Our AKI partner organization, Save the Animals-Armenia, was in desperate need of extra dog food during these cold, snowy months in Yerevan. The 180 shelter dogs are getting older (picture of an SAA shelter dog below) and need good, nutritious food, especially during the winter. The meds that many of these older shelter dogs need are so expensive. And then it got so cold and wet, SAA Founder & Director Nune had to bring many of the dogs inside the large shelter building and the heating bill went sky high!
AKI donors came through for Nune, the Save the Animals-Armenia shelter, and the dogs! First, at the end of November, we sent an emergency disbursement and Nune was able to pay off US$200 on the shelter gas bill--this was just to ensure they wouldn't shut off the gas; pay off a US$1000 food bill--this was from the previous month; and cover shelter workers' salaries for the previous month.
THE OUTDOOR DOGS
We also started a crowdfunding project on LoveAnimals, where we tried to raise US$4000 to cover dog food for 2 months, January and February 2017. We were ALMOST successful. We raised $3770. But in the meantime, as mentioned, Nune had to move 90 dogs inside the shelter building, which meant the heat had to be on 24/7, and the heating bill (see picture below) for December was US$675!!! January and February will probably be just as high!
THE INDOOR DOGS
We really like to be optimistic and we like our AKI Blog posts to bring good news. But sometimes, we just don't have good news to report. Because in the middle of this cold winter, someone dumped 2 puppies outside the SAA shelter (see 2 pictures below). Nune couldn't leave them in the street-it was so cold and wet. There was no safe, warm space at the shelter, where they could get the care they needed, so Nune found a woman who would care for them in her home for US$100/month (see last picture).
All of these extra costs mean that the 2016-2017 winter will be an expensive one for the Save the Animals-Armenia shelter. We're so grateful to our AKI donors for their support--SAA relies on a handful of donors in Armenia and AKI to cover all costs. Your generosity and kindness are appreciated beyond words.
