Help Street and Shelter Dogs in Eastern Europe (practical steps)

dalmation Rose Beck

Rose Beck

In many parts of Eastern Europe, shelters and street feeders run on thin margins. Food is scarce, bedding is damp and minor coughs can turn serious.

The good news is you can help in minutes. Some options cost nothing. Others are small, steady amounts that add up when lots of people do them.

Why help is urgent for dogs in Eastern Europe

Unplanned litters are a big part of the issue, as dogs can’t be easily spayed/neutered if living on the streets, or there are no fees for vets. In rural areas, vets don’t exist and unlike the UK, often these countries have no dog wardens or an RSPCA to help in emergency cases.

So these volunteers do heroic work in difficult circumstances, often going without food themselves, to provide food, shelter and medicine for dogs.

Due to lack of space, some volunteers have to leave dogs living on the streets, and therefore need fuel to drive around to give food and administer medicine, and check for injuries. They also have to educate local authorities on dog welfare, in countries that often have poor protection for animals.

Small actions like those below, can have a huge effect, when pooled. £1 can top up kibble on a tight run, £5 can add bedding or parasite treatment, and £10 can help cover fuel for a feed route.

Animal Web Action clicks (help in seconds, for free)

Animal Web Action runs online funding campaigns for animal shelters (sponsored by donors) in Eastern Europe (it also helps individual animals in shelters worldwide). Campaigns usually run for around seven days (all verified as genuine) and each click provides 1g of food (or sometimes blankets or medicines).

These campaigns work, but only if hundreds of thousands of people click up to four times a day (you can click more using roaming VPN or turning airplane mode on/off on phones). You can also ‘help the campaign reach the goal’ by pooling donations, from £1 to the full amount (a typical ‘reach’ is £7000 to pay for around 3000kg of food (one click provides 1g of food).

If the campaign fails, donors receive their money back (it’s also a great way to donate if you are concerned about direct donations and wish to remain anonymous). If more people knew about this site, it’s likely all the  campaigns would succeed, from free clicks alone (all paid for by sponsors).

If you have a website or social media, promote this site, as it’s a no-brainer way to help struggling shelters, at no cost to yourself. You can just click through the day, sitting at your office desk, to help.

easyfundraising: raise money when you shop online

easyfundraising is way to generate donations while you shop. Just sign up, nominate a charity, then use the app to buy from one of over 4000 participating companies (including Amazon, Argos, Booking.com and even train tickets). A percentage of each sale is given to your cause, loyalty points are not affected.

Only UK charities usually qualify. But small shelters abroad can be nominated as good cause, as long as there is someone with a UK bank account to receive donations to send on. 

It takes around three months to receive funds, so is not for emergencies. But many small causes abroad raise thousands of pounds this way, at no cost to the person who simply has the retailer give on their behalf.

Direct donations and monthly giving (fast help)

Direct giving via Paypal or a bank account is the fastest way to help, as shelters receive the funds almost immediately. This helps turn panic into planning, with regular income to cover food, shelter and vet care.

If someone gives £5 a month to a small shelter, this is £60 a year.  If 1000 people did this, this would mean a struggling shelter would receive £60,000 a year, to help cover all expenses.

UK taxpayers can add Gift Aid to donate more, at no extra cost. For privacy, you can donate anonymously through a charity giving account, which keeps your details off donor lists, so they are not sold on.

Turn short-term help into long-term change 

Emergency help shelter animals in Eastern Europe today, but prevention means funds to pay for food, medicine and spay/neuter programs to prevent overpopulation and more street dogs.

Although it’s better to adopt dogs locally, sometimes it’s not possible in these countries, so extra funds helps to pay for preparation and costs for adopting animals to loving forever homes.

Use techy skills to help animals worldwide

Volunteers can use techy skills to help small shelters in Eastern Europe, where shelters often don’t have the skills beyond a Facebook page, to build a small free website on WordPress.com. This can share stories and add direct giving information for instant funds, and links to emergency campaigns.

Others can translate information into English, and take good photos (calm happy looking dogs tend to have more adoption offers).

Some Eastern European shelters to help

Paws in Our Hearts Bosnia (donate via Paypal or easyfundraising). Or by bank account: Jacqueline Compson (account no: 03307086, sort code: 11-03-94 Also help Saving Strays Bosnia and more Bosnia shelters

Beta Zaječar Serbia (donate via Paypal at jasmina.haigh@yahoo.com). Or by bank account: Devizni račun (Foreign Currency Account – IBAN): RS35200246487010100389 (Swift Code: S8PORSBG). Local account no: 200-2464870101025-3 (Udruzenje Beta)

Other dog rescues in Serbia:

Saving Souls Cyprus can be helped by recycling cartridges or lottery or easyfundraising. Other good shelters in Cyprus:

ROLDA Romania offers help in a country with 2 million street dogs. Also help:

Other shelters in Eastern Europe

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