We can't let these 128 dogs starve!

1. In Serbia, Danijela has almost no food left to feed the 80 dogs she cares for. They will starve if no one intervenes!

"Right now I have about 60 dogs in my shelter, plus those 20 who are in front of the association every day and live in the landfill next door, so I made them a house in front of the association .. they are there every day and I feed them all ..

The winter is coming, I've only got 3 large bags of kibbles left, and it wont last for long. The dogs will soon start getting sick if they don’t have enough to eat. Because as soon as they dont eat well, their immune system weakens, and then they start coughing, contract diseases etc.. and it spreads fast. So if one gets sick, all can get sick in a week. And imagine one person trying to manage that all!

I am feeling stressed and extremely worried. I care about these dogs, I even call them my sons cause that's what they are. Their lives depend on me and on the donations we receive, but there are less options possible now since the pandemic happened, as less people want to get involved. We don't receive any help from the city, and Jovica and I simply cannot afford to buy any more food.“

2. Badly emaciated and invaded by parasitic diseases, Gary will be unable to survive without kibble.

“I found Gary 10 days ago, he was in the middle of the road, , weighing 14 kilos only, totally underfed, with demodex and scabies.

He is not young anymore, about 8 years old… He also has a tumor that needs to be treated. He is really, really endangered because he is already weak and malnourished, I don’t want to think of what will happen to him if he doesn’t get enough food… “

3. Jovica's shelter hosts 48 dogs, many of which are already diminished by injury, illness or disability. They too are threatened by the lack of kibble.

"Jovica takes care of the handicapped dogs, the ones without legs, as well as the ones with all kind of serious health issues... most of them are dogs like that. Jovica’s shelter is in an old house, for the dogs to be more protected, but we need heaters to keep them warm. In my shelter I usually keep those who have recovered, or who are not in such a bad condition, but it all depends on who has room available.

The thing is that we rescue dogs from the streets, but also from the public shelter, with whom we have a great collaboration. People there mean well, but budget is very low and they don't have the conditions nor means to treat injured or sick dogs. So they call me in these cases, and Jovica and I organise ourselves.

The difficulty is that the number is constantly growing, and our capacity is limited. As soon as we get a few adopted, another 10 come to us. And with more dogs we need more food, medications, etc. so we need support, because we can't manage it on our own.”

4. Recently rescued from a car accident, Zmaj is still very weak and suffers from severe after-effects, he needs kibble!

“We rescued Zmaj recently, he got hit by a car and has a broken spine. He is about 9 years old.

He is especially fragile because first he is old, and second - like every handicapped dog, he already needs more care and treatment than a regular dog. If he is malnourished, the worst can happen."

5. If she doesn't find any kibble, Danijela will have to stop rescuing dogs in distress, but she is their only hope.

"Sadly, there are dogs in distress that I may not be able to rescue, although I always try to rescue as many as I can. If I dont find food for them, I won't be able to take in any new dogs from the streets, which breaks my heart!

There are more and more abandoned dogs, on the streets, they definitely don't eat enough since they're all skin and bone when I find them. They eat anything they can, you can see them around garbage, looking for crumbs and scraps of food left.

I am fearing that nothing will change, or that it will only get worse to be honest. I am so exhausted. We try to raise consciousness about these issues, that there are people who are cruel to innocent beings, and if they can be monsters to dogs, they are also a threat to humans as well. But there has been not much effect, I'm only seeing more abused dogs.“

6. Donations and adoptions have dropped due to the pandemic, but the needs are greater than ever. Danijela and Jovica can no longer buy food.

"A lot of people withdrew from adopting because of the virus and the border issue, and the donations have dropped, because there has been a shift in priorities - everyone is thinking about their own existence and how to remain safe. And precisely because of that the dogs need more help than ever.

We already have a debt of nearly 2000 euros that we owe to the vet. Mostly for the operations, necessary medicine and vaccines… since we rescue a few dogs every week, almost all of them have to be taken to the vet and get treatment, so it is easy for the debt to accumulate.

Almost all the dogs we rescued were skin and bone when we found them. Now they are warm, satiated and many have found their forever home. If I hadn't rescued them, they might’ve died on the streets, cold ands hungry, their life is the difference we make. And it is only the two of us, Jovica and I, that care for those 120 dogs. Any kind of support means a lot.“

7. Danijela and Jovica are not asking for money, only kibbles to keep the dogs from starving.

"I have always been surrounded by animals so I grew to love them as my equals. And I was always doing something – whether it was just feeding the strays, or sharing pictures of dogs from the pound that needed to be adopted.

It all started on another scale in 2013 when a friend gave me and Jovica his house where we could keep the dogs we would rescue. Those were the dogs that had no chances on the streets. And then we decided to go official and become an association, so we could spread the word about these issues and get more help, and so the people could take us seriously.

Dogs are meant to be walking alongside humans, not on the streets. Dog is a man’s best friend, he would never abandon you. While people abandon them so easily! It is so unfair and it saddens me! We could do so much better, people!"

8. If this campaign succeeds, Danijela and Jovica will not receive any money but 2400 kg of kibbles, delivered from Animal Webaction's logistics platform in Serbia.

Animal Webaction has a logistic centre directly in Serbia, which enables us to intervene quickly and deliver kibbles.

9. Danijela and Jovica are on their own and overwhelmed, they do their best to ask for help on social medias but do not know how to get by.

“I fund the association only from other people’s donations, that’s how it goes without subsidies and limited resources. I use social media a lot to let people know about the rescue, so that whoever can help does. But it is more difficult these days.

I have my day job, my family, the association and shelter to run with no employee, no assistant, I honestly don't have any spare time left and do not know who to turn to anymore to get more help."

10. 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.

11.  In Serbia, street dogs are hunted by the State and ignored by the population, volunteers like Danijela and Jovica are their only hope!

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

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

If you would like to come to Danijela and Jovica's shelters to help them, or if you would like to send them kibbles or a check directly, please contact Danijela via Facebook (note: direct help is your own responsibility).

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