An infection was eating away at her skin… But not her soul.

Chick was found not far from our shelter. She was extremely dehydrated and full of parasites. Fleas were feeding on her skin, which was bloody and cracked due to repeated biting and scratching. She had chewed through most of her fur, leaving her damaged skin exposed to horrible infections which, sadly, had already begun to consume her from the outside in. The truth is, she looked like a monster, a zombie. Passersby avoided looking at her, probably from disgust or pity. Some did acknowledge her by offering pieces of bread, which she refused to eat…surely from feeling sick.

Chick obviously needed immediate medical treatment to restore her appetite. And that’s when our ROLDA Rescue Team stepped in to help this poor soul. It was like she was heading toward our shelter to beg for help because she could no longer withstand the pain. Chick fought to reach us…she fought for aid…and her commendable strength paid off, because, the moment she found us her life began to change. That’s right…we didn’t find Chick. She found us!

After a couple of medicated baths, Chick began to show positive progress. Her appetite returned. She ate everything we gave her, from doggy biscuits to roasted chicken. In fact, she ate two fully roasted chickens in 10 minutes. It was a pleasure watching her enjoy her meals.

However, Chick’s road to full recovery is a long one. Her skin needs lots of treatment, including injections, antibiotics, and many more medical baths. ROLDA exists to help dogs like Chick to restore them back to health so that they may be eligible to become someone’s best friend.

ROLDA exists because of your amazing and constant support! Donate to ensure that Chick continues to receive her treatment, as well as to help more dogs like her that are still roaming the streets of Romania.

Help us help them!

As you read these lines, please be as generous as you can for thousands of homeless dogs who are suffering.

Please check our Before/After page to see more special cases of dogs who have been rescued from death and are now safe and happy because you care and believe in our work.

ROLDA saves Chick’s skin… Help more Chicks in need…

Choose a certificate that saves lives

The best gift you can give to your special friend is respect.
Surprise your friends with eco-friendly certificates that express your values and commitment to voiceless animals in need.

Hera’s hell: dog found in tar – fighting for her life.

Hera was found on the streets. Her entire body was covered in tar that had matted her fur and even oozed deep to her skin. We can’t imagine the pain she had suffered…well, to be honest, we don’t want to imagine.

From the texture of her fur and skin, we believe Hera had been in this condition for weeks. It’s a miracle that she managed to survive. We had to wash her with oil to remove the tar, dirt, and dead skin before we could begin to treat her with medicated baths and antibiotics. She is in poor health, but our hope is that she will pull through.

Thanks to our veterinarian, Andrei, and our amazing Rescue Team, Hera is making good progress. Her recovery will take some time, but we have faith that she will overcome her tragic past and will be a loving, faithful, and grateful companion to a lucky family one day!

Help us help them!

As you read these lines, please be as generous as you can for thousands of homeless dogs who are suffering.

Please check our Before/After page to see more special cases of dogs who have been rescued from death and are now safe and happy because you care and believe in our work.

Choose a certificate that saves lives

The best gift you can give to your special friend is respect.
Surprise your friends with eco-friendly certificates that express your values and commitment to voiceless animals in need.

Buck’s story

BUCK was rescued from the street after being hit by speeding a car. We were contacted by an individual who had witnessed the horrible collision. Moments later, our Rescue Team arrived at the scene to transport Buck to our clinic. Buck was lying on his side, urinating and shaking uncontrollably as he was being helped. Due to lack of equipment in Galati’s veterinarian clinics, Buck had to be driven to another town to have x-rays taken. We were thrilled to learn that Buck’s injuries were not life-threatening and that he would be able to walk again.

Buck was treated for heartworm from the proceeds of our international heartworm fundraiser; however, we were all terrified that we had diagnosed the fatal disease too late. It was a great relief to learn that Buck was no longer infected with heartworm disease, and was adopted immediately by Sabine from Germany on October 12, 2017.

Help us help them!

As you read these lines, please be as generous as you can for thousands of homeless dogs who are suffering.

Please check our Before/After page to see more special cases of dogs who have been rescued from death and are now safe and happy because you care and believe in our work.

Choose a certificate that saves lives

The best gift you can give to your special friend is respect.
Surprise your friends with eco-friendly certificates that express your values and commitment to voiceless animals in need.

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From waiting to die to willing to live: A stray’s story of revival.

BAR was discovered behind a bush whimpering softly and breathing erratically as if he no longer had the strength or the will to communicate his agony to the world…as if he literally chose this spot to spend his dying days…alone, as if not to disturb the world around him.

Perhaps it was a relief for Bar to be leaving this world. A world that welcomed him, like every stray, with cruelty, loneliness, and injustice. A world that forced him to starve… endure sickness…to suffer unjustified ignorance and torture…basically, a world that treated him unfairly without any reason whatsoever.

Yes, for Bar it was a great relief to be departing such a world. He could no longer walk to find garbage to eat on the streets. He could no longer crawl to look for a drinking water source. He could no longer even search for a reason to keep trying. So, lay behind a bush…waiting for the pain to end.

Help us help them!

As you read these lines, please be as generous as you can for thousands of homeless dogs who are suffering.

Please check our Before/After page to see more special cases of dogs who have been rescued from death and are now safe and happy because you care and believe in our work.

Choose a certificate that saves lives

The best gift you can give to your special friend is respect.
Surprise your friends with eco-friendly certificates that express your values and commitment to voiceless animals in need.

Every time we rescue a new dog, we try to figure out where he/she comes from so we can try to understand him/her better. When Delu brought Ellie to the shelter, these are the facts as we knew them: A local animal lover called Delu went to pick up Ellie. Ellie and a mixed chow named Bunga were sharing a transport crate when they arrived. The person who called Delu said she found both Ellie and Bunga wandering the streets. She mentioned briefly that Ellie was limping.

It’s clear to us that Ellie belonged to someone. She was abandoned but we don’t know why. Some time ago, Ellie must have been hit by or with something, because she had an old, untreated femur fracture for which she got no treatment. It is heartbreaking, but this is the reality: many homeless animals live in pain, with a fracture or break, and the bone sets naturally – sometimes, in the wrong position, which generates the limping. Plus, probably, pain and more damage/health problems accumulated as time passed.

Ellie is a small, adorable girl who has learned, unfortunately, what it means to be a homeless dog.

After seeing how she limps, we decided it was something serious and rushed Ellie to the vet. There, after a medical exam and XRAY, the vet decided it was the old femur fracture that needs surgery to be corrected and set into the right position.

Being an old problem, there were no guarantees that her leg will recover. But after surgery and a very long recovery period, Ellie‘s pain will stop. In the worst-case scenario, she will lose the leg – but we are hopeful that the vet will do his utmost to save her leg, stop her pain and help her walk normally.

It is sad to think that in a moment, the life of a dog can change so dramatically: from the time when she had a home, until the moment she ended up on the streets, being hit, injured – staying in pain and ending up limping, since who knows when! Thanks to ROLDA friends and supporters, Ellie‘s nightmare will slowly be over.

Making a small gift – Help Ellie’s leg to heal by contributing to medical costs.

More supporters mean more help and during critical times, when your finances are limited, our needs (emergency veterinary costs, food costs, etc) are easier to cover when there are more contributors.

Nothing comes easy in life. Not for Ellie and not for us. Our mission is to work hard, to face difficulties but to make miracles happen for these dogs. And you, dear ROLDA supporter, are part of every step we take to transform each dog’s future.

There is a saying, when someone needs a friend, God sends them a dog. Regardless of your religious beliefs, we can all agree dogs are man’s best friend. ROLDA dogs need a friend, a friend like you, and no dog needs a friend more than Piciu.

After everything I have seen since ROLDA began, I sometimes fall into the trap of thinking I have seen everything, then a story like Piciu’s comes along and reminds me just how wrong I am. You receive weekly – if not daily – heart-breaking stories about our dogs and I wish more than anything Piciu had no such story to tell; I do not know where to begin.

Piciu was the adored pet of a man living with his wife in the village of Smardan. One tragic evening, Piciu became trapped in sharp, metal fencing whilst exploring. In the desperate attempt to free himself, Piciu suffered deep wounds to all four legs and lost a dangerous amount of blood and no, there are no blood banks for dogs here. Piciu was not discovered until the morning, barely clinging to life.

Many would have discarded him like trash, though Piciu had loving owners who wasted no time in rushing him to a vet. It is a uniquely heart-breaking sight – a grown man, weeping and sobbing like a child, inconsolable with grief – cradling his beloved, dying pet in his arms, begging for help whatever the cost.

Piciu is a beautiful, affectionate dog. He needs every prayer to see him through his intensive care and rehabilitation. All four of his legs were grievously wounded, three of which were maimed including one of his front legs that were so irreparably damaged, it required amputating. Furthermore, Piciu is not vaccinated and it would be too risky to vaccinate him in his current state of extremely poor health and weakened immune system.

We have to take extra special care of Piciu, who is exceptionally vulnerable to diseases like distemper, though with our love and expert care, Piciuwill recover and his remaining legs will gradually improve. The most important thing now is to do everything possible to help Piciu fight back to health and reunite him with his family.

Can we, with your help, get Piciu back on his feet?

“My pain is easier to bear when I see you.” that’s what Oscar seems to say when he is around people. Unfortunately, there is no end to the pain that animals feel. It was a regular Saturday. I took a break from writing a report, and logged in to Facebook when the image of a tiny fur ball filled the screen… he was trying to reach a person in a parking lot.

He was too young to understand how dangerously close he was to the busy road. He was focused on reaching the person that stopped the car in the parking lot before she went away, like all the other people who abandoned him behind… hungry and scared… alone in the bitter cold.

He wished to go faster or run as normal puppies did, but he couldn’t… he could only use three legs to move. With one paw suspended in the air, the pain was easier to manage. And so he hopped on, in the night, waiting for someone that would notice him before it was too late.

There is no end to the pain that animals feel, so there is no end to the ROLDA Rescue Team’s mission. Even if it was his day off, Vasile rushed to his van and drove 90 kilometers to Tulcea to meet a lovely girl called Ema.

It was she who spotted Oscar in the parking lot and rang the alarm. Vasile took the small, injured pup back to Galati to the same clinic that once saved Maia’s legs. For this particular case, ROLDA Rescue Team had to cross the Danube River twice and drove for a total of 3 hours and now, veterinary bills are ahead.

We hope that together, we can transform Oscar’s life. Please make a gift to help Oscar heal!

I don’t know if everyone can get an Oscar … but on Saturday, thanks to Ema from Tulcea and thanks to Vasile, ROLDA got one.

Please make a gift to help Oscar and also, help ROLDA reach more dogs like Oscar, dogs that have no one else to turn to – dogs that without you, would die all alone, hungry, injured and scared.

If you turn your head away, she will die. If your eyes can’t bear looking, imagine the pain she feels! “This is one of the worst I’ve seen” exclaimed our vet, gingerly removing a plastic shopping bag stuck to Bela’s deep and infected facial wound. Bela’s story begins in the village of Cismele, South-East Romania, one of the country’s poorest rural communities.

She shares with her owners an improvised home fashioned from scrap material with only the furniture they could salvage. Food is scarce. Bela’s owners cannot often afford to feed themselves, leaving Bela to rely on meager leftovers and whatever she could find. After almost a week without food, Bela, desperate and starving, strayed into a neighbor’s land in search of scraps. Assuming Bela sought to poach his livestock, the landowner cowardly lured Bela and attacked her with a farm tool and left her badly injured and permanently disfigured.

Bela’s owners, uneducated but with good intentions and aware they cannot afford the medical bills, but desperate to help, attempted to bandage Bela’s wound with adhesive tape. This only compounded Bela’s suffering, allowing infection to spread untreated throughout an uncleaned wound.

“Every time a tragic case like Bela is brought to us, I fall into the trap of thinking I’ve seen the worst a human can do to such wonderful creatures, though there’s always another Bela to remind me how wrong I am. However, it never fails to amaze me what strength and dignity dogs show in unimaginable pain.

Thankfully, very few people will ever experience that kind of pain; only those that have can comprehend that degree of suffering. I just cannot understand what complete absence of empathy, kindness or basic human decency it requires to be able to do something like this to any living creature, let alone a dog.

I feel sometimes I understand this world less and less, although the joy of rescuing dogs like Bela and seeing them through treatment, rehabilitation and finding a happy home makes the heartache worthwhile. Bela’s beauty shines through her facial scars and her adoring and sociable personality undimmed by the awful events which have brought her to us. Dogs usually forget and live “in present” and Bela will don’t care about her face scars but every time I will look at her, I will remember. “Because if you love them the way I do, you simply can’t forget”, said Dana Costin, founder of ROLDA when meeting Bela for the first time.

ROLDA is wholly reliant on the generosity and compassion of animal lovers to continue being the only guardian these suffering animals have to turn to, in a world all too eager to turn its back on problems in the hope they’ll disappear; they don’t, and we need your help to save lives.

1. Why do we help the local community’s pets in rural areas?
Obviously, because there is where our help is needed the most, in poor communities where people can’t afford to pay vets bills, where people are uneducated, and their pets are at risk of accidental harm, abuse, malnutrition and abandonment. We never leave an animal in need or in danger, regardless of their or their owner’s circumstances.

2. Why not immediately euthanize dogs like Bela?
After suffering a whole life, Bela’s luck changed the day we were able to save her. ROLDA’s duty is to try to help any dog in need and give them the best possible chance of a happy and comfortable, not to choose the cheapest and easiest way to solve these problems. It’s an expert decision taken by our vet to put a dog to sleep and only ever when it would be cruel to prolong life and suffering. We strive to provide whatever help and funds to try to save each dog in need. Bela, and dogs like her, deserve a chance to heal and have their futures changed for the better.

3. Why does ROLDA prefers international adoptions?
We rehome the vast majority of our dogs within the European Union, whereby their health and fitness to travel are tightly regulated by EU law, ensuring the dog’s health is paramount to all parties. Likewise, levels of public awareness and pet education are much more advanced in the countries where we choose to send our dogs, to loving, permanent homes. We also choose only to send our dogs to nations with comprehensive animal welfare legislation and infrastructure and of course, an appropriate and loving family. After so much suffering, Bela deserves a safe place to call home.

Help Nick beat his tick infestation and help him live! My name is Nick. I was given this name yesterday when I was rescued. Before that, I was a nameless puppy born in a garden in rural Romania like thousands of others. My mother, Greta, gave birth to five pups on a bitterly cold January morning. My brothers and sisters died within the next two months from parvovirus disease, but I survived.

I also managed to outlive starvation. I am skinny, and my bones hurt each time I lay on the concrete. In April, the garden where we lived filled with ticks and fleas which infested my mom and me—we have ticked all over our fur, even around our eyes and in our ears. It’s hard to be born a homeless puppy in Romania! With hundreds of ticks on me, I always feel weak.

The garden’s owners got scared that they might get a disease from our ticks, so they wrapped us in a plastic bag and abandoned us, way outside the village, with no food and no water. We were scared of cars, strange noises, and packs of aggressive dogs defending their territory. My mom and I thought we were going to die out there. We got more and more ticks on our bodies.

One morning I couldn’t open my eyes all the way, but I managed to see my mom shaking from all the fleas and ticks and parasites that were eating us alive. Without a doubt, the first eight months of my life were a nightmare. I didn’t want to bear another day, but somehow, I kept hope alive.

This is how I imagine Nick telling his story. He is eight months old and together with his mother, Greta, who is about eight years old, was found by our ROLDA rescue team. They had been abandoned in the bushes and almost paralyzed by ticks. It was a shocking experience for us because their bodies were completely covered with ticks—even around their eyes and a lot inside their ears.

They were severely dehydrated and emaciated, like walking skeletons.

A monthly donation of €16 toward both Nick and Greta would keep them safe against ticks and fleas. That’s all! Just €16 a month would help end their misery. Make your monthly gift to protect Nick and his mom (and many other dogs) who silently suffer and who desperately need your help.

Help us start Nick’s and Greta’s journey to find a family. Greta is a senior dog, but we are confident someone will want to give her a home. Nick must pass the quarantine after his vaccines, which is not easy, especially if he is carrying any diseases. We have no guarantees that either of them will survive, but our doing our best to save them—as we always do, for each dog in need of our help.

We need you to join Nick’s and Greta’s journey and transform their future. Please, help them.

Prevention treatment is the cheapest and safest solution to protect our voiceless friends and protect ourselves. Help us win the battle against ticks!

Let’s do it for every brave stray dog who suffers every day…even as you read these lines.

Nelu was walking across a field when he spotted the dog laying on its side, twitching its legs. As Nelu got closer, he saw the dog was gasping for air and that its throat was exuding blood from metallic wires wrapped tightly around his neck. Without hesitating, Nelu picked him up and carried him to his home nearby to give him some water before taking him to the vet. Every step of the way, he believed that this dying dog could be saved.

The vet informed Nelu that the dog had a life-threatening wound that needed immediate surgery. When Nelu told the vet that he couldn’t afford the procedure, the vet replied that he couldn’t operate without payment.

In a poor region like Galati, it is uncommon for anyone to perform free labor as it is uncommon for villagers like Nelu to be able to pay for expensive pet surgeries. Of course, Nelu understood the vet’s refusal, but he innocently thought the vet would show compassion given the state of the dog. Sadly, Nelu had to take the dog with him.

But Nelu was determined to find help, and so he found his way to us.

As Nelu related his story, our founder, Dana, was so touched by Nelu’s love for this dog and how he described the dog’s will to live that she instantly thought of the name Romeo. We asked Nelu if he was okay with the name, and he was.

Abuse or freak accident?

It’s unclear how Romeo ended up in this condition but given how tightly clamped the wires were constricting his neck, it appears intentional. However, because no witnesses have come forward, this is only speculation, and a freak accident cannot be ruled out.

It’s heartbreaking to imagine Romeo suffering alone and in silence. He couldn’t bark for help. He couldn’t even whimper. All he could do was hope and fight so that we could save him before he took his last breath.

Romeo is not a lover… he is a fighter! (and a lover)

Everyone was in awe of Romeo’s strength, courage, determination, and patience. He has an iron will that most of us wish we had. He put his faith in Nelu and the vet because he wanted to be saved.

Romeo was just hours away from death and he knew it. We saw it in his eyes—they said, “Please hurry! I don’t want to die!”

Nelu’s love for Romeo. Romeo’s love for life.

While Romeo was in surgery, Nelu shared stories about other stray dogs he’s encountered in the village and said he had never seen a dog in Romeo’s condition. He said he was shocked and afraid but didn’t hesitate to help. He panicked after being rejected by the vet because he felt Romeo was running out of time but said he kept calm for both their sakes. Nelu credits Romeo’s resilience for his self-containment.

After a long silence, Nelu asked if we could help him adopt Romeo. He explained his living situation and believed that with a little support he could be a good caregiver. He said he felt embarrassed and ashamed asking for this after we had already helped him get Romeo the surgery but had to take a chance because he really fell in love with him. How could we say no?

Foster, friendship and fresh air

Our supporters helped us raise enough funds to cover the cost of Romeo’s operation, rehabilitation, aftercare, medicine, and follow-up appointments.

Nelu was able to adopt Romeo thanks to the sympathy and generosity of the people who believe in our work. Time after time, ROLDA supporters read about the animals we rescue, and they always contribute to help us save more lives.

This time, not only did they help Romeo receive the operation and treatment he needed, they also gave a fellow animal lover, Nelu, the opportunity to foster the friend he believes he was meant to find.