animals and Europe's poorhouse: help Kosovo.
