Due to growing concerns of coronavirus, ROLDA continues to prioritize the health and safety of the caretakers and the hundreds of animals in our care. Your urgent gift made today will help us survive in crisis situations like this one.
COVID-19 is a real human health crisis, but it doesn’t need to be a crisis for shelter pets, too.
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At ROLDA we are facing a
nightmare
We at ROLDA cannot bear to consider the fate our dogs will suffer should we run out of food.
We will do our absolute best to source food from anywhere we can …supermarkets far and wide …dog food suppliers all over the world, anywhere we can think of. Our team will be driving all over Romania to collect food from anywhere that sells it. They will do ANYTHING to feed and protect the dogs. But the reality is that there are 700 hungry mouths to feed.
This is a huge amount of food even for one single day. Our dogs eat an average of 400g of food per day. That’s nearly 2 tons of food per week and 7.8 tons of food per month.
The amount of food 700 dogs eat on a monthly basis would fill over 2 lorries. It’s an overwhelming amount and exactly why we at ROLDA work so hard to raise donations from kind supporters to keep our shelters in operation.
But now we have an emergency. Our supplier in Spain can no longer transport food to us. We are on our own. There is no food left in the local supermarkets because people are panic buying for their pets. Even if there was enough food, we’d clear the shelves every day with the amount we need.
And to make things far worse… we simply can not AFFORD to pay the prices of local supermarkets. Under ordinary circumstances, we buy our good quality dog food from wholesale, keeping our costs as low as possible. Therefore, we not only need to find a source of dog food, but we also need to raise funds to pay the inflated costs during this worldwide crisis.
It literally brings us to tears to consider what will happen if we are unable to source food for our beautiful dogs who have already suffered so much before ROLDA rescued them from a horrifying existence on the streets.
Ultimately, if we fail to find food, we have no choice but to release our dogs back onto the streets, where they have a very small chance of survival. It would be cruel to keep them in the shelter when we have nothing left to give them. We just cannot imagine this situation, it’s too painful to consider. But yet this reality is nearly upon us because no matter how much we try to source food, we are fast running out.
Our dogs finally feel at home because they are cared for and loved for the first time in their lives. Some of our dogs have been with us for years. Many have suffered unimaginable levels of brutality and suffering before we rescued them. There are puppies and seniors (which make up 40% of our dogs) that stand almost no chance of survival in the kill or be killed environment stray dogs face in Romania. We, and our dogs, are facing nothing short of a nightmare.
We must not fail. We must find the support we need from caring and generous people around the world.
Help us cover food costs by
donating today
If that wasn’t enough, we are also depleting our stocks of disinfectant and medical supplies.
The visual below demonstrates each vital component and how much of it we need to keep our dogs clean and cared for each month.
WE NEED 8 TONES OF FOOD TO FEED OUR 700 DOGS
WE NEED 2240 LITERS OF DILUTED DISINFECTANT TO CLEAN OUR SHELTERS FOR 1 MONTH
Treatment against fleas & ticks = 700
doses* (1 per month per dog)
Heartgard tablets (to prevent
internal & heart parasites Dirofilaria
immitis)= 700 doses*
How you can help
Join ROLDA Rescue Team even if you are thousands of miles away!
If you use Facebook, you can:
Start a fundraiser for ROLDA or
Donate to ROLDA’s COVID Solidarity
fundraiser
Sponsor a #roldadog
These 3 dogs have been with us for 2190 days. They weren’t lucky enough to be adopted but please help us to keep them under our care.
Pal 
● Male
● Small (height: 55 cm)
● High level of energy
● Friendly with people
● Saved from the streets, loves food!
Vieja 
● Female
● Small/medium (height: 45 cm)
● Friendly with people and dogs
● Good companion
● Saved from streets, relaxed off the leash
Vito
● Male
● Small (height: 50 cm)
● Walks on the leash
● Friendly with people and dogs
● Saved from the streets, loves treats
These 3 dogs have been with us for 14 days (and counting). They were the victims of abandonment, people rushing to protect themselves from a disease that their dog cannot carry
Garincha
● Male
● Small (height: 30 cm)
● Sociable
● Friendly with strangers
● Saved from local public shelter. Due to malnutrition, he has x shape legs.
Bambi
● Female
● Small/medium (height: 40 cm)
● Super friendly with people – gives paw for extra cuddles
● Rescued and treated for a lump on her back (where her fur is shaved)
Paul
● Male
● Mix Husky
● Hyper active, friendly, playful
● Abandoned because not 100 % pure breed, needs surgery because he suffers from cryptorchid (one testicle not descending)
No matter if it’s 14 days or 2190 days, ROLDA continues to be passionate, balanced, responsible and committed to animal welfare. To continue helping the voiceless – we need you!
Can you help us
find these supplies?
If you are a company with the supplies we need, or can help us purchase and ship any of these products, we would be equally eternally grateful.
Please click to see the list
Food (dry food or canned/soft food for
senior dogs with no teeth)
Protection masks & suits
Disinfectant floor
Disinfectant hand gel (75% alcohol)
Elastic bandages
Iodine
Antibiotic ointment
Heartgard tablets for medium size dogs
Advantix spot on for medium size dogs
Towels
Message from Dana
“ROLDA is a preciously rare source of hope and care for the millions of nameless, homeless dogs across Romania and the hundreds in our care. We took them away from a community disturbed by their noise, repulsed by their illnesses, unforgiving of their hunger and need for affection. We offered them shelter, care and love for as long as we could. Many of these dogs have spent much of their lives with us, we grew old together and they have no one else to turn to; I could never forgive myself if I fail them.
These dogs are my life. The world’s governments, health officials, clinicians, police forces and militaries are all mobilising to safeguard human life; who will be there for our dogs? ROLDA will, though we need your help to ensure we can.
ROLDA desperately needs the generosity and compassion of people like you who care for animals that so need and deserve our kindness. Please, help us in our darkest hour.
I hope as much as anything that you, your family and pets stay safe and healthy. Please follow advice only from official and reputable sources; misinformation, speculation, and panic will only serve to make a dire situation that much worse.
Keep clean hands, clear minds and do not give up hope.”
Dana Costin
President of ROLDA
How animals in Romania are affected by COVID crisis?
– Increased number of pets abandoned – abandonment is a disaster for every dog!
Dogs looking disoriented, in the middle of the road, well fed and with fairly clean fur – our eyes can instantly tell that these are not strays. It became obvious for us that the community started to panic, to believe that the dogs can carry and spread COVID and decided to get rid of them.
– Dramatical decrease of donations
ROLDA work is sustained by supporters from abroad. From the begining of this year, the Australian bush fires decreased the income from Australia. Then when while the COVID virus starting to spread in Europe and the US, our entire income has started to collapse.
– Products disappear or become prohibited or very expensive
As soon as the COVID crisis started in Romania, disinfectants and protection masks disappeared completely. Slowly other products like gloves and emergency medical products were either gone or 100x times more expensive.
What WE are doing?
ROLDA saves as many abandoned dogs as possible.
ROLDA also struggles to fund a stock of food and emergency medical supplies for the darker weeks ahead of us, while resources are harder to be find, even if money were no object.
ROLDA caretakers work around the clock to provide quarantine for new dogs entering our shelters and also to provide the same quality services for the 700 dogs already housed, especially considering that 40% of them are senior dogs with special needs.
ROLDA volunteers create a multi-language guide because pets from all over the world matter and we want to see them safe and with their human companions.
But…
ROLDA has also suspended our sterilisation programmes indefinitely to protect our staff and volunteers from working in close proximity and to conserve what little supplies we already have in reserve – disinfectant, medical alcohol, surgical masks, just to mention the most vital supplies but the list goes on. Local prices have exploded – the cost of a pair of basic latex examination gloves have inflated in price by 5000% if you are lucky enough to find them.
There is a coronavirus vaccine for dogs.
But it’s a different strain.
We are in no danger from our pets.
Please be correctly informed before taking the dramatic decision to abandon your pet!
Canine Coronavirus Infection (CeCoV or CCV) and the current COVID-19 coronavirus are two separate things and have nothing in common. CCV attacks the canine digestive system, and it is typically associated with diarrhea, while COVID-19 attacks the respiratory system. Another type of coronavirus, Canine Respiratory Coronavirus (CRCoV), is often associated with kennel cough in dogs.
“Canine” and “Feline” coronavirus are NOT the same as COVID-19. Humans cannot catch “canine” and “feline” coronavirus.
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