Help street dogs (and shelters) in Eastern Europe

Millions of dogs worldwide need our help, not every country has an RSPCA or loving volunteers in shelters. Of course we also need to help dogs in England. But it’s good to also donate to volunteers in Eastern Europe, who sometimes go without themselves, to help street dogs in dire circumstances.
Winters can be brutally cold, so volunteers often drive out to help street dogs, or find makeshift kennels and need money for hay, as well as food and medicine. All with no outside support.
Small donations make a big difference
The good news is that the shelters below could all become financially okay, with just many people giving regular small donations. For instance:
If 1000 people donated £5 a month (less than a coffee), one shelter could receive £60K a year. That would cover likely all their food, medicine and transport needs for a year.
How to donate to dog shelters in Europe
Donate Directly
Direct donations are the quickest way, as the money goes direct into bank acconts. Most below have a Paypal address. If the charity is UK-registered, register for Gift Aid to give 25% extra at no cost to you. most allow anonymous donations.
Animal Web Action (click for free)
Animal Web Action is a French website which runs regular emergency campaigns for shelters (and sometimes individual animals). Funded by sponsors, each campaign runs for around a week.
If the target is reached, sponsors deliver food, hay and blankets to shelters in desperate need, with no funds. The amount needed is huge (a big campaign could run to £7K). But if enough people click, this amount can be easily reached at no cost to anyone.
Supporters simply click a campaign four times a day (or more if you use roaming VPN or turn phone airplane mode on/off). Sponsors cover all the costs, so it doesn’t cost a penny.
If the campaign does not reach the target, the campaign fails and due to the big delivery, nothing is given and any financial donations (people can ‘top up the campaign to get it over the line) are refunded.
You could imagine that if enough people knew about this site and clicked all the campaigns, between them all the campaigns would be guaranteed success. You could also promote this site on your own blog, website or social media, to get the word out .
All shelters are visited, to ensure they are need of funds.
easyfundraising (raise funds as you shop)
easyfundraising lets you support a chosen charity every time you shop online. It’s only for UK-registered charities (but some below have a UK ‘good cause’ person in the UK who can receive the funds, to donate on).
Like it or not, most people shop at the big stores (Amazon, Argos, supermarkets plus train companies, Booking.com etc). All of these (plus around 4000 other retailers) are on board with this one.
You simply nominate your cause then download an app to remind you. Then each time you shop, that company donates a portion of income to your charity, at no cost to you. Loyalty points are not affected. Charities receive the money every 3 months, carried over if it’s below the minimum threshold.
Many small charities raise thousands of pounds each year through easyfundraising. It’s a great way to support them, especially if you buy items on regular subscription or travel a lot.
Volunteer your skills
It’s not just money that these shelters need. Volunteer vets and builders (to create kennels and fencing) are also in need. Or even supply materials if you can’t visit to help yourself.
You could even email over your skills and instructions, to those who could do the work themselves, if they had the knowledge.
If you have digital or marketing skills, you could help to run social media campaigns build free websites and install donation buttons, or build awareness for emergency appeals.
From your desk or armchair, you could help to do the work that the heroic volunteers in Eastern European don’t have the time to do, due to being on the front line doing the practical work.
Many Eastern European shelters have volunteers who don’t speak good English. So you could even translate campaigns to get the word out worldwide.
Some shelters try to get dogs adopted to good homes. In this case, volunteer photographers can help, portraying dogs needing homes in quality photos. It’s known that such photos increase adoption rates.
Eastern European dog shelters to help
The following list is not exhaustive, but here are a few shelters who welcome your help:
Bosnia
Paws in Our Hearts Bosnia
Accepts donations via Paypal or easyfundraising
Bank transfer:
- Account name: Jacqueline Compson
- Account number: 03307086
- Sort code: 11-03-94
Other Bosnian rescues include:
Serbia
Beta Zaječar
- PayPal: jasmina.haigh@yahoo.com
Bank details:
- IBAN: RS35200246487010100389
- SWIFT: S8PORSBG
- Local account: 200-2464870101025-3
- Account name: Udruženje Beta
Other Serbian rescues include:
Cyprus
Saving Souls Cyprus
Donations, help by recycling cartridges, lottery or easyfundraising.
Other organisations include:
- Tala Cats cares for many species
- St Nicholas of the Cats
- Animal Rescue Cyprus
Romania
ROLDA Romania
Donations to help in a country with 2 million street dogs.
Other organisations include:
- Sava’s Safe Haven
- Romania Animal Rescue
- MISI’s Animal Rescue
- A Better Life Dog Rescue
- Paws 2 Rescue (spay/neuter programs in 14 countries)
Other Eastern European Rescues
- Takis Shelter Greece
- Greek Animal Rescue (report abuse also to police and tour operators)
- Every Dog Matters Bulgaria has a wish list (kennels, fencing, buckets and outdoor shelter equipment). Or sponsor a yard
- Dalyan Dog Rescue (Turkey)
- Dalyan Animals helps dogs/cats – help via easyfundraising
- Save a Spanish Spot (Spain) rescues local Dalmations
