RSDR (Rudozem Street Dog Rescue)

Issue 37
December 2011
Foundation No. 175647065
RSDR
(Rudozem Street Dog Rescue)
W
SPECIAL
POINTS OF
INTEREST:

Don’t forgot you can
order your 2012 RSDR
calendar from our webshop.

Vaccinations appeal

Appeal for clinic

New dogs, Jyran,
Quinty, Freeman, Maja
and pups

Please support Gareth’s
24 hour drumathon to
raise funds for RSDR
and have a listen to
Gary J Armstrong’s
Christmas single.

Visit from Julie, Colin
and Mandy.

RSDR is one of the
charities of the month
for Animalfriends.co.uk.
Details on how to vote
will be sent soon. Voting starts 6th January.

Fighting against freezing temperatures and
snow.

We thank everyone for
their support throughout the year , hope
everyone had a merry
Christmas and wish you
all the very best for
2012.
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t e m p e r a t u r e s
The snow came again on the 19th December and hasn’t left us since. We have about 2 to 3 foot
of snow still on the ground. Even with snow chains on the vehicles it has been a struggle getting
out and travelling between the house and the shelter. Vehicles had to be dug out and travelling
anywhere was rather nerve wracking.
The dogs at the house and the shelter have great fun and love playing in the snow, but we have to
remember those that are still on the streets.
Nobody gives them a roof over their heads at night or a warm blanket, breaks the ice off their
water so that they can drink or gives them a meal every day. Night and day, these dogs are out in
the freezing snow. Young dogs, old dogs, nursing mums with pups hidden away, all try to get
through the snow to search for scraps around the town and the bins. Unfortunately for them, the
snow keeps a lot of people indoors so there aren’t as many scraps about. Many of these dogs are
terrified of people and it is only desperate hunger that forces them to leave their hiding places in
the forest to go into the town to search for food. People terrify them, cars terrify them and they
are usually chased or pelted with stones.
One mother dog that we sometimes see has pups hidden away somewhere. We know that they
will be reaching the age where they need solid food and not just their mothers milk. The brave
ones will no doubt try following her into the town. Not being able to keep up, some will get left
behind and lost. Pups can be lay in the snow, starving and suffering from hypothermia and people will walk past or step over them without giving them a second glance. For every one that we
find, so many more have lost their lives.
This is a harsh winter with more snow to come and the least we can do is to put food down for
these dogs. This is a struggle because so many of our rescue dogs aren’t sponsored which means
that no one donates towards their monthly food costs and care.
We appreciate that many people can’t commit to sponsoring a dog for 10 Euros a month, but if
anyone can spare a few Euros as a single donation, we would be grateful and it will help us to
feed the dogs on the streets who have nothing else.
P a g e
2
R S D R
D e c e m b e r
a d o p t i o n s .
Annie, Maddie, Molson, Zack, Gawghee and Sinbad
were all adopted and left us earlier this month.
Z a c k
This last adoption trip was hard just like any other. We hate saying goodbye to our dogs when we have loved and cared for
them, but we were all really happy at the thought that Zack would be re-united with his brother Kenai who had been adopted
the previous month. The beautiful brothers would be together again and the family who adopted kenai and were adopting Zack
were moving to a farm where the boys would have had so much fun.
They were rescued in February this year along with their sister Nita. The pups were born to a feral dog in the forest. At that
time there was thick snow on the ground and the pups were so hungry that we managed to coax them closer and closer with
food, until we were able to catch them.
Kenai and Nita were very scared but Zack just acted as if he had been with us all his life. He was always such a friendly and
outgoing boy.
We said our sad farewells to Zack on the 8th December. On the 12th December, the dogs arrived safely in Holland. The adoption team met Zack and also fell in love with him. Although it might be stating the obvious, they reminded the new owner not
to let him off the lead until he had settled and to put his lead on before leaving the house. As always they had done their best to
make sure that the home he was going to was suitable. Unfortunately you can't account for people's sheer stupidity.
We were all totally devastated to hear that the very next morning whilst it was still dark, Kenai and Zack were let out without
first putting their leads on and Zack ran into the road and was killed. We are all heartbroken and yes i feel angry and very bitter. For ten months we loved and cared for Zack and the people who adopted him couldn't even keep him safe for 24 hours.
He was a beautiful boy who stole our hearts and those of volunteers, the adoption team and anyone else who met him. He was
just a year old. We will never forget you Zack and can only apologise that your life was cut short through human failing.
R.I.P our loveable fool. (you always made us laugh and smile with your antics).
Our concerns now are for Kenai. We had been prepared to work with the adoptant to ensure that the property was safe for Kenai and that she would follow advice given. However she is no longer living at the address we were given when the adoption
was approved and refuses to give us the address or let us do a homecheck on Kenai. She threatened legal action if we try and
see Kenai but having said that, the law firm she mentioned haven’t heard of her. We are now trying to find where Kenai is so
we can be sure that he is safe, but because this has now become a legal matter, we are limited as to how much we say. Needless to say, we will not rest until we know that Kenai is safe.
P a g e
3
R S D R
N e w
J y r a n
Jyran was left tied to the garden
gate. He was very thin and a little
timid but very sweet natured. Jyran
is gaining confidence and is a loving young boy who enjoys playing
with the other dogs.
a r r i v a l s
QUINTY
Quinty was left tied to the van after Liam
and Tony (one of his friends) had been
parked up in the town centre. Quinty is a
young Karakachan cross. He is very thin but
will be a big dog once he has put weight on.
Quinty has now settled in and has met and
played with some of the other dogs. He has
a special bond with Luke and loves playng
with him.
M a j a
a n d
6
p u p s
Maja and her six pups were brought to the shelter by a man who said he would kill them
all if we didn’t take them. The pups were already tied up in sacks, ready to be thrown in
the river. Sadly after a few days the pups were ill with gastro enteritis. Despite our best
efforts, three of them died.
Maja is very untrusting and if she is
pushed, it is likely
that she will bite or
attack. She has
started to respond to
Tony so he is working with her to build
up some trust.
Freeman
Freeman is the dog that a guy turned up at the shelter with. He lied to Luke
and told him we said we would take him. Freeman had a heavy chain
round his neck and his hair had become wrapped round it. Luke couldn't
even get him inside the building when he first arrived as he would just bark
at him when he went to approach him. Tony has been taking him out in the
yard on a lead and managed to get the chain off him. Since he arrived,
something just hasn't seemed to be quite right with his behaviour. It is hard
to describe but as Tony put it he just doesn't seem to be "all there". Kosta
told us that the guy wasn't ashamed when he told him that Freeman was
put on the chain as a puppy and hasn't been of it in five years. He had no
interaction with other dogs or people and was just given water and thrown
enough food to keep him alive. It is hardly surprising that Freeman could
be psychologically damaged. He has now settled in and is more relaxed
but still doesn’t “connect” or make any eye contact with anyone.
Reminder for Gareth’s 24 hour drumathon and Gary J Armstrong’s Christmas single.
Gareth Duffin is kindly raising funds for Rudozem
Street Dog Rescue by doing a 24 hour Drumathon on
Saturday 4th February 2012 from 6:00am to the Sunday 5th February 2012, 6:30am which will take place
at Dee's Rehearsal Rooms, Forest Town, Mansfield,
Notts, United Kingdom.
You can sponsor Gareth and see more by going to his
page on our website:
http://www.streetdogrescue.com/garethduffin.htm
Gareth is the drummer for Gary J Armstrong. Gary has
also decided to help RSDR by donating some of the proceeds from his Christmas single “Dance down the local”.
For more details please visit and like Gary’s Facebook
page. http://www.facebook.com/
rudozemstreetdogrescue#!/pages/Chart-Gary-JArmstrongs-Christmas-single-Dance-Down-TheLocal/206211556116802?sk=wall
It is a great song so please spread the word.
P a g e
4
V i s i t
R S D R
f r o m
J u l i e a n d c o l i n
M a n d y s p i c e r
l e w i s
a n d
Julie, Colin and Mandy managed to come for a few days at the beginning of the
month. They were a great help and many of the dogs enjoyed their extra walks.
With the UK entry laws changing from January 2012, there will no longer be
blood tests and a six month wait for dogs to enter the UK. We are hoping that this
will mean that many more RSDR dogs will be adopted and find their forever
homes in the UK. As Julie and Mandy are both helping with UK adoptions, it is
good that they have met the dogs that people may be interested in.
Thank you to Julie, Colin and Mandy.
Right: Julie and Colin with our grandaughter,Nikita who was also visiting at the
same time.
Appeal for vaccinations
We still have many vaccinations for pups on the webshop whch haven’t yet been donated for. With a massive
influx of pups a couple of months ago, there were over thirty that all needed microchips, passports and vaccinations at the same time. It was a great expense and now they are due for their 2nd and rabies vaccinations which
will be another great expense. We also have dogs due for annual boosters and other new dogs which need vaccinating. If anyone is able to donate for any vaccinations, we will be very grateful. Dogs cannot be available for
adoption until they are fully vaccinated and with so many nasty diseases about, we need to get all dogs and pups
vaccinated as soon as they are old enough or it is possible.
http://www.streetdogrescueshop.com/Donations_for__Neuter__Vaccination__Blood_Test/
cat218195_161287.aspx
RSDR 2012 calendars
Next door building for clinic.
We are still trying to raise funds for the
purchase of the small neighbouring
building which will then be used as a
clinic mainly for sterilistions. This will
help to reduce the number of pups that
are born to a life of hell, starvation and
All proceeds from the sale of
cruelty.
these calendars go directly to
If anyone would like to donate, there is
Rudozem Street Dog Rescue
Foundation, to help with the care a widget specifically for this purpose on
& adoptions of Street Dogs.
the donate/help page on the website.
http://www.streetdogrescue.com/
Calendars can be ordered from the
donatehelp.htm
Get this wonderful 2012 Calendar
of the RSDR dogs. Each month
displays a different dog in an A4
calendar.
webshop on our website.
Animalfriends.co.UK
Animal friends is a pet insurance company who also help charities by having a charity of
the month competition. RSDR is one of four charities that you can vote for in January. The
charity in 4th place still gets a cash donation as long as they have a minimum of 200 votes,
so we can’t lose. Voting becomes live on the 6th January and a separate e mail will be sent
to everyone with details on how to vote.
Raise funds for RSDR when you search the web. You can do this from anywhere in the world!
Use easysearch every time you search the Web and they’ll give RSDR, 50% of the fees paid
by their
advertising sponsors to Rudozem Street Dog Rescue (RSDR). Please set
http://rsdr.easysearch.org.uk/ as your home page.
If you are in the UK, try shopping from over 2000 well known UK Retailers, and have some
of the proceeds go to RSDR. Please go to
http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/rsdr/
P a g e
5
R S D R
R S D R
d o g s
e n j o y i n g
t h e
s n o w .
There are times when all seems to be doom and gloom. There is the constant worry of raising funds, worry and heartbreak
over sick pups, sadness for the dogs that are still on the streets and at the moment, trying to fight our way out through the
snow. Only this morning we have been told that the cam shaft has gone on the jeep and it will cost a thousand levs to get it
fixed and it will be off the road for at least a week. There is always something to worry about…. At times like this we
have to remind ourselves that thanks to our supporters, we have over a hundred dogs that will have a roof over their heads
tonight. They will have access to water that isn’t frozen solid and they go to sleep with a full tummy. They aren’t just another street dog, they have a name and they know that they are loved and cared for. They can enjoy playing in the snow
knowing that they can then go back inside. Without our supporters this wouldn’t be possible. I hope you enjoy the pics of
the dogs playing in the snow. Thank you for helping us to help them and we wish you all the very best for 2012.