Although we have wonderful animal shelters in England, many shelters abroad also do amazing work to help street dogs and cats, often in the face of opposition from government. So if you have a few pounds to spare, consider these charities to support as part of your monthly giving:
The most effective way to help is to fund spay/neuter programs to prevent more animals ending up on the streets to fend for themselves. If one dog and her litter of puppies are not spayed/neutered, this results in almost 70,000 more street dogs in 6 years (more for cats, as litter numbers are higher).
Obviously there are numerous animal shelters worldwide. A few of note are:
Every Dog Matters (Bulgaria) has created huge open yards that they hope will be a gold-standard for the future of animal shelters in Eastern Europe. Here, dogs get quality food and medical care and regular walks on open land by volunteers, with regular spay/neuter programs, local education on animal welfare and lobbying for changes to legislation (like banning dogs being kept on chains, which is common in Bulgaria). Other shelters in Romania (which has an estimated 2 million street dogs) include:
ROLDA (Romania) is fundraising to build a state-of-the-art centre to help all animals, in a country where animal welfare is not a high concern.
Paws 2 Rescue works in 14 countries to carry out campaigns to help reduce the number of street dogs. It runs extensive neuter/spay programs and sponsors young people in Romania to become vets.
Takis Shelter (Greece) has millions of fans, since being featured on The Dodo (the video went viral worldwide). This shelter was founded by a man who gave up everything he owned to save hundreds of stray dogs and cats, on the island of Crete. Again unlike most shelters with cages, here animals have up to 33,000 square metres of enclosed olive groves to run around in.
Volunteers in Turkey also do wonderful work against the odds. The Turkish Prime Minister recently had to reverse an order to kill all street dogs, due to public outcry. Shelters of note include:
Saving Strays (Bosnia) gives every penny donated to helping abandoned, neglected or mistreated dogs. It responds to urgent calls, rescues dogs on ‘death row’ and offers lifetime care to dogs that need it. It also has an in-house team of home checkers and achieved charity status with the help of a vet and actor Peter Egan, after a film about this organisation was shown at the European Parliament.
more ways to help street dogs worldwide
Workaway is a site where volunteers (including trainee vets and dog trainers) can gain experience by helping animal shelters worldwide, in return for free accommodation and food. You can then review your stay online.
Good Good Good is an American newspaper with a super post on how we can help animal shelters in Ukraine (listed at the end of the post).
WE Care Worldwide (Sri Lanka) helps street dogs with vaccinations, vet treatment and community education – buy cotton t-shirts to support them.
In Delhi, locals have created a waterproof dog bed for street dogs that combines recycled dog food bags with jute cover and reflective piping.
Animal People Alliance offers compassionate care to neglected street animals in India and Thailand. It trains and employs vulnerable people (and pays living wages) to train them to care for and vaccinate animals. The organisation was co-founded by 80s pop singer Belinda Carlisle who says she is dedicating the rest of her life to addressing animal welfare issues in Asia.
