Creating Opportunity for Spay/Neuter
Dog in Romania
FiXiT loves to promote those that are creating solutions for ending overpopulation. Nancy Janes started her non-profit, Romania Animal Rescue (RAR), in 2003, with a goal to spay/neuter as many dogs as possible. Romania’s severe dog overpopulation problem was multi-faceted, requiring long-term solutions and thoughtful approaches. At first she met with severe resistance among people. There were those who believed that a female would make a better pet if she had birthed at least one litter. Conversely, they thought male dogs were entitled to have their fun. To combat the idea that pets were happier reproducing, Janes pointed out to her detractors that once the puppies were weaned, they were often disposed of in inhumane ways. Wouldn’t it be kinder for the dogs to avoid that situation?
Money was also an issue. Many of the people Janes encountered earned approximately $200 a month, making elective pet care a low priority, so Janes decided to hold a free spay/neuter week at a veterinary clinic in Galati, Romania. She had rubber bracelets produced that said in Romanian, “Sterilize your dogs and cats. Give them a new chance.” Billboard space was purchased advertising the event. To her surprise, people were lined up around the block on the first day.
As word spread, Janes realized RAR could make a difference. She enlisted American veterinarians to help train their Romanian counterparts. Janes expanded the spay/neuter services to other areas and hired a permanent, full-time Romanian vet in 2008, Dr. Stefan Aurelian, who had trained in the U.S. RAR has performed 18,000 spay/neuter surgeries in the last 10 years but Janes says that the majority have occurred since 2009. She credits Aurelian and his team of five for making the difference.
Only one in ten procedures is performed on cats, who seem to have an easier life than dogs. In a country of 21 million humans, there are 2.5 million canines, many of whom are homeless. Janes says that people are fearful of dogs because the ferals pack-up and pose a public safety problem. While RAR never turns away a cat, their primary focus remains reducing the dog population to ensure more and better homes for those already here. Janes and Aurelian estimate that those 18,000 surgeries have probably saved millions of lives by preventing unwanted puppies from entering an unforgiving world.
Janes notes that given the knowledge and tools, most people want to provide a better life for their pets. She also proves that one dedicated person can make it possible.
photo credit: Camil Agapie via photopin cc
6 Comments
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Nancy Janes
January 5, 2013
Thank you so much for drawing attention to Romania Animal Rescue’s work in Romania to introduce and maintain highly skilled spay/neuter for the impoverished communities, guardian animals, and strays. I must say that from time to time we do have to say “no” to a spay request due to lack of funding….I just want to clarify this. Thank you so much for the lovely article.
Sincerely,
Nancy Janes
http://www.romaniaanimalrescue.org
Kiki
January 6, 2013
Wow ! This is such an amazing work what RAR is doing in Romania !!!!!! Thank you RAR !
Patricia Madi
January 7, 2013
A great accomplishment ….. I am living in Jordan and we, a group of people, recently founded a NGO in order to bring ease to the animal sufferings. Our program will include spay and release as well, but here we are facing an even bigger challenge, since we do not have the government on our side, and most of the people just do not like dogs and abuse them terribly, which is an religious thing in the Middle East. So I keep my fingers crossed for your efforts and for ours ….
Nancy Janes
January 7, 2013
Patricia, I have heard about how religion makes it such a huge challenge in places like Jordan….I am so sorry. I really do believe that good people are everywhere though, and they often feel like the minority, when in fact if given a chance to be heard there are many of them. I know Romania people used to whisper to me about loving animals, as if it was a shunned or bad thing, when I first started working there and would talk to people on the streets.
I started sending some really fine people to conferences (thanks to getting sponsorships often for their trips from HSUS, HSI, and others) so they could see that in reality caring for animals and animal welfare is a very sophisticated and elevated way of thinking. Have you been to HSUS/HSI EXPO? The next one is in Nashville, TN. They are always looking for good people from around the world to sponsor to attend their events. If you contact me, romaniadogs@sbcglobal.net, I can put you in touch with the coordinator and see if we can get a scholarship for you to attend….and this is only the beginning my friend!
We do not have contracts with cities that we work in now in Romania…but we just do everything by the book so we will not have any problems. It seemed that people and the govt. really hated the dogs in Romania too, but in matter of fact, and possibly because a younger generation is being elected into positions of authority, people seem to be easier to reason with (my opinion, others will say this is not so). Are your vets skilled in spay/neuter? So many questions….sorry…please email me and we can try to do something together.
Elizabeth Sundstrom
January 12, 2013
Hi Patricia,
I would be interested in learning more about your organization in Jordan for a possible story. Please contact me if you are interested in discussing specific problems and how your group plans to address them. Thank you!
–Elizabeth
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March 11, 2013
Henry David Thoreau: “My friend is one… who take me for what I am.”