Bosnian dog rescue charity

This is a year old article...but notice that the website isn't .com.

Have also done a bit more Googling. Turns out that the population in that area is mixed: Serbian, Bosniak and Croatian, so while there's a significant Muslim population, many are not. [My point is that Muslims are less likely to tolerate strays running about.]

I'd still hesitate to hand over my money.

Yes, I've used Google translate on the following - my Bosnian is basic. My comments in squared brackets.

https://www.fokus.ba/magazin/zivot-zdravlje/veliki-broj-pasa-lutalica-u-brckom-pozivaju-gradjane-na-udomljavanje/2833098/

Headline: Large number of stray dogs in Brčko, citizens are invited to adopt them.

Photo caption: Recently, a large number of stray dogs with ear tags, which mark dogs from neighboring municipalities outside the Brčko District, have been observed in the District.

The Service for Taking Care of Abandoned Animals in JP "Komunalno Brčko" sent an invitation to all dog lovers to become adopters in order to remove new stray dogs from the streets of Brča, and the reason for this is the overcrowding of the capacity in the Brča Asylum for Dogs.

The shelter has a capacity of 300 dogs, and currently it houses more than 500 adult dogs and puppies, which far exceeds the existing capacity. In the shelter, all dog lovers can find adult dogs and puppies of different breeds - said the manager of that service, Željka Tomić. [No mention of her on the DNV site??? A different organisation?]

She added that, unfortunately, due to the large number of stray dogs that are seen every day in the wider area of Brčko District, especially near populated areas such as local communities, attacks and bites of children and adults are very often recorded. [Well, that doesn't sound good!]

[The final paragraph is just a repeat of the photo caption.]

Just stop importing problems to this country - Jesus haven’t we had enough of all this dog scamming - tell the Bosnians to sort their own mess out!

Me, I would. Best thing I ever did. Adopted a well cared for dog who has the sweetest temperament and who was fostered for 6 months before he came to us.

It's amazing isn't it how stupid people are!
Who would think that was a good idea to pay good money to import a mangy bag of bones that was wandering about the streets in Spain on its last legs.
Maybe we should get some rats and seagulls from Spain too 🤣🤣

Yes, lots of dogs come from Spain also.

Spain ?

Thinking about it, I don't recall seeing feral dogs when I was in former Yugo. (Admittedly, it's been a long time since I was in Bosnia - though I do still have a few relatives there.)

I certainly don't see stray dogs running around Serbia and when I was in Tuzla I don't recall seeing any.

Given the significant Muslim population in Bosnia proper, wouldn't strays be more likely to be put down?

ETA Finally found an article. Shall post below.

Spain isn't a 3rd world country 🙄

The fact that I can't find anything in Bosnian makes me feel that it's likely to be a scam. Why no documentation in the local language? It feels off.

I agree with this, why would anyone want to import a feral Street dog from a third world country?! Maybe we should try and sell them some of our rats and seagulls😳🙄
The phrases 'money for old rope' and 'a fool and his money' are easily parted come to mind.
You're not saving an endangered species here 🙄😬

I'm not sure why you wouldn't just get a dog from pets4homes or similar, at least you could meet it first before making the commitment. I agree with the PPs who suggested looking at smaller breed specific rescues as their criteria may not be as strict as some of the bigger rescues.

Don't do it. My friend has a lovely imported dog but she arrived pregnant despite the organisation claiming she'd been spade. Two weeks later she had to have an emergency c section costing £3k. Litter of 6 puppies. The organisation was awful in their response and she was left to find homes for all the puppies. The dog in question is lovely but it makes me think that she was never a street dog in the first place and it's highly likely she was someone's pet. I hate to think of how she ended up with the 'rescue' organisation.

If you want to help dogs from overseas please donate to a spay or neuter charity. Transporting a dog from abroad does nothing to bring about long term change for the dog community in that country. Spaying one female saves so many stray dogs in the future.

If you're set on an overseas rescue, Galgos del Sol (based in Spain) are absolutely legit, test for everything needed and thoroughly assess their dogs before adoption...

(And no, I dont work for them!)

Every rescue I emailed said no off the bat because I have a cat. It's fair enough that they haven't cat tested the dogs but there are hundreds of dogs who can live happily alongside cats but they don't know which ones. My dog (Spanish rescue) was fostered by a family with several cats.

I've adopted 3 from Romania under the same system. You do get behaviour problems and there wasn't much back up with the 1st two.
However they are now wonderful dogs and I wouldn't be without any of them.
Another friend hasn't been so fortunate. Her dog is very aggressive.

Half of them do not get vaccinations, most arrive in a complete mess and a microchip cost £20.

I have two street dogs from two different charities abroad - Romania and Cyprus.

It felt dodgy - seeing a picture, paying a random fee. However, we were thoroughly home checked and our lives dissected to ensure we’d provide a good home.

Anyway, 8 years later with one and 5 with the other, they’re the most annoying little fuckers but perfect in every other way - wouldn’t be without them and they’re perfect health, loving, no behavioural issues albeit yappy

as the stairs were apparently too difficult for a dog to manage.

Dogs can't climb stairs? Who decided that? I had assumed that dog rescue centres were run by people who had at some point in their lives met an actual dog, but obviously not.

Ive got Spanish dogs from AA dog rescue and thats around what I have paid for a rescue dog. It covers their vaccinations and transport etc,
Just do your research. Do you know anyone else thats used them? How do they assess the dogs? Are they fostered first?

We had an awful experience with an overseas (Romanian) dog we hadn't met. She'd come in via a reputable rescue and they did take her back (twice, as she went for a child in her next home), but I would never adopt a dog without meeting it again.

A long time ago when I was younger and more naive I got a rescue dog from abroad and I would warn people against it.

It cost £700 to fly him over but I then ended up paying an extra fee at the airport. He was 5 months old, had his pet passport, microchip and first set of jabs, but the vet said they used a different brand to what is typically used in UK so we had to start from the beginning again with immunisations. He hadn’t been with the rescue for long which is why he’d only had one set.

He was very easy to housetrain and was the most loving, affectionate dog to me and my DP at the time but outside of our home he was so stressful. He had fear based aggression, so would snarl and hide any time a person or dog came near him. We couldn’t have people in our home either. He had clearly suffered some sort of trauma as he was terrified of children. I contacted the charity a few weeks in and it turned out they thought he’d been attacked with stones by a group of children. They’d never told us this. They also gave some bad advice around just accepting he’d never get on with other dogs/people.

We worked so hard with him, it was so stressful and difficult and took over our life. Eventually we got him to a place where we could take him for a walk with other dogs and could slowly introduce him to new people. We couldn’t never stop being vigilant though.

Luckily we had got him young so we could have more of an impact but it also meant the charity hadn’t felt they had to do proper behavioural testing because he was a puppy. If we hadn’t been able to manage him or our home situation had been different there was no way to send him back. He would’ve ended up in an already full rescue here. There was no real support from the charity which was run by people with good hearts who had dogs of their own but didn’t really have proper training/education so were giving advice that I now know to be incorrect.

The charity is still running and I do think they are genuinely trying to do a good thing, but the execution is poor. They want their dogs to go to other European countries where dogs are cherished rather than seen as expendable but it doesn’t really work when there’s no ongoing support.

We had also been turned down by UK rescues due to both working (although on different patterns so dog would’ve been left for 3 hours max and not every day) and the fact that we lived in a maisonette with a garden, as the stairs were apparently too difficult for a dog to manage.

I don’t understand why so many people lump all UK rescues under the same umbrella. Every rescue has different rules and requirements depending on the dogs’ needs.

It is absolutely untrue to say that every single dog rescue in the UK is difficult to adopt from, they are all different!

What is true is that there are some rescues that have ideological aims and should be avoided, plus others have dogs with specific needs and so would be irresponsible to put those dogs into unsuitable homes, however much people might want them.

No dog in rescue has come from a responsible, caring breeder who has done full health testing, reared the puppies carefully and keeps in touch with them for life, so if you choose rescue you are by definition looking for a dog who has been sold on by exactly the sort of breeder we are trying to stop.

However if you have researched the breed you want carefully, you know the requirements of that breed and you are determined to rescue then no breed specific rescue will turn you down unless there is a very good reason (that they will tell you).

The bottom line is that UK based rescues have a responsibility to rehome dogs carefully and with thought to both the needs of the dog and the people who take them on - overseas “rescues” don’t have any liability if something goes horribly wrong so they don’t have to care.

Either go to a proper, responsible breeder who isn’t breeding for profit or go to an experienced UK breed rescue and you will be fine - there are thousands of them.

Sorry, read the full thread now and you have looked into UK rehoming.

Yes, I remember that one.

OP I am with others, have you looked into UK Dog adoption ?
I do get that you probably want to give a homeless street dog a chance but try to find that thread and have a read.