Here you can see Eugenia, who two hours before this video was shot was still a romanian working horse. Eugenia was saved after she collapsed under the heavy cart. She was beaten and kicked to get up on her feet again.

Eugenia got eight months of love and care in the shelter before she quickly passed away after only one day of sickness. Eugenia had been hit so much in her head during her previous life so she was blind on one eye. The vets suspect that all those hits were also what eventually caused her death.

The only thing unique about the story of Eugenia is the fact that she got to leave this world as a loved horse, surrounded by people who cared about her. This is not something many working horses get to experience in Romania.

Friends of Homeless Dogs new outreach project aims to support the horse owners so that no more horses need to suffer the same fate as Eugenia.

The background to the outreach project lays in a similar project conducted by Save the Dogs and The Donkey Sanctuary, where the vets educate the donkey owners and provide medical assistance to their donkeys. Friends of Homeless Dogs was inspired by this and wanted to develop something similar for also the horses. The idea got support from Save the Dogs vets Raul and Roxana, who meet very many horses in bad condition during their work amongst the donkey owners.

According to the experience gathered from the donkey project by helping owners in their own homes, the following ground rules were made:

- educating the owners is a very central part of the project. The education can be related to feeding, caring, medical assistance, work and rest, euthanasia etc.
- medical assistance consists of mainly deworming and defleaing, which improves remarkably the living conditions of the horses and which the owners can not misuse
- wounds and infections are treated
- material handouts (blankets, bits, brushes etc) are given only if the owner agrees to follow-up visits
- help is only given to people whose horses have no apparent marks or scars from violence. Violent owners are also more likely to misuse the help they get.

The rules are made clear to avoid situations where people are using the suffering animals for their own financial profit. This project recognizes the danger and does its best to find the right beneficiaries. 

A very proud horse owner who got help for his beloved horse from Save the Dogs

We make monthly statements on the funds collected and Raul and Roxana conduct their work according to the donations available. This makes it very important to find monthly donors for the project.

Raul and Roxana keep Friends of Homeless Dogs up to date on the work being conducted and send pictures. At the same time we evaluate the work and if necessary make developments. A representative of FHD will join Raul on these missions whenever possible during our trips to Romania.

Save the Dogs receives material donations from all around Europe in smaller amounts and also FHD will send materials when we have the possibility. The largest need is for small equipment, such as bits, headcollars, hoof picks, vitamine supplements, deworming and defleaing. If you want to donate any equipment, please contact Marianna, marianna@koirienystavat.com.

The fate of the Romanian horses is very sad. A horse can die from hunger although the ground is covered with free food. A dead horse is often a big loss for the whole family, who is dependant on the horse for their living. By helping the horses we are thus helping whole families.

You can support the project by becoming a horse sponsor or by making a donation. Please send you important contribution to our bank account or via PayPal:

IBAN: FI9649700010048005
BIC: HELSFIHH

Please specify "outreach project" in the message field or "horse sponsor" if you want to contribute monthly. If you want to receive news about this project, also write your e-mail address in the message field or send it to Marianna, marianna@koirienystavat.com.