A year ago we took over a public shelter in a Curtea de Arges in Romania.

Curtea de Arges was once a horrific kill shelter, hundreds of dogs lost their lives there.

Taking it over was a huge achievement and we turned what was once a kill shelter into an adoption centre.

Romania has a huge stray problem and the solution for this was to set up many public shelters.

A lot are run inhumanely with dogs being culled and left with disease, injuries and little food.

A law was passed in 2013 which enables authorities to cull stray dogs.

Dog catchers were employed and started working to round up stray dogs to then take to public shelters.

This is usually a brutal and traumatic experience for the dog however we do things very differently.

We have a contract with the mayor to catch 40 dogs per month, we do so humanely with leads, kind hands or tranquillising darts.

The current transport ban has meant no dogs have been able to leave to their homes, resulting in overcrowding.

Overcrowding has meant dog fights are breaking out constantly and lives are in jeopardy.

Its now also been suggested that we should consider euthanising our older dogs, simply due to no space, a decision we are hoping not to make.

We are heartbroken.

We need to extend this shelter into the derelict outbuildings at the back as soon as possible.

Our rescue also believes that spaying is the way forward and we run regular spay campaigns at Curtea de Arges public shelter. Spaying tackles the root of the problem and we hope to never find ourselves in this position again.

For now though, lives are at stake and we are desperate to save them.