Romanian League in Defense of Animals

Top news and other stories

2008

Model attitude to solve strays problem in Galati :Arcelor Mittal corporation

Pet World Magazine USA choose ROLDA " Best Charity 2009 "

Boef & Pufi -two rescued strays ,now adopted in Holland

Renovation of small shelter begun .

Our dogs available for adoption in UK and the rest of Europe

International volunteers (Sept.): Janet and Chrissy helping ROLDA

Third transport from UK just arrived.

Special thanks to WVS UK for donation of veterinary supplies .

July -meeting with the ROLDA representative in UK

ROLDA latest appearance in the international media .

Update :Oache,our stray helping a UK based shelter.

Homeless child - winner of the contest about homeless animals !

Trailer purchased for international adoptions scheme .

Mittal delegation visiting ROLDA new shelter.Please "meet" the people that became our strays'"guardian angels", helping not only hundred of homeless.

Azorica adopted in Holland !

Financial report 2007 .

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2007

ROLDA represented at ICAWC and "International Conference of Humans-Animals Interaction" more ...

Our friend,Willie is one of the IFAW winners of "Animal Action Award" (oct.2007) more ...

BBC reporter spreading out the word about Romanian animals' real life. A documentary about ROLDA more ...

Willie Nugent from Armagh ,Northern Ireland visited our shelter and "shake hands" with ROLDA dogs ! more ...

Peace Corp 'volunteer , Maria D.-a high school teacher became a constant helper at ROLDA shelter more ...

ROLDA helps the local community by providing free sterilization and free treatments for flea & ticks control ! more ...

Introducing our new vet. -DVM Gingarasu more ...

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The ROLDA Veterinary Clinic

Special Appeals for Veterinary Equipment

These stories are written by a wonderful friend,a dedicated animal lover in support for the Romanian homeless animals and addressed to our compassionate readers. Our friend' imagination is helping us to express differently what a normal request for veterinary equipment would sound like;his wonderful heart is helping himself to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves,while you-the reader cannot remain indifferent because we know you care!

Please read each and every story and let us know if we can count on your support !

Appeal for STETHOSCOPE

The smartest dog we have at ROLDA is Stethoscope, the head of our Doctor Dog program.

Our Doctor Dog program, like many others around the world, sends dogs to visit hospitals and nursing homes, where they help the doctors and nurses to restore the health and spirits of the patients. Even those for whom there is no hope tend to feel better after a Doctor Dog visit.

Stethoscope quickly distinguished herself among all of our Doctor Dogs with her ability to tell immediately which patients have good hearts. She will approach the bed of a hospital patient slowly, listening and sniffing, with just a half-wag of her tail until she is sure the patient's heart is all right.

If she senses love or even the capacity for love in a person's heart, she soon starts wagging her tail so hard that her tail wags her, and will hug and kiss the patient; but if the person's heart is defective, she will only give the human doctors and nurses the saddest of looks.

That does not mean Stethoscope gives up. Stethoscope specializes in heart repairs. Sometimes Stethoscope revives hearts that have not beaten with affection for others in many years. She does not allow anyone to feel alone or abandoned.

There was a myth occurring in ancient Greece and widely believed in Roman times in Romania that a fierce giant dog guarded the entrance to the underworld. Stethoscope knows better. There was no need for a fierce giant dog to guard a gate through which no one wished to pass.

Stethoscope believes that dog was there to comfort the people making the passage, and might have been among her own ancestors.

On Valentine's Day, Stethoscope finds the broken-hearted, who have received nothing from a sweetheart, and gives them special hugs and kisses.

Stethoscope is such an effective Doctor Dog that we thought she might be able to help us with our veterinary program for the hundreds of dogs we have taken in from the Mittal Steel company property.

We led Stethoscope through the kennels during veterinary rounds. She sniffed every dog and wagged her tail hard hundreds of times.

But at the end of the long day of consultation, Stethoscope told us, "There is nothing wrong with any of these doggies' hearts. They are all beating warmly for someone. They only need the right person to love, who will come and adopt them and take them home.

"Some of these doggies need veterinary help, though, and what they need is beyond the knowledge of a heart specialist like me. They need the help of microscopes, diagnostic ultrasound, a blood analyzer, x-ray equipment, a bronchoscope, an endoscope, and a laryngoscope."

This will take money, from people of good and great heart.

Stethoscope wants you to know that she wags her tail and has kisses for every donor to ROLDA.

In honor and appreciation of your contributions, she will share love throughout Galati this Valentine's Day.

If you can help with the veterinary equipment, Stethoscope promises to help show the other dogs how to use it.

And of course she will hug you too, if you ever come to Galati. She will be the dog whose tail wags her.

Appeal for CENTRIFUGE

Visitors to animal shelters usually assume, when they see a dog running in circles and barking all day, that the dog has gone kennel-crazy. Usually this is right.

Many animal shelters keep dogs in isolation and give them nothing to do all day, so of course the poor dogs go mad.

We don't do that at ROLDA. Our dogs always have other dogs to play with, and plenty to keep them busy--although we are always in need of more volunteers to give them more socializing opportunities. The better accustomed our doggies are to playing with people, the better their chances of finding loving homes and staying in them.

But we do have one old doggie, named Gyro, who runs in circles and barks a lot, not because he is kennel-crazy, but because he is working.

Indeed, Gyro may have the strongest work ethic of any dog we have ever had. Unlike many of our dogs, who have always lived on the street before coming to ROLDA, Gyro once had a home, with a shift foreman from one of the steel mills that dominate the skyline of the smoky old industrial city of Galati.

The shift foreman was more than 60 years old when he adopted Gyro, and was slowing down a little. Gyro, being a young, strong, good-hearted dog, wanted to help the shift foreman to get his work done, so that the shift foreman would have more time and energy at the end of the day to play with Gyro.

The shift foreman took Gyro to work each day, which was against the steel mill rules, but because he was a foreman, he managed to ignore some of the rules and get away with it. The foreman worked outdoors most of the time, directing trucks as they came and went with loads of freshly rolled steel.

As there were always dogs lurking in the bushes near the truck loading area, looking for food waste discarded by the truck drivers, no one noticed Gyro in particular as he followed the foreman around.

Soon Gyro figured out what the shift foreman did all day that made him so tired by the time the end-of-the-day whistle blew: he ran in circles, barked orders, and scratched his head.

"I can do that for him," Gyro thought to himself. So, every day when the whistle blew, Gyro spent the morning running in circles, barking orders, and scratching his head. After lunch he would take a nap, because he was after all the dog of a foreman, and then he would run in circles, bark orders, and scratch his head some more in the afternoon.

At the end of the day neither Gyro nor the foreman had any energy left for playing.They both slept very soundly.

Unfortunately the shift foreman smoked, like so many people in Romania, and between the tobacco smoke and the coal smoke from the steel mill, he developed lung cancer and died before he retired--while Gyro was still a young, strong dog.

Fortunately, Gyro came to us at ROLDA. And he lost no time showing us that he intended to work hard to earn his keep. ROLDA is a charity, wholly dependent upon your generous contributions, but Gyro did not want to be thought of as a dog who needed charity. He was a working dog!

Every morning Gyro would jump up from sound sleep when he heard the factory whistles blowing in Galati, several kilometers down the hill from our shelter at the village of Smardan, and run in circles around the ROLDA shelter, barking orders at all of the other dogs. Then he would sit down and scratch his head. If any trucks passed by on the road, he would bark at them. After lunch he would nap, and then run around in circles, bark more orders, and scratch his head until the end-of-the-day whistles blew. As soon as they blew, he would relax, until the next morning.

At first we worried about Gyro, because we thought he might be kennel-crazy, and because he was making himself bald. We checked to make sure he did not have any parasites. He was fine. Eventually we realized that he only ran in circles, barked orders, and scratched his head in response to the factory whistles. He was a working dog, a foreman's dog, and that was what he wanted to be for us.

Now Gyro is old, and slowing down considerably. He still runs in circles, but he has let us know that he is ready to give up his job--not to any other dog, mind you, but to automation. He believes that to be replaced by an exceptionally fine machine would be an honor.

We know this because a few days ago Dana was reading aloud the list of veterinary equipment that she needs to complete the ROLDA clinic.

When she came to "centrifuge," Gyro pricked up his ears, got up from his nap, came over to Dana, and ran very quickly but stiffly in several extra-tight circles. Then he sat down and scratched his head.

"Do you know what a centrifuge is, Gyro?" Dana asked.

Gyro wagged his tail. Then he got up and limped in another several circles, sat down again,and again scratched his head.

We eventually figured out that Gyro believes that if we have a veterinary centrifuge, which runs in circles by using electricity, we will no longer need for him to run in circles. Then he will be able to partially retire--though he still intends to bark orders and scratch his head--and enjoy the rest of his life as an old working dog.

Explaining to Gyro that what he does and what a veterinary centrifuge does are two completely different jobs is hopeless. Gyro is not a well-educated dog. He does not understand advanced technology, or veterinary medicine. And once he has an idea in mind, he never changes it. But he knows that he is ready to stop running in circles every morning and afternoon, if we have another way to get the circle-running done.

Please help us buy the veterinary centrifuge we need. It will help many, many doggies in future years--and it will make the rest of old Gyro's life much easier.

Appeal for ULTRASOUND EQUIPMENT

Something bad had gotten into Draco the doggy. He had lost all his fur, his skin had turned scaly, and his hot panting scorched the paint off the walls of his habitat.

This once friendly, cuddly dog had developed a ferocious temper, too. Clearly something was very wrong with him, but he could not tell us what it was, and our veterinarian was perplexed.

Then the vet remembered a colleague in Braila who had an ultrasound diagnostic system. We could not afford one, at $ 6,021 for even a used model.

Quickly we bundled Draco into a transport carrier, loaded him into the ROLDA car with a couple of fire extinguishers, and drove to Braila, hoping Draco would not breathe toward the gas tank.

We got him there just in time. The ultrasound diagnostic found that Draco had somehow swallowed a small devil. A simple worming treatment expelled the devil from his system, he stopped breathing fire, his hair grew back, and three months later he is again a normal dog.

Unfortunately, the hills of Galati are swarming with small devils.

Doggies like Draco are constantly catching them and eating them by mistake, confusing them with rats. Not every doggy who eats a small devil becomes as sick as Draco--but to make sure that no other doggies ever do, we urgently need our own ultrasound diagnostic system.

Can you help us help Draco and all the doggies like him?

Of course you can. We very much appreciate your kind contribution toward the cost of our very own ultrasound diagnostic system. Draco is wagging his tail!

Appeal for X-RAY EQUIPMENT

Mango is a stray and like his thousands brothers and sisters is trying to resist on the streets of Galati, Romania.

Beaten by some people few years ago, he has a disability at one of back legs, but luckily he is still able to move around .To be always alerted on bad people, when he feels the danger, to avoid the cars, to go searching in trash for food or during very fortunate days, to be vigilant when a good person gives him some bread or other tasty treat.

Mango was neutered few months ago and the veterinary noticed his leg disability but because lack of proper equipment ,he cannot do more than guessing what it will happen with that leg.

Usually, the future of sick animals from the streets is decided based on the local veterinary experience and former practice' cases but not a good individual investigation and proper diagnostic .Lack of adequate equipment and technical progress are a conviction for some of the dogs.

X-Ray machine, blood analyzer , ultrasound equipment ,all these are part of modern veterinary offices, like the ones where you are probably taking your pet for a good diagnostic, to benefit of a normal veterinary assistance.

ROLDA veterinary clinic will function 24 h/day to offer assistance especially to homeless animals .We need to buy the equipment in order to give a fair chance to these animals to be cared with the respect they deserve ,not be experimental "objects".

We remind you that our veterinary clinic will be able to welcome veterinary doctors and students from abroad, we are working hard to raise funds to assure that this clinic will offer FREE spay/neuter and LOW COST treatments for homeless animals and for pets owned by people with small income.

The social program that we are keen to implement for the first time in our area RELY ON YOUR SUPPORT! DONATE ONLINE NOW TO SUPPORT OUR ADOPTION CENTER PROJECT!

We did researches and found some prices for refurbished/second-hand pieces of equipment, that we think are the best ones.

For instance, a second-hand X-ray machine, usefull for small and large(farm)animals is 2,024 USD (price not including the transportation and Romanian taxes).

After reading all these messages, please offer even a small contribution:

¤ print the veterinary equipment list and research in your area if local vet offices can offer us a donation of veterinary item or veterinary instruments (in good condition).

¤ contact manufactures for veterinary supplies, veterinary instruments or equipment (please contact us for a full list of needed items).

¤ donate to support our project.

Please visit www.rolda.org/ways_to_help.htm in order to find out how you can help us!

Please take a look to the following selection of veterinary equipment and see if you (or your vet, or anyone else you might know) can help us:

Autoclave	1,609 USD
2 Microscopes	546 USD
Grooming table	2,475 USD
2 Surgical lighting	3,340 USD
2 Surgical tables	5,078 USD
Ultrasound diagnostic	6,021 USD
Centrifuge	1,295 USD
Surgical instruments	141 USD
Veterinary scales	1,097 USD
X-ray unit	2,024 USD
Endoscope	1,214 USD
Ultrasonic Bath	1,095 USD
Diagnostic Set	825 USD
Dental equipment	1,507 USD

Note: ** All price are in USD,equipment is refurbished/second-hand,prices listed are the best found during our research .

Please donate online to support our Adoption Center project !

© 2008 ROLDA Foundation