Romania: The Second Chance
By candaceritz
By: Gratiela Ristea – International Volunteer & Founder of Prietenii Nostri
Having dedicated my life to animal rescue in Romania, a country with a large stray dog population where many of the dogs are in poor health and in need of extensive medical treatment, I often find myself feeling overwhelmed and helpless when I find a very sick or disabled dog. Although I am committed to doing everything possible for each and every dog I encounter, medical care for animals in Romania falls short and there is often little that can be done for the most serious cases. One such case was Giulio.
Giulio lived with friends of mine, but he himself, was one of my best friends. The happiness that he showed me when we met, I never found that, even in my human friends. He was a friend of my dog, Lady, and they would play with each other every day. They were so beautiful together, so full of life, so strong and so lovely. Giulio loved all people, not just his family, as well as every dog he encountered.
Giulio was a lovely dog, a good boy and had such sincere affection. However, tragedy would strike Giulio. He was injured on a beautiful spring day and, due to the lack of medical options available for animals in Romania, the humane thing to do was to euthanize Guilio and put him out of his pain. I wished with all my heart that I could have done something, I felt so impotent. Giulio’s story is like so many others here in Romania – an otherwise healthy dog, full of life, taken from us too early because he suffered an injury that would leave him with a disability. A disability that dogs in countries such as the United States, Britain and the Netherlands live full and satisfied lives with. His memory will always be of pure joy and I find peace knowing that he is in a better place now.
From tragedy to Hope
I tell Giulio’s story not to tell a story of tragedy, but rather, to tell a story of Hope – a dog named Hope. Feeling disheartened that I was unable to help Giulio; I was given the chance to help another dog. It was an autumn afternoon, not long after I lost my friend Giulio, when I found a female stray dog lying on the side of the road. It was evident that she had never felt the sweetness of being someone’s pet, the joy of having a guardian or the simplicity of having a bed and food nearby. I knelt down next to her on the side of the road and she looked at me with pain in her eyes. Her entire life had been a struggle for survival and I was determined to end her pain and to fight for her survival. I named her “Hope” right there on the side of the road and told her that she would no longer know pain, only hope.
Hope seemed extremely tired and weak and was clearly malnourished and dehydrated. I could see she was in pain and quickly brought her to my shelter, “Prietenii Nostri”, which was just down the road, on the same street, Tudor Vladimirescu, from where Hope had been lying in the dust. The day I brought Hope to the shelter, we had over 500 dogs at the shelter and I knew she would not fair well in this type of environment in her current condition. I was determined to find her a loving family that was capable of giving her the care she so desperately needed. Already having 500 dogs that needed homes of their own, my decision to focus on finding a home for Hope, a sick and disabled dog I had just found lying lifeless on the side of the road, was not met with much approval. It wasn’t that anyone disapproved of my helping Hope, but the situation in Romania is such that even healthy dogs are unlikely to find homes, and here I was spending my time and energy on a dog that had serious injuries and was in need of special care. It seemed an absurdity and so it was. But I didn’t care and all I knew was that I had to do it. I had to give a second chance to a sweet dog that hadn’t even had a chance in the first place.
As I brought Hope into the “office” of the shelter (the only room we have) I could see the terror and suffering in her eyes. I held Hope in my arms and was eventually able to calm her down so that I could give her Metacam for her pain. I gave her some food and water and then laid her down, covering her with a blanket. I sat next to this beautiful girl whose spirit had been broken and I gently stroked her head. As I sat there petting my new friend, I could see her eyes light of hope, the hope that she had forgotten but that was now to live again. Being that the shelter does not have a Veterinarian, nor does the shelter have a vehicle, I called for a taxi and sent Hope to a clinic that was 50 kilometers from Slatina where the shelter is located. I phoned the Veterinarian and explained Hope’s situation to him. After speaking with him all I could do was wait and hope for the best.
As was evident, Hope, having been a stray for as long as anyone could imagine, was extremely malnourished and dehydrated. X-rays revealed that she had been hit by a car and although her spine was not injured, one of her back legs was crushed and she would never be able to use it again. As it goes in Romania, the vet said, “If you are not able to find her an owner, she has to be put to sleep. She has no chances without special care and daily exercises.” Hope was lucky to have survived being hit by a car, but now her survival lay squarely on my shoulders and she depended on me to give her a chance to live the life all dogs deserve. After having spent most, if not all, of her life alone on the streets, Hope had me by her side and there was no way I was going to have her euthanized. When I picked up Hope from the Vet I told her, “I will fight beside you Hope. You are not alone anymore.” She understood every word I whispered into her ear. And although I knew finding Hope a home would not be easy, she looked at me with complete faith, although I had little in myself.
Even with everyone telling me I was crazy for taking on such a special needs dog, I just knew that I had to go on and help Hope find a home. The desire for life became one: Hope’s and mine was the same, survive! I understood that my decision was the right one. Life is always desired, even when people think that putting an animal to sleep would be the better solution. I had just received an important life lesson from Giulio and Hope – life is worth fighting for, no matter how tough the fight. I never wanted to feel hopeless again, as I had with Giulio, and Hope was giving me a chance to redeem myself.
Finding family and forever home
Finding the right home and guardian for Hope was no easy feat. It proved very difficult, as I had expected. Having turned up no one, I turned to a friend of mine, Nancy, in Belgium to help us find a home and owner for Hope. Hope’s story profoundly moved Nancy and she did all she could to find a home for Hope. She searched day and night for a proper home and owner who would care for Hope like a mother cares for their baby. Hope’s injuries required constant care and attention. In addition to Hope’s initial needs, she also had to be washed whenever she relieved herself, all of which took a great deal of time and effort.
After searching high and low, Nancy found the most wonderful family in Amsterdam, and everyone knew instantly that Hope’s family had been found. Understanding from the start that, unlike a perfectly healthy dog, a dog with special needs would require more time to do the most basic things as well as a tremendous amount of care and attention, the Bastiaan Family had no hesitation about adopting Hope. Hope would be a new “baby” in their family. I was overwhelmed by the fantastic news and immediately started preparing Hope for adoption and arranged for her to be spayed prior to going to her new home.
In a fog of endless happiness, I spent the next few days getting passports ready and taking care of any paperwork for Hope. I could hardly believe she was finally going home! It was difficult thinking that I would only see her in photos, but the thought that she would finally be happy was more than my desire to have her nearby. My job was done, as was Hope’s. She was not the only one that needed hope; I desperately needed hope again myself. Hope gave me just what I needed and I believe that I did the same for her.
Hope settled into her new home lovely and after a few weeks I was able to go see her and her family in her new home. She had her own brand-new cart and was running like a rabbit in her big back yard. She ran so fast she seemed like a car with six wheels! Her eyes were shining of joy and happiness; the happiness of those who have been given a second chance at life – one filled with hope.
Romania’s Homeless Dogs Meet Kids That Care
July 03, 2008, 5:48PM MT
By scratchtopaz
romanias homeless dogs meet kids that care
A beautiful friendship begins!
Who doesn’t want a friend? Who doesn’t want to be someone’s friend? Friendship is so important to our quality of life. Friends come in many varieties and not just the human kind! You can be great friends with cats, dogs, birds and more.
Our four-legged friends make wonderful companions because they understand you, they stay beside you, they give you joy, they make you laugh. Even though they don’t speak our language, they share their emotions with us, and they’re very trustworthy!
It seems that many Romanians have forgotten this. Our best friends forever, the dogs, have become our enemies. The Romanians see only the bad side of the situation: they see the stray dogs hungry and aggressive, they see the female dogs that defend their puppies, they see the waste that the dogs leave behind. Their beautiful eyes, their faithfulness, their love for human beings is secondary to Romanians after the “nuisance” behavior.
They love us (they always do) and we give them, in return, hate. We don’t want the homeless dogs on the streets, but we forget that we are responsible for this situation. This is not their fault. But it’s difficult for us to accept our guilt. It’s easier to ignore them, to do nothing or to let them die. Some Romanians think this way. For this reason, we, the Association “Prietenii Nostri’’(Our Friends) from Slatina, have decided to make a difference! In our little town, with our little resources and possibilities, we’ve decided to open people’s eyes and make them part of the solution!
We have started a partnership with local schools. Last year we gave out calendars to school children that depicted images of kids being kind to animals. It was very successful, but the expense was too great, and we couldn’t repeat the program this year.
However, our luck changed because of DAN from Holland. They gave us toys, games and other presents for us to distribute to the children. Because many times it is not enough to just talk about change. Sometimes it is necessary to be creative to capture the public’s attention.
Our program works to not only get kids involved in helping the homeless pets, but helps to change the perception of animals in need. Children have an innocent heart and they have the time and the patience that the adults have lost. And we also know that dogs like children.
On March 8th, we restarted our youth program – 15 children with their teacher visited our shelter. The kids and the teachers are invited to come and volunteer on weekends, and we’re also inviting pupils from surrounding schools. They played with the dogs, pet them, walked them, helped socialize them and helped us clean. We have over 500 dogs in our rescue, so it’s wonderful for them to get the love that the children bring.
The children didn’t just bring love – they brought original compositions they wrote about our four-legged friends. Here is an excerpt from one of their original papers (translated from Romanian):
“In exchange of a little food and a pat, rarely given, the dogs have defended humans homes and their properties, have carried sleighs and carriages, have fought besides the soldiers, have defended the palaces, have saved human lives in the mountains and in the rivers, have found the missing people and the wounded ones, have helped to chase and they have put their precious qualities in our service and they have given us devotion till the supreme sacrifice. For more than twenty thousand years they love us and they serve us with loyalty and faith.
Those that truly love the dogs and appreciate them, will understand that only assuring them humane conditions in order to preserve the dog’s hereditary natural character, will prove that they care about the dogs.”
Also for the four paws it was a beautiful day. They had company, they received attention and tenderness, and they felt love from their new buddies. If they could speak, they would say: come also tomorrow to see us, you are our friends!
Their teacher, Larisa Cercelaru, said that after the visit the children have shown more interest in the animals, and even some of their behavior has changed: one schoolmate that was seen hitting a stray dog was chastised for doing such a bad deed. They explained to him why he shouldn’t do such careless things!
Many thanks for teacher Larisa Cercelaru and for her work and love to the animals!
ROMANIA: IN OUT OF THE COLD FOR DOGS IN SLATINA
May 07, 2010, 3:7PM MT
By Kim Beck, Best Friends Volunteer International Liaison, with information provided by Gratiela Ristea, Best Friends Network Volunteer,
“Prietenii Nostri” is addressing Romania’s large stray dog population by running an animal shelter, as well as offering free spay and neuter surgeries.
Lucky is one dog in Slatina who truly lives up to her name. She survived inside a pipe in a deep hole, four meters down (that’s 12 feet!) under an apartment complex and was starving for weeks. The dog catchers had tried to get her out—with no luck.
Finally, someone called Prietenii Nostri. With the help of the Fire Department and a persevering volunteer, Nicky, they were finally able to get her out! Lucky was taken to their shelter, nursed back to health, and then spayed. Lucky was adopted from the shelter and is now happy and healthy living in her forever home.
In Slatina, Romania, “Prietenii Nostri”, which translates to “Our Friends” in English, is doing wonderful things to help the dogs in their community. They are addressing Romania’s large stray dog population by running an animal shelter, as well as offering free spay and neuter surgeries.
At a different apartment complex in Slatina, another dog was having puppies. It was a cold night, so the dog took shelter in the stairway of the building. Teodora, the Founder of Prietenii Nostri, took the dog and pups to the shelter where they could be out of the cold and be safe and warm. Now the mother dog and her two surviving pups have been adopted, and they will be going to their new home soon–after being spayed, of course!
After an unfortunate incident, Dolly lost her back legs and had a lot of trouble getting around. Dolly’s family didn’t give up though, and they took her to a group of veterinarians at a spay/ neuter clinic in their hometown of Bals. Those vets knew of a way to help Dolly, and with the help of Prietenii Nostri and the American group, Eddie’s Wheels, Dolly is mobile once again! With a cart acting as her back legs, Dolly is now able to go wherever she wants.
Photos: Prietenii Nostri / One of the rescued pups
Romania: Little dog with great fortune
August 26, 2008, 2:32PM MT
By elizabeth
romania little dog with great fortune
Little dog with great fortune
by Gratiela Ristea
Prietenii Nostri Association
Sometimes even little ones have great luck. You can read this in Mousy’s little brown eyes, even though she can see you only with one. The other has only color … And this is only one of the sufferings that Mousy had to endure.
Certainly she was somebody’s pet. We don’t know surely if she had been abandoned. But one cold February day , when I saw her scared look and the sadness through his eyes I understood that my memory couldn’t ever cancel her. And so it was.
As usually, in that winter’s cold, I went to the communal shelter , which is in fact a kill shelter, to take some photos and to see if they have brought more dogs. This is in Romania, the city of Slatina, in the south part, where, as in all the cities, the stray dogs are caught and brought to the pound , where they meet an inexorable death. Hundred of pairs of eyes were looking at me, begging me with the scared glances and the ears all down, to free them, to feed them, to take care of them.
Every time, when I go there, in my heart and brain starts a storm of desperation and impotence. Every time I feel myself useless and little in that big evil world, created by the humans. Why can’t we all, nature, animals, humans be friends and not enemies? Why is there always a gratuitous sufferance and so much pain? I haven’t yet found the answer.
While these thoughts were passing through my mind , I saw the sad glance of the littlest dog who was there. She was afraid among all these big hungry dogs. She was no more than 27 centimeters, and looked almost like a puppy. I took a few photos and I returned to our shelter, Prietenii Nostri.
The happy looks of our 500 dogs, their love instead of fear which they come towards me were so contrasting with the glances from the dogs at the pound. Only 5 minutes between two different worlds…It’s difficult to share the happiness suddenly after seeing the other side…
When I looked again at the photos, I remembered the little one. I sent the photos to Yvonne, my friend from Holland and I told her that I was impressed by the little female dog. I told her that the sadness expressed only by an eye was still impressed on my mind. I knew also that she was too little to survive for more than two, three days among the others big dogs . I spoke with Yvonne about that and she asked me to take the little one from the pound.
I went to the communal shelter to take her away. When I took her in my arms, her continuous trembling stopped. But the others’ howls were incessant….all of them wanted to be in her place.
Unfortunately, we have almost 500 dogs saved from sure death in our shelter and we don’t have the possibility to take more. I went home, happy by my little victory but embitterred by my impotence to save them all…
The next day I felt better. I saw a new saved life, a new different glance from the yesterday’s one. I gave her enough food, water and a lot of caresses. She licked my hand and wagged her tail. She felt herself no more in danger. The next day, I brought her in our shelter and I asked the vet to cure her. She had a cough and an infection in the good eye ( the left one was blind). We decided also to neuter her, as we do with all our dogs.
After a week she seemed a different dog. She was happy and well fed. We found also thought of a name for her. Instead of “The Little” -as we called her at the beginning- we decided to call her Mousy, because she was little and delicate like a mouse.
While Mousy was in good form, Yvonne, my friend from Holland has found a solution for her. Ingrid, a dear friend to her, hearing about the story, decided to take Mousy home together with her lovely dogs and cats until she will finds a permanent home. And so it was. Only one month later, Mousy had a plane ticket to Holland. Dan from Holland helped us with her passport and buy the ticket for her.
Mousy, the little, had not only a great fortune to be saved from the death but also a beautiful future is waiting for her.
Picture: Mousy happy, on her way home!
Edited & Posted by Elizabeth
Romania: Biconeta finds a job in the office.
February 27, 2008, 6:33PM MT
By sharonstjoan
romania biconeta finds a job in the office
One in a million saved
By Gratiela Ristea, Prietenii Nostri
Only one in a million has a chance in Romania. And Biconeta is one of these fortunate ones. I think we should call her Lucky, because it was only luck that saved her so many times.
We first knew her in May 2006. It was at that time that we took over the running of the public shelter, in order to make it a no-kill shelter. (We are the Association “Prietenii Nostri’’, which means “Our Friends’’ in Slatina, Romania).
She was one of the 12 pairs of eyes who were looking at us, fearfully and painfully. One of the 12 dogs saved from the massacre. Her big, black beautiful eyes were bright, and seemed almost from a different world. We suddenly paid attention to her because, after a couple of days, she was the only dog who didn’t play with the others. She was staying in a corner, looked angry and, at the same time, indifferent to all that was happening.
First, we thought that she behaved like this because of the trauma.
Her past was horrible. But so was that of the others. It seemed that she was the only one who didn’t want to forget it. She wasn’t interested in playing, and our affection left her indifferent.
Meanwhile, we saw she had no appetite, and we realized that it was not only the horrible past that had had produced that suffering, but there was also something wrong. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a veterinary surgeon in our Association. Also now we can’t afford one (the vet comes now only part-time). But, as soon as we realized that she was sick, we called a vet to see her. And our fear was confirmed; Biconeta had pneumonia. Her lungs were full of infection. Maybe because, before May 2006, she, like the others, used to sleep on the cold, damp cement floor. She slept together with all the dogs not only on the cold cement floor, but also in extreme temperatures. In Romania, in the winter it is very cold, and the shelter was drafty.
The vet said that Biconeta should stay in a warm room, separated from the others and should take the medicines. The only room that we had was our office. We put her immediately there, and we bought the medicines.
Each day that passed was a new victory for us and Biconeta. We saw that slowly, slowly she got well.
After a month, Biconeta watched us with a new look. A look that said, “Thank you, I know you care about me.” And as the days passed, she started to wag her tail and to lick our hands. She felt, finally good. The evil had passed.
Life turned around for Biconeta. She began to go outside and to approach the others. She started also to play, especially with her brother, Rexy. Biconeta and Rexy were at that time about four years old. Both of them were grey with big black eyes. Rexy was so happy to see her again nearby!
But their happiness lasted only for a while. Biconeta defeated her illness. Rexy, unfortunately, one year later died because of a malignant tumor.
Biconeta was luckier. She remained our “office dog.’’ She slept in our office and was our “colleague.’’ She still is now. But the present is for her so different from the past! Now, she is spayed, she has so much love from humans, she has enough food and fresh water, and she has the others dogs to play with. But her luck doesn’t stop here. She was adopted in Holland by a lovely family: Bianca, Thomas and Hendry! Her name is now Biky and she has a warm place and a lot of love!
Maybe Biconeta should be renamed …,”Lucky”–she’s had a lot of luck!