Archive for the ‘Rudozem Street Dog Rescue’ Category
Rudozem Street Dog Rescue (RSDR) is a non-profit foundation that rescues Street Dogs in Bulgaria and finds loving homes for them.
In August 2007, the Rowles family – Diane and Tony Rowles and their 4 children, 4 dogs and 2 cats decided to make the move to Bulgaria to have a more peaceful life from the busy lifestyle in the UK. The Rowles bought a family property in the outskirts of Rudozem.
After living in Bulgaria for a few months, the family saw the plight of the street dogs and started feeding them and patting them. They were shocked by the locals reactions and abuse towards the street dogs, and saw dogs spat on, kicked or had stones thrown at them. They continued to feed the dogs on the streets when they could out of their own money.
In September 2007, their youngest son Luke, befriended a street dog named Ranger, and the dog started following him. Ranger became the families first rescue dog when a man was trying to shoot him. You can read about Rangers story on this link.
In following months other street dogs went home to the Rowles family.
With the continuing number of street dogs needing to be fed on the streets, it was getting harder not to do something, so in March 2009, Rudozem Street Dog Rescue (RSDR) was formed, and officially became a registered foundation.
Adoptions to other countries were then organised to help find homes for the dogs rescued.
Renovations for Shelter / Clinic
Since early 2009 RSDR has been trying to raise enough funds to purchase land to build a dog shelter / clinic. As of 22 December 2010, RSDR reached their target goal and signed contracts to purchase a plot of land with an existing building.
We now need to raise funds to renovate the existing building to convert into a dog shelter/clinic to help the many street dogs in Rudozem.
Currently until the shelter/clinic is converted, we are working from our own family home and have up to 60 dogs and 6 cats. We have had complaints from locals in the past year about the noise from the dogs. There is the constant worry that we can be asked to get rid of the dogs at any time, due to the fact we are in a residential area. The municipality can order us to stop using our residential property as a shelter.
As soon as the shelter is renovated, one of our main aims, is to start a spay / neuter scheme for the many dogs in the Rudozem area. The current vet does not know the procedure for spaying female dogs, and only knows how to neuter male dogs. Once the shelter is up and running, we will enlist the help of volunteer vets that can come to Rudozem to help with the spay / neuter scheme. This will then help us with reducing the population of the many puppies born into a life of misery on the streets.
Pens in the family home.
The shelter/clinic will also be used for dogs whose lives are in imminent danger through sickness or injury.
Help us to Help them
Once the building has been made structurally sound, volunteers will be welcome to come and help with renovations or with the shelter/clinic at such time as it is up and running. If you would like to help RSDR in raising enough money to renovate our shelter/clinic please give a small donation on the donate page. If you are interested in adopting or fostering one of our dogs, please view our current dogs available on the website and contact our Adoption Team.
Bulgaria – Rudozem Branch
How it started
For the last 2 years we had been trying to raise enough money for a dog shelter to save the many dogs in the Rudozem area. We also had been trying to find a plot of land that would be suitable but not had much success.
In October 2010, we came across a plot of land with an existing building that is a 20 min drive from Rudozem which
would be perfect for a dog shelter / clinic. The asking price at the time, was 38,000 euros for the land and building. A lot of the plots of land we had looked at previously had no building, no electricity, no water, no road access, and were asking for prices between 25,000 euros to 40,000 euros for the land only! The 38,000 euros was a bargain price! One that we could not afford to let go, we knew we had to appeal for help to fundraise so we would not lose this opportunity, so we made an appeal to raise funds for the shelter.
Currently we have been working from our own family home and have up to 60 dogs and 6 cats. We have had complaints from locals in the past year about the noise from the dogs. There is the constant worry that we can be asked to get rid of the dogs at any time, due to the fact we are in a residential house. We have been quite peaceful where we are and have not caused any problems that have highlighted our plight to any authorities who could make problems for us, so they are happy to leave us alone at this stage. But there is the constant worry about future complaints as we are in a residential house, we can be ordered to stop using our house as a dog shelter and told to send the dogs to the Dog Isolator. This is the last thing we would want to have happen – as the Dog Isolators are places of torture.
Contracts Signed - the land / building now belongs to Rudozem Street Dog Rescue
By December 2010, we had some wonderful donations, enough to cover purchase of the land and existing building, aswell as towards any legal fees. RSDR raised a total figure of 42,150.55 towards the purchase of the land/building which will become the shelter/clinic for RSDR. Our heartfelt thanks go out to everyone who helped to make this happen. The contracts for the land/building were signed on the 22 December 2010, through the registered foundations name (Rudozem Street Dog Rescue).
Appeal for donations towards Renovations
We have a lot of work and renovations to carry out before the building can be used for the intended purpose. Work will have to be done in stages as and when we have the funds and in order of priority. The existing fence has holes in it, and is not very high. We need to replace this with security fencing and get doors in the front part of the building which is open. At least then the place will be secure. We also need to make it fit for someone to be able to stay over night for security reasons.
At the moment there is no boiler for hot water and no heating. Repairs will have to be carried out on the roof and we will need a builder to work out the drainage system, plumbing and electrics. Once the basics have been covered and we can start separating the building into different areas, the priority will be the clinic and isolation/quarantine area. At least then we will have somewhere for volunteer vets to work from and can offer free neuter/spay and where appropriate carry out neuter/release. The quarantine pens can be used for recovery until such time as we are able to build more pens.
Hopefully in the near future, we will be able to accommodate volunteers who can help with work that needs to be done including general repairs to walls, replacing windows etc. Quotes and estimates will be posted as we get them.
Please go to our website blog or read our Monthly Newsletter for latest updates on the Rudozem Branch.
You can also view photo & video updates on RSDR through facebook.
RSDR Bulgaria - Founders
Diane Rowles – RSDR Founder Diane is married to Tony Rowles and has 2 daughters and 2 sons. Diane was born in England, and has spent 14 years living in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Diane says the best years of her life were spent on a croft where there were many animals including sheep, horses and german shepherds. Diane worked with elderly people in a dementia unit for a number of years and then did Voluntary counselling with victims ( or survivors as she prefers to call them) of rape and abuse. The family bought a village pub which they had for 4 years before moving to Bulgaria with children, dogs and cats. Diane has been in Bulgaria since 2007 and is the founder of RSDR and now her and her husband Tony rescue street dogs in Bulgaria.
“Although we never intended to be rescuing street dogs when we moved to Bulgaria, we couldn’t ignore their plight. Now that we have started, it is a lifetime commitment. There are times when it is heartbreaking but we could never leave what we have started otherwise there would be no one to care about and fight for these dogs”. Diane Rowles |
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Kerry & Kosta
Kerry Rowles and her partner Kosta Chakurov ran the Veliko Turnovo branch for RSDR and had over 28 dogs and 6 cats. Both Kerry & Kosta accomplished a lot at this branch, by finding a reliable vet to do spaying of females, and blood testing requirements for UK entry.
However due to problems with threats and harrasment from gypsies and police threats to destroy the dogs, aswell as one dog being shot, RSDR did an emergency evacuation of dogs, cats and humans back to Rudozem. You can read more about this on our Website blog and on the June & July 2011 newsletter for the latest updates.
We have now closed the VT branch, and Kerry & Kosta and all the dogs and cats are now safely back in Rudozem.
Kerry & Kosta will continue to help the dogs in the area at the RSDR Rudozem Branch with Kerrys parents Diane & Tony Rowles.
Liam Rowles - RSDR Bulgaria
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Luke Rowles - RSDR Bulgaria |
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RSDR Bulgaria – Head Secretary
Anita Weber has administration and website skills, and helps Diane with the administration of RSDR. She updates the Main website & fanpage, helps co-ordinate any media & promotions, and answers any enquiries from the Website and the online shop.
Anita has done her own sponsored event for the RSDR and has now done a Pet Tech First Aid course, and has qualifications in Pet First Aid. Anita is in Australia and has been a great help online to us.
If you have any questions about RSDR, you can contact Anita atstreetdogresuce@gmail.com
Please note: Anita only speaks English.
RSDR UK
Julie Lewis – RSDR UK Chair / Fundraising Co-Ordinator
Col Lewis – RSDR UK Treasurer
Julie Lewis and Col Lewis are from Derby in England and have set up RSDR UK. http://www.streetdogrescue.co.uk/
RSDR UK exists purely to act as an additional fund raising source; monies raised by or donated to the UK group will be used to purchase items that are either too expensive or cannot be easily obtained in Bulgaria. If you would like to know more about the work Julie & Col are doing with RSDR UK please go to their website at the above link.
Julie Lewis, “Those of that you that know me, know that I am a strong supporter of animal rights and welfare issues. I know that there are hundreds of deserving charities to choose from, but this is a special one, run by very special people who have taken on this role out of the goodness of their hearts.”
Heather Skominos – RSDR UK Secretary
Heather is the secretary of RSDR UK and has been supporting RSDR since early 2010. Heather took part in the sponsored swim in August 2010 with Julie, Heather’s sister (also called Julie) and her friend Terrie in raising money for RSDR.
Belgium Adoption Team
An adoption team for Belgium has been established with the adoption collection point being on the border of Belgium/Holland - in Zeeland in the Netherlands.
Nathalie Barentsen, Natasja Vermeulen and Bianca Helmendag make up the Belgium / Zeeland Team and are experienced in working with dogs.
Nathalie & Natasja both are co-cordinators for the adoption team, and will organise adoptions and any adoption enquries, whilst Bianca will help with arrivals and after care.
If you are in Belgium and are interested in adopting one of our dogs, please go to the Adoption page on our website, or email rsdr_belgie_belgique@hotmail.com if you have any questions.
If you are interested in volunteering to become a part of the Belgium team, please email rsdr_belgie_belique@hotmail.com
If you are in Belgium and are interested in adopting one of our dogs, please email rsdr_belgie_belgique@hotmail.com if you have any questions.
Photo: Natasja Vermeulen and Nathalie Barenstein greeting Sheba at an adoption meeting.
Germany Adoption Team
An Adoption Team for Germany has now been established this March 2011, to help RSDR find loving new homes for our dogs in Germany.
(to come) 
From left to right: Najda Nüssgen, Johannes Walther, Sabine Rother.
The team consists of Nadja Nüssgen and Johannes Walther whom are native german and will work on the administration for the German Team – helping with enquiries, translations, updating of the German website. Sabine Rother whom is also native german will help with translations and advertising.
All team members can speak both English and German, and are Adoption Representatives with the authority to approve adoptions in Germany. If you are in Germany and would like to volunteer to be part of the team, please email rsdrgermany@gmail.com If you would like to ask the adoption team about adopting one of our dogs in Germany, please email on rsdrgermany@gmail.com
View the German Website http://www.streetdogrescuede.com/ or English Website http://www.streetdogrescue.com/ to view the dogs available on the adoption page.
Netherlands Adoption Team
An adoption team in the Netherlands has been established since 2009.
The Netherland Adoption Mangagment Team consists of Team Co-Ordinator Cor Beck who has years of experience in management skills and is a fantastic organiser. Cor speaks a range of languages, such as Dutch, French, English and German. Cor has many years of experience as a dog instructor in dog training and has experience in dog behaviour. Reini Beck who also has years of experience as a dog instructor. Reini used to have her own dog training school for many years, and has lots of experience in dog behaviour. She has also worked in dog shelters in the past. Reini organises the adoptions, helps keep hyves page up-to-date. She is Cors right hand in the organisation. Reina Reiman is an animal lover and dogs are her favourite pets. Reina has experience with PR and administration skills. She does the translations for the Dutch Website with Anita, and keeps the Dutch Face book up to date.
Team Members:
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Nathalie Barensten
- Cor Beck
- Reini Beck
- Kim Booltink
- Esther Boonstra
- Nicky Buhling
- Marian Den Dulk
- Patricia de Jong
- Ineke Kleji,
- Wilco Peppelenbos
- Reina Reiman
- Jenny Spek
- Michel Van de Weerdt
- Natasja Vermuelen
- Yvonne & Ron Schlebaum
- Erika & Dion Boo
- Maureen Splinter
All members are Adoption Representatives with the authority to approve adoptions in Holland under the Team Co-Ordinator Cor Beck.
If you would like to ask the adoption team any questions, please email: rsdr@live.nl or visit the dutch website at: http://www.streetdogrescue.nl/
UK Adoption Team
An Adoption team has now been established in the United Kingdom and will be run by Mandy Spicer whom will be the Team Co-Ordinator.
As of the 1st January 2012, new DEFRA laws will change UK entry requirements for persons travelling with pets and will be in line with the rest of Europe.
Dogs or Cats will now require the initial single rabies vaccination, then 21 days after the vaccination, can travel to the United Kingdom. (New Defra Law link)
In preparation for these changes, we have appointed a new Adoptions Co-Ordinator, Mandy Spicer. Mandy will be arranging adoptions in the UK, organising home checks and offering ongoing support to adoptants and helping RSDR UK with any fundraising. Mandy will also be offering her house as a collection point for items.
(Left to Right): UK Adoption Team Co-Ordinator Mandy Spicer, Adoption Representatives – Gina Field, Derri Dunn, and RSDR UK Chair Julie Lewis and our own RSDR Samantha Rowles.
Mandy has had extensive experience in running a dog rescue, has qualifications as an Animal Nursing Assistant and studied Vet Nursing.
Gina field will also be working alongside Mandy in organising adoptions and has excellent administration skills. Gina has a diploma in Canine Psychology and an NVQ in Pet Care.
Derri Dunn will be helping with adoptions also for the UK Team,and will be helping with home checks, emergency fosterer and meet and greet of dogs at the collection point, aswell as help with any fundraising. RSDR UK Chair Julie Lewis, and our own RSDR Samantha Rowles will also be involved in helping the UK Adoption team.
The UK Team are looking for people who can offer temporary foster homes in the UK to help us increase the chances of the dogs being adopted as they get used to family life; learn basic manners and house training and can be visited by prospective new owners.
If you are interested in adopting or fostering one of our lovely dogs please fill out a questionnaire on the Adoption Page of our website.
You can also contact the UK Adoption Team at RSDRadoptUK@yahoo.co.uk
RSDR – Facebook
Emma Clarke
Emma helps co-ordinate the Causes page for RSDR on facebook. Emma has had a passion for dogs all her life and has had mainly Belgian Shepherds and Border Collies for pets,
“I came across the RSDR in January 2009 and have become heavily involved in the back ground work of the RSDR (recruiting and promoting) for the website and the group and cause page (on facebook).”
Emma is in the United Kingdom and is a wonderful help with promoting RSDR
Donna Schleck
Donna helps with maintaining the causes / fan page in Facebook and helps with the general promotion of RSDR.
Donna is in Australia, and is actively involved in creating awareness about RSDR and has been a fantastic help in promotion.
