January Updates: overseas adoptions, dog food bargain and sterilisations.
Strays leaving Georgia for Latvia, Poland, Germany and Canada have brought us a lot of joy in January. However, more than 60 lovely, travel prepped amazing dogs are hoping it will be their turn next. Are you interested in adoption? Please fill in our adoption form.
This month we got off to a rocket start, apart from sending Mona, Dora, Tessa, Alma, Leni and Cony abroad, we carried out 17 sterilisations – mainly pregnant strays in the most vulnerable village locations and did three surgeries, of which two were most urgent.
As always, we are incredibly grateful for your support – as a volunteer, making a donation or cheering us on in social media.
We’re also happy to share feeding tips for anyone who wants to support us with dog food. €22 can get us 20 kg of decent dry food – vital for foster care and stray feeding rounds!
Psst.. this month we’re also keen to share that there is also an absolute dream dog on Rustaveli street in Zugdidi who would love a safe, loving home with a garden.
If you have any questions, please send us an email on zerostraysgeorgia@gmail.com
Now, on to our monthly summary below!
Adoptions
As dogs are continuously abandoned or born onto the street, facilitating international and national adoption when possible is a crucial part of our aim to improve strays’ lives.
Our 60+ foster dogs are carefully prepared to comply with all regulations in connection with overseas adoption including; ID-registration, rabies vaccine, German lab analysis and approval, complex vaccine, deworming and authorised medical checks.
This month we’re thrilled to share that
- Mona and Dora travelled to Latvia
- Tessa travelled to her forever home in Germany after more than 2 years in foster care
- Distemper survivor Alma spent more than 2 years in foster before finally find her forever family in Poland
- Watson travelled to his forever home in Germany
- Fritzi and Chaz also travelled to Germany to become forever family members
- A lovely pup underwent amputation and was locally adopted by a man who has 1 leg amputated himself
- Leni and Cony had a longer trip to make – their final destination was Canada.
“Leni was hit by a car 3 times in Zugdidi. I returned her to the street after neutering… after the last car hit I took her to foster. She was waiting for home for 1, 5 years. Same as Cony. Cony is rescued from Sioni Lake, I found her while neutering other strays. She was dropped by a car in the Sioni centre with the chain on, and was very skinny with an infected wound. The best life awaits them now. 🥹 On a farm with other rescue dogs (3 Georgian), rescue 4 pigs and rescue 12 horses, all from slaughterhouses. Conny and Leni arrived in Frankfurt and are on the way home to Canada now. Adopted by Susan who has been our greatest supporter for many years. During the past 4 years, she adopted 3 dogs, all of them 3 legged. Ivar is with her as well.” Mariam Shekiladze, founder
Sterilisations
Most of the funds we raise every month are spent on sterilisations. That is one of the best methods to prevent stray puppies from being born in the streets, increasing the already large stray population. It also prevents people from abandoning their pets should they fall pregnant, which is common practice across Georgia. Informing the pet owners, helping them to reach the vet practice and paying for the sterilisation are all important steps to shift the local mindset to better care for and respect animals.
This month, you’ve all helped us prevent 100 strays from being born into street life.
- Pregnant stray Gordon
- 7 dogs were neutered today! 4 from Senaki and 3 from Zugdidi. I caught all of them
- Mother and 3 puppies. 4 of them were neutered together. Mother dog came pregnant to the family in the village where they were feeding her. They could find homes for male puppies only, no one adopted females. They promised after neutering they would keep them till at least some of them find a home. If not they will keep them.
- Neutered pregnant strays from village Kakhati. Volunteer Lalita Makatsaria
- Neutered strays, all pregnant and urgent. We neuter only pregnant ones as we have Zero funds at Zero and we are collecting bills
- 2 more neutered strays, both pregnant.
- Neutered today. Again pregnant. Nona found a family for this dog, they take her after neutering.
Medical care
Apart from providing medical care to our foster dogs, we cover care for emergency cases in and around the Zugdidi area.
This month, we helped a stray in need of urgent help. He had been chained and mistreated for a long time, developing a badly infected wound. Antibiotics and wound treatment will continue for 10 days, administered by the person who found the chained dog, and under supervision and support by Zero Strays Georgia.
The locally adopted pup was also one of our most urgent medical cases this year. He was found in the village Natsuluku and brought to into medical care for amputation and castration. We’re so grateful he was quickly adopted to a loving home – far from the suffering in the street.
We brought lovely Nigel in for a full check up after finding a lump on him. Luckily, it turned out to be extra skin and not cancer. He has now had the excess skin removed and is about to be fully recovered.
Nexguard treatments
Skin disease is a very common cause of suffering for Georgian strays. We treat it using medicines such as Nexguard or Bravecto. These have to be administered on a regular basis for the treatment to be successful. We keep a track record of the dogs treated and the dates they were given the medicine.
Volunteer greetings from Zugdidi
Swedish EUMM worker and stray dog supporter Peder regularly feeds strays across Zugdidi and on his field trips. Carrying a bag of dry food in your bag is a strong tip when you visit Georgia.