Rescuing Dogs in North Macedonia
Our story starts in North Macedonia. There are hundreds of street dogs in Macedonia. It is not uncommon in many countries, but is more problematic here as winters are so cold that many would perish without some form on intervention. The problem of strays is added to by people who own dogs, throwing them out onto the streets. Sometimes this is due to poverty, sometimes just because they no longer want them. This last couple of years has had many more turned out onto the streets due to Covid 19 false news and people's ignorance.
How we rescue the dogs
The rescuing and care of our doggies starts near the capital Skopje. Natasa, has been feeding street dogs and rescuing all that she could for most of her life. Her love of animals was nurtured by her wonderful Mum and Dad who also have a love of animals. Sadly not all Macedonians have this love of animals. There is no state assistance and income is very low in Macedonia. When we found out about her work, we just had to try to help.
Izzy Chill runs a Facebook Group to try to raise awareness and funds to support her. With our financial assistance she feeds around 100 street dogs every day. These poor souls have often spent their entire life on the streets.
Sadly many of them are unsuitable to rehome, as they have too much distrust of humans who regularly beat them or at the very least chase them off.
Natasa has been feeding many of them for years, and even she cannot get close to some of them, so ingrained is their fear of humans.
In the food she puts down for them, she manages to treat them with anti-parasitics and any she can catch she has neutered, to try to break the cycle.
Looking after them in this way at least means they are as healthy as possible, and they are less tempted to eat poisoned or unfit food.
We also have a Shelter, which we call the "Doggy Barn" not far from Natasa's home, in Skopje where every day come rain or shine or illness, Natasa cares for 50 plus dogs in the Doggy Barn.
These are generally dogs dumped or given up by their owner or pups born on the streets and rescued. Every dog she manages to rescue, obviously needs to be checked and tested for illnesses by our wonderful vets and requires vaccinating before they can come to our shelter.
Adult dogs are also neutered as soon as possible, however our vet will not neuter any dogs before they are 12 months old. This along with food, microchip and passport, rabies vaccination and any medication or veterinary treatment required costs a lot of money, notwithstanding it is significantly cheaper than in the UK.
For example spaying in Macedonia costs €40 - €60 , where in the UK it is £200+. Vaccinations are only €10 but when we have 50 dogs to vaccinate at least twice prior to adoption this soon mounts up.
Besides the shelter accommodation we also have to keep some dogs at the vets due either to ill health or in the case of puppies until they have had their second vaccination and are safe to move into our shelter with our other doggies. We also periodically have to rely on keeping some dogs in "Pension" i.e local fostering, to maximise the safety at our Doggy Barn.
Every doggy rescued, nurtured and rehomed to loving families here in the UK, owes their life to Natasa, Izzy, our lovely supporters and their new adopted family.
Izzy is the UK based part of the duo. She works full time but also manages to raise funds to support Natasa's work. She works tirelessly to raise awareness, fundraise and promote the dogs and engage with prospective adopters. Our ultimate aim is to secure them all forever loving homes.
It does not stop there for Izzy, she is the point of contact for advice and support for our adopters before and after they get to their new UK home. She is happy to help with advice and reassurance, and regularly either visits new adopters or speaks to them. Please be aware we strongly discourage direct contact with Natasa. She is very busy looking after all our lovely doggies, and really does not have the time to engage with prospective adopters. Izzy knows her schedule and speaks to Natasa every day and will have all the answers.
With time, care and love all of our wonderful dogs who have been rehomed to a forever loving home, have blossomed and are integral parts of their new families.
Natasa's reality
This is Natasa's world. Recently she was awoken in the middle of the night by the sound of a car door slamming and then a car racing off. Being a good neighbour she went out into the street to see what was going on. The car had disappeared down the road but she is suspicious of human actions and motives, having witnessed so many things that we rarely see. She looked around some of the neighbours and discovered these 4 little sweethearts dumped in a plastic bag, in the garden of an unoccupied house. She took them straight to our vets in her pyjamas. They are healthy despite being taken from their mum much too early. They will be looked after by our wonderful vet until they have been fully vaccinated, when they can safely go to our shelter. Sadly this is not an isolated incident, so we have many pups with our vets. When safe to do so they will all go to the shelter and be ready for adoption, so please check out the Dogs for Adoption page regularly.
Please email Izzy for more information.
4 poor dumped pups
At our Vets
We are not for profit - Please consider supporting us
Our only funds come from donations, and fundraising campaigns on Facebook . We auction donated items and organise various other fundraisers to ensure Natasa has the resources needed to carry on her essential work. Every penny raised or donated goes to helping the dogs. Please click on our social media links at the bottom of the page to join us in saving dogs lives and finding wonderful loving homes for them.
We are only successful in saving dogs lives and finding them lovely new forever homes due to our wonderful supporters.
You can help by Sponsoring one of our Dogs. We have some wonderful supporters who want to help but are not in a position to adopt a dog. They help by making a regular donation to assist with the support of the dogs of their choice.
Some of our wonderful supporters help by making a regular donation towards the rent and upkeep of our Doggy Barn This is the best way you can help us to continue saving the lives of many more wonderful little furry friends, now and into the future. 💖💖💖 These wonderful people really are an integral part of our SUN NEW HOPE FAMILY. 💖💖💖
For any information regarding sponsoring or donating please contact Izzy by email, the contact page or follow our Facebook link and join us there.
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Adoption Information
If you would like to be considered to adopt one (or more) of our lovely dogs, please see the "Dogs for Adoption" page. If you decide you would like to be considered to give one of our beautiful doggies a loving new home please read the pre adoption page and then either email [email protected] follow the Facebook link and request to become a member.
The adoption / transport fee is £550 per dog.