🇷🇴 OUR Romanian Diaries 🇷🇴
Read below what our volunteer Haley had to say about all the emotions involved in our trip:
“Preparing for a trip to Romania was difficult in itself, to make sure I had everything I needed, and the mental preparation of not knowing what we were about to walk into. Emma, one of the other volunteers, was the only one in our group of four who had already been to Romania, to visit Alina’s shelter.
I would love to say I was prepared, but I was not. Meeting 164 dogs at Alina’s shelter is not something you would think is easy, but I was not expecting such a mix of emotions. Being happy, sad, overwhelmed, stressed, worried and excited all at once, was honestly one of the craziest feelings I have ever felt. From the dogs barking all at once (including having the odd “howling hour”) and the headaches that brings, to seeing the dogs play, and wish for homes of their own. My heart was not only breaking, but also healing in a different way. Alina is a miraculous person, so strong doing everything that she does day in and out, and the shelter would not run without the help of Alina’s husband, Iuli.
Going to the kill shelter broke my heart in a totally different way too, knowing some of the dogs, although reserved and would be leaving the small pens, had their futures written already as guard dogs on short chains, living outside in all weathers. Unfortunately the reality of us reserving dogs doesn’t always work out, when Alina cannot physically fit anymore dogs into her safe haven, and a dog in the kill shelter has puppies before coming out. This type of situation would also put other dogs in Alina’s shelter at risk, as the puppies in the kill shelter may contract parvovirus, or other harmful diseases, making rescuing the dogs unfeasible. This is why when adoptions slow, the rescue does really struggle. The heartache of knowing we cannot save every dog is so painful.
Hopefully, our trip has led to some positives, in assessing more dogs, taking beautiful pictures, and first hand experience of the dogs one by one, means we can bring dogs that deserve love, to the UK, to free up more space, to save more dogs like the ones in the kill shelter. Seeing what I have seen, if you feel you cannot adopt, please do sponsor or donate to help us save the dogs.”
