Photo: my Cela in 2008,May

Some people who claim to be animal lovers refuse to take responsibility  for an animal,  by adopting a stray into their home.  Instead they feed a poor animal from time to time in the streets,  encouraging in this way,  sometimes with enthusiasm,  the continued existence of homeless animals.

Some people refuse their furry "protégé" the benefit of spay/neuter,  even if the surgery is offered for free.

One way or another,  the presence of homeless animals makes even indifferent persons take a side,   usually in response to a determining event such as a child being bitten by a stray).

Animals born on the streets and lucky enough to survive to maturity despite exposure to endemic diseases including rabies and distemper,  despite increasing car traffic,  despite people who poison dogs,  and despite numerous other hazards deserve the chance to be spayed or neutered by qualified veterinarians.  We need to stop our homeless animal population from reproducing and multiplying the suffering by giving birth to more unwanted souls.

 The problem of too many strays on our streets cannot be blamed on Communism any longer,  I think.  It is each and every person's fault who is ignorant and indifferent,  no matter if the person claims to be an "animal lover."  I don't believe any actual animal lovers prefer to see animals suffering on the streets with no water on hot summer days,  being beaten by lunatics,  dying in agony because of poison or untreated wounds or disease.  Non-animal lovers also have a responsibility to help solve humanely this problem that brings then so much discomfort.

I believe ignorance and lack of awareness of what can be done is primarily responsible for the Romanian homeless animal problem continuing.  Romanians rarely volunteer to do charitable work on behalf of either animals or humans,  unlike in western countries.  As long as they are not seriously affected themselves by a problem,  most want to avoid acting for others' benefit--and if they are seriously affected, they want overnight results and want radical measures to be taken to achieve them.

I believe that often local authorities don't want to see the homeless animals problem solved,  as there are different way to benefit from it.  Attempts are made to do something when the situation becomes critical.  In Galati,  for few years,  an international charity had a spay/neuter program in partnership with City Hall,  but it wasn't continued,  for undisclosed reasons.

Never losing hope for even one single moment,  I spent two years doing research about everything related to dogs,  cats,  and how to house them.

I avoided complicated kennel design and unnecessarily expensive buildings.  I was very lucky to find committed people who helped me with serious,  intelligent advice.  Merritt C. from Animal People and Veronica T. helped me to understand the various problems I would have to address.  Eventually I chose a British kennel design.

During this period of my life I stayed hours in front of computer,  analyzing what to do and seeking sources for funding.  Nancy J., an animal lover from USA,  helped to buy our first van for dogs' transportation,  also helped by sending supplies for dogs,  and set up Romanian Animal Rescue,  a registered charity which now helps many Romanian animal charities,  but initially only supported ROLDA.  People started join our dream and a small international "community" was formed,  consisting of people who responded to my periodic appeals and to the protests we made in the form of petitions against animal massacres occurring during that period.

photo: my Boss at the Black Sea,may 2010

Many of the ignorant or negative responses I received when I asked for help just made me more determined.

In 2003 and 2004 the shelter land was bought,  we started working with a private veterinary clinic,  the first 10 kennels became functional,  and we helped the local pound dogs (250 dogs at that time).  We welcomed Animal People in May 2004,  and even though not yet  finished,  the first ROLDA shelter was scored the best in Eastern Europe among 18 shelters visited by the editor.

After this ROLDA began to gain international recognition.  More people became interested in our projects for future,  especially when we started a free mass spay/neuter scheme for Galati strays.  This project has been very successful from the beginning,  but we have also had difficult moments.  Once ROLDA became highly visible,  we were hurt by gossips and slander coming even from other animal charities.  Eventually I learned that this is common in Western countries too,  and I refocused my energy on my dreams about saving animals.

Organizations like SPANA,  HSI and RAVS HSUS offered funds,  logistic support and volunteer vets for the spay/neuter campaign.  By 2005 we had already spayed/neutered 2,060 dogs,  preventing the births of thousands more unwanted animals.

Thanks to Animal People and our US partner,  ROLDA staff attended different important international conferences and visited overseas shelter.  One shelter which particularly captured my attention and admiration was the Helen Woodward Animal Center in California,  run by an impressive dedicated man name Mike Arms.  We also attended shelter management training organized by Dogs Trust UK and the Helen Woodward Animal Center.

In 2006 our collaboration with RAR ended but each charity continued on its way.  We formed our own U.S. affiliate,  ROLDA-USA.

For ROLDA this was a new start.  Realizing that our first shelter could not handle the overwhelming requests we were receiving from our community,  and could not expand to accommodate the growing Galati  stray population,  we began looking for help to build a second shelter,  with a larger capacity but respecting the same intention of keeping animals as comfortable as they can be in kennels.

In 2006, our first dog shelter had space for 60 dogs.  A small cottage on the premises welcomed international volunteers to spend a vacation helping with our daily activities and socializing dogs.  This concept--unique in Romania for an animal charity--was very successful from the very beginning.  Volunteers and veterinaries from all over the world benefited from free accommodation while they helped Romanian rescued animals.  Some also helped our education campaign.  For example,  a group of young people from the U.K. spoke to a group of high school student.  Some visitors,  arriving back home,  contacted their local media to describe what they saw in Romania with their own eyes.
 
Thanks to an anonymous private donor,  ROLDA bought 15,000 square meters outside Galati,  zoned to allow us to build a much larger shelter for animals.

photo : my Pisu in 2009

The ROLDA campaigns and constant dedicated work did not remain unnoticed,  even though this was a period when funds were very short.  I felt that I had earned a lot to put into practice,  and had the energy and willingness to work day and night, but I was moving in circles because I was limited by lack of funds and other means of support to expand as needed.

But a dream again came true.

One day I was contacted by Mittal Galati director.  He wanted to meet with me to discuss a humane approach in dealing with the numerous homeless animals inside the company grounds.  Mittal,  a steel prodcuer,   is the largest company,  having in 2009 over 12,000 employees.

Two to three thousand strays were believed to live on the Mittal property.  Many were very wild.  People were afraid to go near them,  and believed they could only be trapped,  or be caught with snares on long poles,  or be shot with tranquilizer guns.

Time proved that our ROLDA dogcatchers were successful using only the most humane methods,  risking bites to catch the dogs with bare hands,  taking the time needed to win each animal's trust.  We use tranquilizing methods only for emergency cases. We provided transparency and communicated constantly with Mittal employees,  asking their support in catching the dogs for sheltering.  Later,  we obtained permission from the Mittal director to return the spayed or neutered sheltered dogs to the Mittal groups and take others for sterilization.

Mittal and their partners offered in 2007 funds,  building materials,  and human resources worth $700,000 USD,   and become our exclusive sponsor in building the second shelter.  120 large kennels were built,  which can house more than 600 dogs.  Some are accommodated until adopted.  Others are kept only while recovering after spay/neuter surgery.

Since our collaboration started,  until now,   over 1,400 dogs have been rescued from the steel plant.  All,  as well as being spayed or neutered,  have received veterinary assistance,  including vaccination,  de-worming,  and flea control.  Beyond this,  I should mention that ROLDA is the only Romanian charity feeding the sheltered dogs exclusively with special dry dog food,  not leftovers from human consumption or expired food.

I cannot end this chapter about ROLDA and our collaboration with Mittal without mentioning two names:  Augustine K. and Ionel B.  Both are on the board of directors of the steel plant.  Both have had a huge role in our efforts to humanely help the strays.  Mittal is an example for all of Romania--and for the world--of an international corporation investing to help the local community to resolve its problems.

 In 2006 we were honored to welcome a U.S. film crew,  who are now close to completing a documentary called "California 10."  The actress Loretta Swit's visit was another important moment in ROLDA 's story and very soon we will nicely surprise our readers with other local and international celebrities involvement.

ROLDA has many projects ahead of us.  My next priorities are building a cat sanctuary and a shelter for abused,  abandoned donkeys and horses.  At the same time, I  am hoping for continued Mittal support to help ROLDA finish the second shelter,  and to build a charitable veterinary clinic offering services like free spay/neuter for homeless animals and low cost emergency treatments and sterilizations for pets owned by people of low income.

Good words about ROLDA activity and our progress continue to spread.  National and international media mentioned our latest small success with Mittal.  More people became interested and offered their support.  I receive many letters daily from people who are becoming interested in Romanian strays and hope to join us,   in what has started to seem like a too-good-to-be true dream!

Unfortunately,  the nightmare continues in many places in Romania,  where dogs are rounded up and crammed into canine  concentration camps,  starving,  eating each other,  suffering from cruel management.  These places are usually run by local authorities,  but there are also so-called animal lovers who build concentration camps,  having no experience in animal sheltering and being unwilling to learn.

ROLDA is changing all of that,  not only in our own community,  but by showing other Romanians who care about animals what can be done,  with the combination of a dream,  some knowledge,  and unending hard work.
 

With hope and friendship,

Dana C.