In the most remote regions of Romania, economic hardship means that resources and opportunities of many kinds are scarce. And yet, the bond between humans and companion animals is as strong here as it is anywhere.
For instance, on her way home one rainy evening in Valea Plopului, Ana, a single mom of two young children, found a cardboard box on the side of the road. Inside were three tiny and shivering kittens. Without thinking twice, Ana took them home. Her children were thrilled and gave the kittens names: Luna, Tiger and Snow.
When Ana’s son, Alex, fell seriously ill, and Ana was overwhelmed with worry and exhaustion, Luna never left Alex’s side, purring softly to comfort him. The other two cats, Tiger and Snow, stayed close to Ana’s daughter, Maria, lifting her spirits. As Alex recovered from his illness, Ana realized that these cats had truly become a part of their family. They provided comfort and companionship, especially during nights when Ana worked late. The thought of ever having to give up these family members because of a lack of resources or affordable veterinary care was simply unthinkable.
That’s why programs to ensure animals stay with their families have a profound effect on people’s lives. When Luna, Tiger and Snow were old enough, our team in Romania was honored to be able to provide spaying, vaccinations and anti-flea treatments to these furry family members.
HSI
Our team has gotten to know many members of this community who, struggling to provide for themselves, always share their limited food and supplies with their pets. Still, despite their deep love, loyalty and care, the financial hardship they face often means a lack of essential veterinary care, adequate nutrition and shelter for their animal family members. This is what led us to support the companion animals living in the Parish Social Center of Valea Plopului, Romania.
Andreea Stanciu/HSI
The Parish Social Center started in 1994 in Romania when a priest, his wife and volunteers from the Valea Plopului community decided to create an organization to open up community homes to abandoned children. Now the center is home to approximately 400 people in vulnerable situations, including survivors of domestic violence, single-parent families, abandoned elders and children from the juvenile welfare system who reach adulthood and live on their own.
Hundreds of dogs and cats living in the Valea Plopului vicinity have been rescued by individuals living in the community. These animals have been welcomed and accepted, and given food, shelter and love by the people who took them in—but veterinary care for these dogs, cats, puppies and kittens has been hard to access.
So, Humane Society International/Europe has launched a national program called Compassion for Companions. Through this program, we partner with local organizations to increase access to veterinary care and assistance in communities where such services do not exist or are prohibitively expensive.
Andreea Stanciu/HSI
Together with the local organization Sache Vet, our international colleagues started conducting regular visits with the mobile clinic to Valea Plopului Social Center, to provide spay and neuter surgeries, treatments against parasites and lifesaving vaccines. If needed, other surgeries and specialty procedures are performed on the spot. At the end of each visit, we make sure that people have what they need to ensure proper postoperative care and ongoing care and nutrition for their companion animals until the team returns.
In addition to providing high-quality veterinary services, we also help to spread the word about the benefits and joys of caring for animals through humane education for children and adults. These community engagement activities help people to learn about the basic needs of dogs and cats, the importance of spaying and neutering, proper vaccination and veterinary care.
So far this year in Valea Plopului, we have helped 110 animals in the community, with 75 animals spayed/neutered, over 100 vaccinations given, anti-parasite treatments for all, and 18 other surgeries or services performed.
I have often talked about the need for equity in access to pet care as a defining animal welfare issue of our time. We have increased our work on this issue here in the U.S., but the reality is, wealth disparities have dramatic impacts on people’s lives all over the world. We look forward to bringing these much-needed services to other underserved areas through our Compassion for Companions program in the future. We saw that by improving the welfare of the Valea Plopului community’s dogs and cats, there was a betterment of the overall health of the community, taking one worry off people’s proverbial plates—because everyone deserves to experience the love that a relationship with a companion animal can bring.
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