Heartbreakingly, these 33 dogs (and cats) once had families, warm homes…

Abused, unwanted and sickly dogs are constantly being dumped in the Balkan country of Montenegro. It is an everyday tragedy that nearly always ends in death for the poor creatures. They are run over by cars, die of the dreaded parvo disease, or from hunger or exposure to the bitter cold.

The remote, rural area around Strasevina is a hotspot for this barbaric dumping because a main road runs through it from the nearest town of Nikšić. It’s easy to open a car door, toss a dog out and leave it to its fate.

Zeljana Delibasic is a poor farmer whose steep hillside property adjoins the road. She says that at least once every two weeks, a discarded animal will climb the hill to the farmhouse. Often, they are shaking with fear or hysterical from being abandoned – sometimes they are visibly sick or injured. She never turns away a single dog or cat.

Please, will you help the dogs (and cats)?

Zeljana now cares for 33 dogs and a colony of feral cats who come and go as they please, knowing there will always be a scrap of food and some love for them at the farm. Zeljana is poor, surviving on what little the farm produces. She has three children and supports her elderly mother-in-law. There is no running water on the farm, so she draws water from a well and hand-carries water to the dogs. Feeding and caring for the dogs takes every spare cent she has, but Zeljana is an animal lover like us, and she knows if she turns her back on the dogs, they will die.

The area does not have a municipal shelter, which means the farm is the only hope the dogs have. These once-owned animals, if left to fend for themselves – will die horrible, lonely, painful deaths.  

Zeljana says that, as these animals were once all pets, to put them in cages would be too cruel to contemplate. On her farm, the dogs run free, visibly happy and adoring of their savior. 

Zeljana has a heart so big, it has room for every dog (and cat) in the world. Alas, her purse is much smaller – and 33 dogs eat a lot of food. To make life even more expensive, new arrivals often need expensive veterinary care before joining the existing rescues.

Network for Animals has helped Zeljana’s dogs in the past, providing food and emergency medical treatment. With your help, we would like to do even more for the dogs.

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