The Problem
A small country in South-East Europe, Bosnia & Herzegovina was devastated by war little more than 20 years ago.
Unfortunately, horrible effects are still felt today. For the many Bosnian people who want to make a difference and move forward, social and economic circumstances are a huge obstacle.
It is estimated that there are over 200,000 abused and neglected dogs desperate for safe and loving homes.
Let's put this into perspective.
Bosnia & Herzegovina is smaller than Newfoundland and has a population 10x smaller than Canada’s.
Yet, their stray dog to human ratio is 35x larger than Canada’s.
Duga is a second chance.
Without any government support, Tinka Anic, her family, and a small handful of volunteers opened Duga Home for Strays just outside of the small south-eastern city of Livno. They dedicate themselves to changing the lives of as many stray dogs and cats as they can. Currently at Duga there are 30 dogs and 7 cats.
The welfare of these innocent creatures rests in the hands of people like Tinka who dedicate their lives to fostering and finding loving homes for strays. These lucky pups are finally given the chance to experience a life of which they are worthy—one filled with health, comfort, love, and true happiness.
With the help of a few generous volunteers, Tinka's father built the Duga dog house and fences using donated material.
With the help of donations and volunteers, the team at Duga was able to build their first large dog house to keep everyone warm during the cold Bosnian winters.
Tinka and Sivko. Sivko and 4 of his sisters were found in a box on the streets of Sarajevo and brought to Duga as tiny palm-sized puppies. Look at him now! He needs a LOT of food!
“Duga” (pronounced “dooga”) means rainbow in Bosnian.
In Greco-Roman mythology, the rainbow was considered to be a path made by the goddess Iris between Earth and Heaven. This is the inspiration behind the name “Duga”, which is meant to commemorate all of the innocent animals who perish due to neglect and cruelty.
How Your Donations Help
Without generous help from people like you, Duga cannot exist. The Duga Doggies are completely dependant on donations.
Food
Food is always in short supply. One month of food to feed everyone is $800—which increases as more dogs come to Duga. It is very difficult to bring dog food into Bosnia from countries like Germany where dog food is cheaper. Instead, Tinka relies on monetary funds to buy dog food within Bosnia.
Shelter
Like food, shelter and warmth are necessities but also huge expenses. Duga is located outside of Livno, which is in the Bosnian Alps. Winter in the mountains is very harsh, snowy, and cold. The Duga shelter compound is modest—a tiny and old house for people, and a dog house. Straw is used as insulation and is constantly needed in large amounts. One day the Duga team hopes raise enough funds to properly insulate their dog house.
There are A LOT of hungry mouths to feed at Duga!
The Duga dog house being built.
The dog house provides the dogs with a shelter from the elements, but not the cold. Every winter the house must be filled with straw for insulation.
Veterinary Care & Medication
Providing veterinary care and medication for everyone at Duga is very expensive. To control population growth, all the dogs that come to Duga are sterilized. Every summer, Dr. Serge and Dr.Nevena travel to Bosnia and spend a week spaying, neutering and performing other medical procedures and treatments for sick and injured dogs. However, veterinary care is needed all year round. Bosnian vets find most of their work with livestock on farms, and very rarely treat small animals like cats and dogs. Rouge Valley Veterinary Hospital and Duga work together to build and educate a network of caring and passionate vets who will be able to treat and sterilize strays in Livno.
This puppy was poisoned and had to be rushed to an animal hospital in Bihac, approximately 200km away from Livno.
This is little Elly at the vet. Elly came to Duga with an irreversibly injured hind leg that recently had to be amputated. Money is always needed to provide life-changing medical care and surgeries like this.