Paws2Rescue have a team of 20 volunteers travelling to Bucharest in September.

The aim of the visit is to work for two days with the long stay dogs at Mihailesti public shelter.

In 2013, after the killing of a 4 year old boy led to a government decree to go out and kill dogs. The Animal Surveillance and Protection Authority (ASPA) were contracted to remove dogs from the streets and take them to the public shelters. The national government policy is for the dogs to be held for 14 days, and then euthanised.

Today, the public shelters in Bucharest of Bragadiru, Mihailesti and Pallady no longer kill dogs. ASPA, led by a new Director and team, are working to turn the public shelters into adoption centres. They work on many initiatives in the communities to teach people to care about dogs and to encourage adoptions. Bucharest has a free neuter campaign for up to 10,000 owned dogs and cats to be neutered
in 2019, which aims to reduce animal abandonment.

Sadly, the public shelters are becoming full, and if no extra spaces can be found, there is no option than to euthanise the dogs. 

Many dogs in Mihailesti public shelter where I will be working have been living in the hall, in small cages for over a year. No one has ever chosen to adopt them, and it is these dogs that our focus will be starting on.

Paws2Rescue will be spending time with the dogs, walking the dogs,
assessing and socialising the dogs. The aim is not to take them all out and bring them to the UK, but to start working with the dogs, to help raise awareness locally that the shelter is an adoption centre, and to encourage others to either come and help, or to adopt.

It is likely that we will take one or more dogs out, and we will need funds in order to do this. It costs approximately £380 to rescue just one dog. We are also looking for donations of treats and slip leads, to take to the shelter. 

And most importantly, you can share this to spread the word across social media and to help us prevent these dogs from being killed, and to encourage locals to support the adoption centre.

On the final day of the trip we will be visiting an orphanage to deliver donations and work with the children. Paws2Rescue is working hard to change the perception of dogs in Romania and break the cycle of abuse, neglect and abandonment, through not only neutering and adoption campaigns but also education.