UPDATE 22/5/24 Since I noticed donations are still occasionally coming in, I decided to keep this page open for a little longer. I will send the remainder of the donations at the closure of this page (likely in another month or two)

Hello dear animal lovers!

As you likely seen in my last youtube video, after 5 years of losing Odie I decided to adopt another dog Vongola.

Vongola comes from an animal shelter in the south of Italy. He spent 8 years of his life living in a stressful environment, confined in a cage, without a bed or toy and minimal health care.

THE SHELTER SITUATION

Shelters in Italy are overcrowed and most often than not there aren't enough funds to properly care for the dogs who end up living in pain and without much hope of finding a home.

The shelter he comes from has about 320 dogs so you can imagine the noise, the smell and the constant stress the dogs are faced with. This shelter is funded by the surrounding councils to try and fix the stray issue. Although they do provide for food and basic heath care (vaccinations and sterilizations) if there is a dog that needs a vet care for other issues they are not incentivized to care for them since it costs them money. Most often than not they just ignore the issues until it's too late.

Same goes for fleas and ticks treatments. In the south of Italy, Leishmaniosis and Erlichiosis (pathogens that cause cronic infections and if untreated can lead to death )can be contracted thorugh ticks and mosquito bites. Dogs that contract such illnesses are less likely to be adopted.

The shelter sprays anti flea/tick treatement not on each dog but by spraying on the air on top of the cages which is a very ineffective (if not useless) method.

Proof is that Vongola contracted Erlichiosis most likely during his stay and will need extra medical care till the end of his life.

WHO IS SOS ADOZIONI CALABRIA AND WHAT THEY DO

SOS Adozioni Calabria is a non profit organization that provides:

-crucial medical care

-transport to and from shelter for vet visits

- care insided the shelter (human touch, walks, grooming, help with behavioral issues)

- adoption services (publishizing the dogs through socials, filtering through requests, home-checks, transport organization to adoptees location)

This work is SOLELY done by volunteers work most often at their OWN expenses.

HOW WILL THE MONEY BE USED?

The funds will be used for:

- urgent vet bills and medical care

- tick and flea treatements (particularly important now that summer is approaching)

-covering transport costs.

- purchase of autofilling water bowls. Atm the dogs only get water in the morning when the shelter staff feeds them. This is a problem in the summer heat where the dogs might finish it early in the day and have to wait till the morning after to drink (volunteers cannot fill them since they only have access to the shelter on weekends).

The page will be open for 30 days. At the end of this period I will forward the funds to the charity and will provide proof here and on YT. The charity will provide proof of receipt on their IG account (@s_o_s_adozioni_calabria )

At the end of the fundraiser I will select a random winner (using an online random selecter) for this crochet stuffed toy dachsund I made with lots of love :). PLEASE LEAVE A NAME on your donation so we can regognize you! I will announce the winner name on a YT community post and on IG stories on the 12th of may.

Thank you for your generosity,

Marina and Vongola