We cannot let this shelter's 292 dogs starve!

1. In Romania, Ramona will soon run out of kibble to feed the 292 dogs in her shelter, they will starve if no one intervenes!

"The number of dogs in need has been increasing for several months: we have just found six abandoned puppies at the door of our shelter, six others were found in a field by one of our volunteers, as well as several others that we saved from euthanasia at the municipal pound...

Because of the lack of means of the association, there are currently many abandoned dogs that we cannot take care of: not enough kibble, not enough money to pay for their treatments and vaccines... People contact us every day to inform us of new abandonments, but unfortunately, we have become powerless!

The 292 dogs in the shelter have been eating less for almost a year now: the price of kibble has risen so much and donations have become so scarce that we have to ration them... In two days, our stock of kibble will be empty: it's already very difficult to have to reduce their daily portions, I can't even imagine having to deprive them of food! That's why this kibble campaign is vital for our dogs: if it fails, I don't know how we'll feed them!"

2. The shelter is home to many aging and vulnerable dogs who will not survive a kibble deprivation.

"We welcome the most fragile dogs to the shelter: old, injured, sick, disabled... They all have a difficult past, and we do our best to look after them, feed them and find them a loving family. The problem is that they all need a lot of attention, as their health is very fragile!

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the price of kibble has skyrocketed: some days we have had to cook rice for them! We can't keep them on this diet for too long because, even if the dogs are full, they don't get any nutrients, and their health deteriorates rapidly...

For safety reasons and to avoid fights between dominant and dominated dogs, we make sure to separate the dogs in the boxes. Unfortunately, if this avoids most of the fights over kibble, it does not prevent them from catching infections or diseases because their immune system becomes weakened when they do not eat enough good quality kibble... Without this kibble campaign, our dogs will not survive on an empty stomach..."

3. Prichindel is just recovering from a serious illness: without kibble, her treatment will no longer work and she will not survive...

"Prichindel came to the shelter as a puppy, about eight months ago, with several other puppies from the same litter. Unfortunately, she was the only one who survived because they were all seriously ill... If the disease did not take her, she is still very fragile as we continue to give her a basic treatment so that she can grow normally, and especially so that the disease does not reappear, because she will not survive this time! To continue to live she must eat good quality kibble in sufficient quantity, because if she continues to live in the shelter on an empty stomach, she will be swept away by the disease..."

4. Affected by the decrease in donations and the increase in prices due to the war in Ukraine, Ramona can no longer afford to buy kibble.

"The war in Ukraine has changed everything, not only the lives of human beings but also the lives of animals: the prices of raw materials have increased a lot due to the current financial crisis, the adoptions of Ukrainian dogs have become a priority to the UK, leaving our dogs stuck in the shelter with no future prospects, and all donations are redirected to other associations... This situation has caused us to lose partnerships, financial benefits and potential adopters!

The shelter is only financed by donations in kind twice a month from the German association HHRS (Helping Hands for Romanian Strays), which manages to provide us with kibbles from time to time, but they too have reached the end of their means... On our side we receive much less financial donations than before, so we are more and more in debt, and we are unable to buy kibble..."

5. Ramona isn't asking for money, only kibble to prevent the dogs from starving.

"The Santulham shelter was founded 22 years ago, as a public institution initially. Our association, Natura Deva has been taking care of the dogs and everything shelter-related since 2009, taking over the work from a previous association that is no longer involved. I have personally been volunteering at the shelter since 2013, and became vice-president of the association in 2016.

I started getting attached to the dogs as soon as my involvement started and since then, I haven't been able to dissociate myself from them. I cannot remember who said this quote, but it goes like “Without dogs, you can live; but it would be in vain”... At the moment, I care so much for the dogs that I basically gave up on my personal life and yet, I truly believe that they do more for me than I do for them! 

Every dog is a soul... There is no one as devoted as a dog to care for you, forgive you, to be there when you are sad… I go to the shelter to charge myself with positive, good energy from the dogs to be able to fight and tackle all the problems we face on a daily basis : fighting to get donations and food, fighting against the local government that does everything in its power to ruin our work. At the end of the day, wat keeps me going is knowing that our actions make a huge difference in these dogs' lives, knowing that many of them have left to live in loving and caring families..."

6. If this campaign succeeds, Ramona will not receive any money but 2400 kg of kibble, delivered from Animal Webaction's logistics platform in Romania.

Animal Webaction has a logistics platform in Romania which enables us to intervene quickly and deliver kibble.

7. Calls for donations aren't as successful as they used to be and partner associations have already done their best to help  : Ramona needs us to get kibble!

"The association 'Helping Hands for Romanian Strays' in Germany, continues to send us kibble when they have the capacity. So far this is the only stable partnership we have managed to get... And the more time passes, the more they find themselves unable to help us...  Everyone has the same difficulties! 

The problem is that due to the current world crisis, the people who used to sponsor some of our dogs by sending us regular donations have lost their jobs or have retired and can no longer afford to help us.... We tried to contact many associations, but unfortunately we did not get any answer because they were all already involved with other shelters! We don't know what to do anymore, we have tried everything, this kibble campaign is a gift from heaven, we need it badly!"

8. Campaigns launched on Animal Webaction often fail.

When a campaign fails, Animal Webaction cannot deliver the products. The beneficiary doesn't receive anything and the buyers are refunded. 

9. In Romania, it is difficult to find funds for kibble, there are no grants, no foundations. Many abandoned dogs die alone in the streets, in complete indifference...​

If you know of a foundation or NGO that could help Ramona, please invite them to contact us so that we can put them in touch with each other.

If you represent a foundation or NGO for animal protection, please help Ramona's dogs, contact us and we will put you in touch!

If you want to help Ramona at the shelter or if you want to send them kibble or a check directly, contact her via Facebook (note: direct help is done on your own responsibility).

10. If you make a purchase on Animal Webaction, it will be protected by our guarantees.