Last September 11th the Save the Dogs van – while travelling to a a party in Ferrara – has been hit in a bad car accident on the Milano-Bologna motorway. A broken down car on one of the central lanes caused a bad pile-up that needed the Traffic Police and the Emergency to be called. Unfortunately the Save the Dogs means were the last ones of the line and we will be able to know, only in 5 months, if our insurance will cover for at least a part of the value of the van which has been scrapped.

After the first shock, when we were afraid for our cooperators Ylenia and Francesca’s safety, it’s time for toll now. While Ylenia and Francesca are at home recovering and waiting to be back in action, Save the Dogs is without a strategic vehicle that is used both to transport goods for the Romanian shelters and for the weekly picking up of the dogs arriving at the Linate airport. Therefore we found a second-hand van – a Fiat Scudo – to buy urgently to fully get back to our work. Thanks to the generosity of the Milan car dealer Denicar, we had a remarkable discount and the opportunity to pay in instalments, while waiting to raise the necessary funds. The expense that Save the Dogs will have to bear is 10.000 euro.

Those of you who wish to contribute can make a donation  indicating as object “van” by some ways (bank transfer or credit card) that you will find at this link. We take this opportunity to thank all of the volunteers that are helping us to go through these hard times for the Milan office and we apologize for the delays in delivering the gadgets and other communications to our supporters. We appeal to your patience while we wait for things to go back to normal.

On the left: the car hit by the STD van (on the right)

accident · car crash · Denicar · duba save the dogs · furgone save the dogs · incidente

Thanks to the work which began in July, financed by Save the Dogs supporters and our British partners at the Donkey Sanctuary (around € 34,000 in total) we connected to a nearby farmer’s water works and we conducted water up to the donkey stables, along a tract of around 1000 linear metres. These extensive works entailed the grounding of a huge 30,000 tank in the courtyard of our country house and, in order to supply the stables, bulldozing under a country road to get the electric cables and piping up to our land. This land, totalling 45,000 m2, will, in addition to the donkey refuge, also be the site of the new dog kennels and veterinary clinic as soon as Save the Dogs finds the necessary funds. The works for the electricity connection are still in progress and should be completed by mid October. Several pillars will provide support for the pylons which will reach both the little building where one of our workers lives and the three containers which the vet and other workers involved in looking after the donkeys use during the day. When the infrastructures have been completed, we will be able to concentrate on the new dog refuge, which is urgently needed since the bailment agreement between Save the Dogs and Cernavoda council is about to expire.

infrastructure for new shelter · infrastrutture terreno Romania · lavori acqua · lucrari apa la Cernavoda pentru catei si magari · water for Save the Dogs land

Thanks to the help of all our supporters we finally managed to gain the amount that was necessary to buy a professional washing machine for Cernavoda, essential to guarantee hygiene and cleanness for the dogs that live in the shelter.

The staff of Save the Dogs would like to thank all the kind-hearted people who made this possible, and especially Mrs Anna V, for her important donation.

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