DOG SHELTER IN VARNA WHY DID WE DECIDE TO OPEN ONE

Hi! My name is Esin and I teach at the Technical University of Varna, Bulgaria. And this is my husband Nikolay.

When we married we moved to live in a house. We started looking for a dog. A friend of ours told us about a puppy of a mixed breed that was given as a gift to a family but they didn’t want the doggy. So we found our Rex.

About a year later in a mountain hiking internet forum we saw a thread that a family was looking for people to take care of their 8-year-old pet Rita, mixed breed, too. Soon Rita joined us and she still continues to hike in the mountains having us for her company. Link to Rita’s thread in the forum

5 months later while Rex, Rita and I were walking in the nearby woods, Rex found 2 puppies trembling with cold, all alone in the forest. I took them home.

We thought we couldn’t have four dogs and decided to start looking for new homes for them. This is how I discovered that forum where good people were doing almost the impossible to help the homeless dogs and cats - neutering, giving veterinary care, paying for dog hotels, re-homing.

About a month later we gave Riya (the girl) to her new owners in Burgas. Meanwhile we had decided to try to take care of 3 dogs and Lucky (the boy) stayed with us. Within 1 year we travelled to Burgas 3 times to see how our little girl was doing there. The third time we came back with her - her owner was very ill and she was chained..

Lucky and Riya’s story. Lucky and Riya’s story.

Having seen the example of all those forum members, most of them in Sofia, I realized that what a single person thinks is impossible, the joined efforts of like-minded people can make it come true. Without the moral support and actual help in re-homing of my friends most of whom I haven’t even seen outside the internet reality, I could have done almost nothing for the poor homeless dogs.

My husband and I started taking dogs from the streets and re-homing them. Finding good families is the most difficult part. Several dogs have met their new lives in Switzerland and the Netherlands thanks to the help of my forum friends from Sofia. Another thing we do is pay for the neutering of stray dogs and cats but since these operations cost a lot, we do it in a small scale, whenever we can afford it.

Here are some of the doggies we could help. Sarah - happy with her new life in Swtzerland. her thread Jessy - also in Switzerland. link to her story Ushko-Bucky. Re-homed by one of my colleagues. link Marta. Living now with a British family in Bulgaria. in the forum link Tomy - moved to Burgas

September and October 2009 met us with a lot of puppies:one we found near our home, 4 were thrown away in a cardboard box near my work, another 5 were born in the university campus. September and October 2009 met us with a lot of puppies: one we found near our home, 4 were thrown away in a cardboard box near my work, another 5 were born in the university campus. The 4 puppies were re-homed in Varna, one of them by us. The others travelled to the Netherlands with the help of Animal Rescue Sofia. link

We could help a few dogs and cats but there are hundreds of them suffering out in the streets. Life is hard and dangerous for them - it is cold and wet, food and water are difficult to find, cars can run them over, people kick and beat them up... That is why I started looking for an organization for the protection of animals in Varna to join them as a volunteer. Only one woman answered me back but she was alone with no other members. With her we went to the municipal castration centre in Kamenar. This is what we saw there:

The conditions were awful, some dogs were kept longer than the 2 weeks necessary for their neutering before the dogs were returned to their place in the street, they received no veterinary care, puppies were taken in although it is against the law and they were separated from their mother at about 33 days old. I took the 5 puppies home but in a month or so they all died of distemper. A girl rescued another dog and he also died - he had a lot of problems but no one attended to him in Kamenar. I offered my help as a volunteer and although the manager agreed I was not allowed to take pictures of dogs that were not declared aggressive. And the next time we went there they refused to let us in. The story of the puppies. The story of the husky dog. The story of Kamenar

So gradually we came to the idea that it would be very good if we had the possibility to buy some ground near Varna and open a dog shelter there, where dogs in need can be treated by vets, where they can have a good life while waiting for their new families. An idea, no matter how beautiful and useful it can be, will stay in the world of imagination without the support from the material world, that is without the support of money. We were lucky to obtain a certain amount due to an old investment of my husband and we were very happy to have the chance of buying ground.

We have chosen the place which is about 10 km away from Varna and we are in the process of buying it. Unfortunately, one person alone can not go far. That is why we are hoping there will be people able to support us - morally, as well as financially. We have the possibility to buy ground of about 6000 m2, but from then on our speed in reaching our dream to help the homeless dogs and cats will depend on the help we get.

These are pictures of the ground we intend to buy and its surrounding.

And finally, I thank wholeheartedly to all those good and kind people who don’t turn their back to the problems of the homeless, who are not indifferent to the suffering of the unprotected, who have kept their humanity in spite of all their personal disappointments and troubles, to all those who can still show love and compassion for the others. To finish with here are some video clips of happy puppies in our back yard :) part 1 part 1 part 2 part 2

THANK YOU!