We can' t let this shelter's 321 dogs starve!

1. In Russia, Elan has almost no kibble left for the 321 dogs in his shelter. They will starve if nobody intervenes!

"There are 321 dogs at the shelter now. Some feel fine in a crowd, some feel depressed, some are abused by stronger dogs. I can’t say that my shelter is ideal, but there are many stray dogs here, legislation is not helping animals, so it’s our duty to help. We help only those in need: the wounded, the old, the puppies etc... More than 80% of animals in our shelter were cured and saved, we saved their lives.

But at this point, this food campaign is our only chance for survival for them, we have food for one week only. The few help and donations which we hardly manage to get are like a drop in the ocean, they are minimal. We need 150 kg of kibbles per day to feed everyone at the shelter, no one understands the scale of the issue. We can’t tell a dog: “You have to wait; we’ll give you food in a day or two”. This uncertainty is driving me crazy.

I'm afraid of dog’s famine, I can’t let this happen. It’s enough that they live in a crowd and are deprived of normal families and people’s attention, they can't go through this. It’s my biggest fear. It’s a catastrophe for me personally. They are like children to me. I know each one’s name and worry about their health condition."

2. Winter will soon be here, street and shelter dogs need kibbles more than ever to fight against the cold.

"The situation near the shelter is getting worse. We witness many healthy dogs being brought to the center of the village, where our shelter is, and left. But we just can’t rescue every dog, especially as we don't have enough food, and while space and medicine are also an issue. My heart is breaking every time I see a poor dog lying in the street, but the best I can do is make sure he has food at least for the day, and is safe.

It’s winter now, we live on the sea coast, where it is very humid and windy, -5°C in our region is colder than in Moscow, for example. Dogs are suffering in the streets. As for the shelter, there are not enough warm spaces for our dogs, we try to make some doghouses, but the dogs themselves spoil and gnaw them regularly.

Winter is a really hard time, and it goes without saying that food is a pressing issue. Food is vital. Dogs can live in hard conditions, but they can’t live without food and water."

3. Seriously injured by a car, Matvey is still very fragile, he won't be able to survive a kibble shortage.

"Matvey is one among many dogs that got hit by a car, and left with severe injuries. He had a broken spine, and although other people initially took care of him, his condition worsened. He was taken to the vet who wrongly installed a metal structure, and was then kept on the street, where he could barely eat or walk.

We took him to the shelter as it was his only chance, and can see he is getting a bit better. But he has been through a lot, is still fragile and in poor health. He also has many problems related to defecation, and can therefore only eat kibbles, we can't feed him anything else."

4. The pandemic has deprived Elan of work and income, the shelter is destitute and heavily indebted, no one can buy kibble.

"I used to hope for starting to work again, but the perspectives are foggy. Due to the restrictions I still can’t work, as I organize concerts, but shows, concerts and various mass events are forbidden in our region. I was the only constant sponsor of the shelter, but now I went bankrupt. And the few other volunteers at the shelter are not rich either.

The help we manage to receive is minimal, we still have no big sponsors despite our efforts to reach out to other organisations and companies. Financial support is always scarce in comparison to our real needs. Due to the pandemics more and more restrictions are introduced, and the shelter is not financed.

I used to buy food myself before, but at the moment I’m deeply in debt and can’t help the shelter any more. And I've taken everything from my family. I used to be a person who helped other shelters, now I can’t help even myself."

5.  Elan is not asking for money, only kibble to keep the dogs from starving.

"I started helping the shelter approximately 4.5 years ago. I built doghouses, bought food, made things better. There were only 75-80 dogs then. Now there are much more. My attitude to animals is something bigger than just devotion. Everything that I do comes from the bottom of my heart. If someone told me that I needed to give my life and no animal would suffer in the world, I would sacrifice it in a moment, without a blink.

There’s no public program protecting animals here. Some laws were adopted but they are not working in practice, they are useless.  Most of the dogs we rescue would die without our help, would starve to death (especially the old and puppies) or would be hit by cars. That’s why our shelter is needed.

We ask people for food, materials, blankets, medicine, not for money. We need only essential things required for the shelter, we don’t need more. If people brought us doghouses, construction materials, kibbles and so on we would be the happiest people in the world."

6. If this campaign succeeds, Elan will not receive any money but 3240 kg of kibble, delivered from Animal Webaction's logistics platform in Russia.

Animal Webaction has a logistics centre in Russia, which enables us to intervene quickly and deliver kibbles.

7. Calls for help, search for sponsors and partners, Elan and his faithful supporters have already tried everything, they ask us to take action.

"I am constantly reaching out to other organizations but usually companies remain indifferent. The companies we’ve talked with before offer only small one-time help, like 5 bags of kibbles. There’s only one food store which rarely provides us with offal. The store’s started up a campaign and from time to time offers small discount for their customers in exchange for offal for the shelter. But there’s been no help lately at all...

Thanks to adoptions, the number of dogs has decreased a little these past weeks, but it makes no sufficient difference. Since September,  28 dogs have left our shelter and found their families. But we also rescued 10 new dogs in the meantime.

We regularly ask our friends, and we try to do online campaigns through social media. If the situation is risky and a dog is in great danger, we sometimes manage to collect some money to pay our bills at the vet for this particular dog, but it’s more complicated with food."

8. Campaigns launched on Animal Webaction often fail. 

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

9. In Russia, donors are scarce, and there are no foundations or subsidies. It is very difficult to find funding for kibbles, many dogs remain starving on the street!

If you know of a foundation or NGO that could help Elan, 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 Elan's dogs, contact us and we will put you in touch!

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

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