We can't let the strays and those at Ivana's shelter starve to death!

1. In North Macedonia, Ivana has almost no kibble left to feed the more than 130 dogs of the streets and the dump that she cares for. They are at risk of starving to death!

"In the streets of Skopje, I feed around sixty dogs every day, and at the dump, there are always more than 70 of them waiting for me. Out there, people keep throwing dogs away like garbage, over and over, and the abandonments keep rising... With the summer heat, their survival hangs by a thread: I cut 20-litre bottles in half and leave water out everywhere, so they don't die of thirst.

These dogs have no shelter, no institution behind them: here, neither the State nor the public will look after abandoned animals. They depend entirely on the kibble I bring them.

And right now, I only have a few days of kibble left, barely enough to last the week. For long months I've been holding on by the skin of my teeth, never knowing whether I'll be able to fill the bowls the following week. The day I have nothing left to hand out, these dogs will have nothing at all."

2. Between mange and tumours, Spotty only survives thanks to the meal Ivana brings her every day

"Spotty lives in the street, near a mosque. She's a female I had spayed two years ago, and ever since I feed her every day, her and two other dogs that live with her. I also bring them their worming and parasite treatments, even though with her it's quite a struggle to get her to swallow her tablets.

Right now she has mange and a few mammary tumours. She's doing better than two months ago, when she was really in a bad way, but she's still fragile and needs someone to keep an eye on her. If I can carry on treating her and watching over her, it's only because I come by every day with food.

That daily meal is my only link with her. Without kibble, I can't come anymore, and a dog like Spotty, alone in the street, wouldn't last long left to fend for herself..."

3. At the shelter, 86 more dogs are living under the threat of the same shortage

"The shelter is the other half of my fight. I take in 86 dogs there, 86 lives that depend entirely on me to eat, and not a single one can do without what I give them!

My greatest fear is always the same: food. It's an anxiety that never leaves me, because I know my dogs' lives depend on it directly. The stock is running down, the days go by, and I have no sure way of replenishing it.

Here, at least my dogs are sheltered. But a shelter without a full bowl protects them from nothing. Without kibble, I won't be able to feed them anymore, and I refuse to imagine what that would mean for them."

4. The dogs are wasting away, fights are breaking out, and Ivana already has to choose who eats

"The shortage, I can see it with my own eyes, at the shelter and out on the streets alike: some are already starting to lose weight. When kibble runs short, it's the same everywhere, the rivalry sets in, the fights have begun. A hungry dog isn't the same dog anymore, he gets nervous, he grows wary of the others around the food. They aren't fighting to dominate, they're just afraid of going without...

And then there's the hardest part: having to choose who eats. It's always the strays who pay the heaviest price, the ones in the streets and at the dump. I can't be everywhere, and what I manage to set aside for them is never enough to feed them all.

But even at the shelter, where my dogs are supposed to be safe, I have to make impossible choices. The puppies, I can't deprive them, nor the sick dogs: they don't get the right to a day without food, their health would collapse straight away. The older ones, I can cut their portion down a little if I have to. But in the end, the ones whose bowl I trim first are the young adults: they're the toughest, the strongest, so they're always the ones I sacrifice, and it breaks me every single time.

No one should ever have to do that kind of maths with their animals' hunger. The trouble is that if the kibble doesn't arrive, that maths will get crueller by the day..."

5. Ravaged by leishmaniasis, Betty won't hold on without quality food

"Betty, I pulled her out of the dump four years ago, with a litter of three puppies. The little ones have all found a family since. She stayed with me, and two years ago she tested positive for leishmaniasis. Ever since, it's a daily battle to keep her alive.

Today her organs no longer work properly and she has lesions on her skin. She had started losing weight again; with a lot of care and attention, we managed to get back on top of that. But a dog in her condition, sick and fragile, needs regular, quality food just to stay on her feet.

Without enough kibble, I can't treat her properly. Everything we've gained with her, I could lose in a few weeks of going without. It's as simple and as cruel as that."

6. At the end of her resources, Ivana is surviving on credit and buried under nearly 3,000 € of debt

"These past months have been very hard. We held on thanks to a donor who launched appeals for donations, and to our community, who answered the call with a lot of heart. My kibble supplier, too, has helped me enormously: he lets me pay later and brings the food the moment I need it.

But all that solidarity has a flip side: I've held on by running up credit, putting off the payments again and again. Today I already owe nearly 3,000 € between the vet and the supplier. The little monthly support I get isn't enough, it has never been enough to cover all these mouths. I've even had to put off some of the spaying and the booster shots, for lack of money.

Every month, I manage to get dogs adopted, and those are so many stories with a happy ending. But at the same time, the abandonments keep rising: I've gone from around 70 dogs at the shelter to 86 today. Whatever I do, I can't loosen the grip..."

7. Ivana isn't asking for money, only for kibble to keep the dogs from starving to death.

"It's been more than fifteen years that I've devoted myself to animal welfare, and eight years since I was finally able to open my own shelter. For me it isn't a job, it's my calling. I carry these dogs' suffering deep inside me.

What keeps me standing are the dogs who make it out. Black dogs are always the last ones people look at, the last to be adopted. So when Volt, a young black male who looked a bit like a Labrador, finally found a family, it was a real victory. 

It's moments like these that give me the courage to carry on. But courage doesn't fill the bowls. I'm not asking for money, I'm only asking for kibble, so that not a single one of my dogs has to starve to death."

8. By taking action now, you can help Ivana receive 2900 kilos of kibble.

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

9. 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. 

10. In Macedonia, neither the state nor the population wants to help the abandoned dogs. A lot of animals are left to die outside, there is no care for them.

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

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

If you want to come to Ivana's shelter to help her or if you want to send her directly some kibbles or a check, contact Ivana via Facebook (note: direct help is under your own responsibility).

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