How gifts in the will can make a difference for homeless animals like Maia

ROLDA has helped over 40,000 animals to date and we have hundreds of dogs and cats within our shelters though less than 10% of the income necessary for our vital work is due to legacy gifts. Increasing this procent is an act of kindness that every supporter can do. Your generosity means also that we can be here for dogs like Maia.

Maia holds the unwanted record of longest time in intensive care, beginning in December 2018, when she suffered horrendous injuries to both front legs, putting her at very real risk of double amputation or being put to sleep if our vet had decided it would be cruel to prolong her life. Maia’s recovery continued from mid-2019 (after her second surgery) until the end of 2020 when she left intensive care and travelled to the small shelter to be cared for by Flori. Here she stayed for a few weeks before heading back to the vet clinic. Some dogs recover quickly and easily but some seem to struggle. Maia’s leg suffers every time she leaves the shelter but we don’t give up on her.

The clinic remained her home for most of 2020 and due to the COVID lockdown, we were unable to travel back and forth. In December 2020, when we finally took her back, her injuries deteriorated again and became inflamed. The clinic will remain at her home until she is adopted.

Her recovery continues to this day, though we hope March 2022 will be the last month she will remain in intensive care in an expensive, private clinic where she has received life- and limb-saving surgery. Dozens of hours of spread across three surgeries, four months in intensive care and over a year of hospitalization and ongoing rehabilitation.

We know she is worth it, she has been through so much and is such a lovely, gentle being. ROLDA will remain her safety net until she finds her forever home. ROLDA never gives up on an animal where there exists a chance of acceptable quality of life. It is with your help that ROLDA can continue to offer the care so many dogs and other animals urgently require and deserve. Please consider making a gift to ROLDA in your will and be forever remembered in the happy faces you helped us save.

How people like Ionica make a difference for animals with a gift in their will?

How gifts in will improve our dogs’ sheltering conditions

Our supporter Berit made the wonderful decision to include a gift to ROLDA in her will. The sum she left paid for 10 running spaces for the dogs from our large sanctuary.

Thanks to the amazing act of kindness from Liselotte who left a gift in her will to ROLDA, our team successfully provided new bedding for all the dogs living in our two private sanctuaries in Romania.

Both Berit and Liselotte lived in Scandinavia, but by making a gesture of kindness to leave a legacy directly to ROLDA in Romania, they helped us improve the shelter conditions for our dogs, which is vital to keep animal welfare standards high for the dogs we saved from the streets. They have already suffered so much and deserve a safe future.

Tackling the challenge of finding rescued dogs loving homes

At ROLDA we believe that there is a special someone out there for every dog saved from streets or from a life-threatening situation. That’s why we do our best to find loving new homes for all the dogs in our care, no matter how long it takes and we are proud to say that we never put a healthy dog to sleep.

By remembering ROLDA in your will, no matter where you live, you can help us continue to provide this commitment well into the future and ensure that we are always there to find as many dogs as possible the right home we know they deserve.

ROLDA wants to tackle the Romanian stray dog problem not only in a reactive manner (rescue, rehabilitate and re-home) but also in a proactive way by sterilising both dogs & cats and helping to educate the general public.

Educating future generations

ROLDA passionately believes in educating the public about dog welfare: This includes informing about neutering, regular medical checkups, distributing our free coloring book in schools across Romania and teaching the kids about the body language of dogs. All this is an essential part of our work.

Facing tomorrow’s problems today

To reduce the number of unwanted dogs and cats, ROLDA provides free spay/neutering as the single most effective way to address this heart-breaking problem. We target communities who struggle financially, especially in the countryside because those pets (and owners) need our help the most. We also created FriendsForever program to help seniors look after their pets and never be forced to abandon them.

Every gift increases our dog’s chance of a happy ending

We are incredibly grateful for every gift we receive, no matter what the size. Even the smallest gifts help us to provide dogs with food, a warm bed, veterinary attention and most importantly of all, find them a loving home.

Since ROLDA came into existence, the capital projects (building the shelters, buying our rescue van and equipment and major repairs) were made with major donor gifts and legacies. When you donate towards a building project, you can name it in memory of someone or to honour a dear friend or family member.

Help us build the PawzUp Center which will include:

A sanctuary for horses abandoned because they can’t be used as working animals, in danger to become victims of the illegal meat trade

A sanctuary for rescued donkeys

An indoor adoption centre for dogs and cats from where the local community can adopt or where they can volunteer

A rehabilitation zone for dogs that need help to trust people again

A therapy center where kids with special problems and seniors from retirement homes will interact with our animals

Helen was born in Adelaide in October 1938, but her ancestors were from Scotland. Helen was a brilliant and savvy person, years ahead of her time, and an avid animal lover who would dedicate her life to a beautiful cause. Helen’s goal was to leave as much of her life savings as possible to those who help animals in need. She became very frugal, making her and her husband’s clothes and doing her own DIY.

She was truly dedicated to making the world a better place for suffering animals. Sadly, Helen passed away in January 2021, but her generous gift to ROLDA is actually the first legacy being used to start PawzUp, a project that will change generations of animals and their people. The estimated cost of our PawzUp project is 5 million euros, and every contribution towards it is gratefully received.