Laura’s Story
Our Romanian Rescuer
Everything started 6 years ago, Romania has always had a problem with street dogs, Hunedeora the same. I have loved dogs all my life and have always had dogs at home, more than there should be - always 6 or 7 dogs. There was a dog came to visit every day, I knew the hours he would come for food and for a fuss. Every single day he would come, he was happy then he would go and be free. One day he didn’t come nor the next day, my neighbours saw the dog catchers come and they took the dog. That was the first time I stepped into a public shelter, yes I took him out but I also saw the other dogs. I went home I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep I couldn’t enjoy my life. I continued to go everyday and that is where I met Annie. We spoke and we decided we must bring more food as they only had a little and the strong dogs ate and the small dogs hardly got any.
We collected money from friends and we took bread, dry food and canned food. We fed the dogs, we pet them, they look forward to see us and then after 2 weeks we arrived and the public shelter was empty, they had killed the dogs because they get just 2 weeks, imagine that all the dogs we have fed and fussed are gone. My life was awful after that I couldn’t do anything, I just cried and cried for the dogs. So my husband said to me you will not help the dogs if you just cry, I said to myself, yes you must try to help the dogs. So I saw the Mayor who was a good man who liked dogs, I said it is not right that the dogs are killed. I need a piece of land that is all I need and he said ok, I’ll give you some land.
Every 4 years the people choose a new Mayor and he was at the end of his term. The new Mayor had to give us the land but for just 6 years so we couldn’t invest much but we saved around a thousand dogs in our time on that land. Then the animal police came, we thought we would be a good team and work together and save the dogs, but we were very wrong they watched us and they gave us more conditions to keep the dogs than the public shelter had and the pet homes had, it was a very difficult situation. So we raised money and we bought our own land and we are still building our shelter. But the problem is worse now because of the ban in the transport of dogs to the UK it is making it so difficult for us, we have pups that are growing up in the shelter, older dogs that people don’t want to adopt. And the public shelter is full, but now the Mayor doesn’t kill the dogs as he knows I will take them out, but I asked him what happens if I can’t take them out? So it all started with the dog that visited my house, but I blame my husband he was the one that said I should do this.
So here I am I don’t have a holiday, I can’t be sick, I have to feed the dogs at Christmas and Easter, these last 6 years have been very hard and I have to raise money. But the photo’s of the dogs in their new homes brings me more joy than any exotic holiday and I don’t regret it, not a single day of it. I just want a connection in Europe to take dogs and the ban to the UK be lifted. But the animal police and the Romanian people are against us they think we sell the dogs and make a profit.
I won’t give my dogs to Romanian people anymore because they bring them back, it doesn’t look like I want, it chewed my shoes, won’t play with my kids. But it is a soul, a dog not a toy. So now Romanian people think I sell the dogs because I won’t give them my dogs. Yet they won’t come and pet the dogs, or feed them or help, we have no help at all.
Written by Laura Calugaru (Rescuer in Romania)