March Updates: adoption galore and focusing on sterilisations
March was one very productive month. Thanks to your generous contributions and our wonderful volunteers, we sterilised 39 strays and thereby saved over a 195 puppies and kittens from being born to a life of misery in the streets.
In times of the political crisis in Georgia and the never ending stream of dogs and cats being abandoned on the street, it is very hard to find the strength to continue to fight for a Georgia without strays.
Something that surely brings motivation is to see the joy and love that overseas adoption bring strays and their new families.
We are ever so grateful for your continued support and hope that March’s amazing results will inspire you to support our cause – either by becoming a Patreon member or launching your very own fundraiser in support of Georgian strays!
Much love,
The Zero Strays Georgia Team
Adoptions
We’re absolutely thrilled to have successfully completed so many overseas adoptions in March. It is a lengthy process in many ways. Firstly, we need to ensure all the vaccinations, paperwork, sterilisation, socialisation and health checks are in place. Secondly, we need to identify potential adopters, assess applications that come in via our forms e.g. https://www.zerostraysgeorgia.org/adopt-a-stray/ and then complete a lot of logistics planning before stray is ready to fly out.
However, it is one of the best parts of our job as nothing makes us happier than when a loving family decides to add an equally loving stray to their family!
In March we re-homed these lovely souls:
Gracie – Germany
Noel – UK
Maisi – Austria
Five rescue puppies from the Shatili mountains – Czech Republic
Kuzya – Czech Republic
Noah – Poland
Amadeus – Germany
Paul – Czech Republic
We also completed a large rescue mission, bringing stray puppies found in summer 2024 in the Shatili mountains, to the Czech Republic.
Sterilisations and our continued advocacy work
Sterilisations remain one of the core aspects of our work and ambition to reduce the stray population of Georgia.
We estimate that each stray gives birth to up to 30 puppies in a lifetime. As such, when we sterilise between 15 – 50 strays per month (depending on funds), we prevent between 450 and 1500 puppies from being born into street misery.
However, as it remains common to abandon your pets, in particular pregnant pets, in Georgia, the number coming on to the street remains high. That is why we are also investigating ways to work with ongoing advocacy on a larger scale.
Zero Strays Georgia currently informs local owners on sterilisation options, and often takes the pet for sterilisation or offers the owner to visit one of the vets we collaborate with for a free sterilisation.
We sterilised over 30 strays in March, with support from our local Zugdidi vets Emzar and George. Zero Strays Georgia always tries to facilitate local adoptions for sterilised strays, and this month we struck lucky on four occasions!
Postcards from adopted strays
Our wonderful Czech team visited Georgia from 27-31 March to help out with sterilisations and rescue missions.
This is a typical couple of days when we are hard at work “3 new rescues vet check. 2 paralysed dogs and 1 probably hit by a car. We did X-rays and parasite disease tests. 2paralysed dogs have erlichiosis, one month of treatments will be started.”
Postcards from adopted strays
Few things make us happier than receiving a greeting from a former stray. This month Sammy, Ugdidi, Mila, Spencer and Alma sent us some lovely postcards from garden play sessions, bonding with close family, cosy naps tucked under a blanket, exciting holidays in the Alps and taking a walk around the block to show off how well a medical treatment has helped.
