Help us to treat them all...no one excluded!
The protagonist of this year’s campaign against heartworm and Leishmania is Alba, a dog whose happy ending was made possible by our donors.
When we rescued her Alba was affected by an advanced stage of heartworm disease and without us she would not have survived. Thanks to the care received now she lives in Italy, loved and cuddled by a real family.
We wanted the dogs of Footprints of Joy and all those we will rescue in the next few months to have the same possibilities as Alba, no one excluded.
To do this we asked for your help, in order to protect them from heartworm and Leishmania and treat those that we will save from the road.
Thanks to you, to our partner Hundjalpen and to the Swiss foundation that has doubled all donations up to 25,000 euros, we have raised over 59,000 euros!
GOAL ACHIEVED!
What is heartworm disease?
Heartworm disease is a parasitic disease which is transmitted from a sick dog to a healthy one through the sting of a mosquito. The most severe form is the heart-lung heartworm disease, caused by the parasite Dirofilaria immitis. This form, if not detected and cured, is lethal for the dog. The disease usually emerges when the mosquito are numerous, from April to October. The dog may not present any symptom when finally the hearth start to present problems. This disease is present in Romania only recently.
What is leishmania?
Leishmaniosis is an infectious, contagious disease, transmitted by the sting of the sandflies, usually most active between May and October. It is a chronic, severe disease, which causes progressive damages, even death, to the dog. In Italy it is quite present, mostly in the south and the areas near the sea; but only starting few years ago it appeared in the region of the Romania in which we operate.