Found a street dog - what to do

As an animal lover it is our first instinct to rescue every stray dog or cat we encounter. It is a sad fact that with tens of thousands of such animals within Kosovo this is just not possible. So what should you do when you come across a stray?

With no animal control regulations, dogs and cats are not required to wear collars or be confined so it can be impossible to tell if an animal is "owned" or not. As a general rule if an animal looks fit, young, heathy and well fed it is best left where it is.

Any animal injured or showing signs of obvious disease or distress requires veterinary assistance and should not be taken to the shelter. The shelter veterinarians are only in residence twice a year (usually May and September) and when they are not in Kosovo the shelter is unable to provide medical care. The assistance of a local veterinarian should be sought. If the dog/cats' condition is treatable, the veterinarian feels that the animal is not suffering from a comunicable disease and you are unable to keep or rehome him/her, contact the shelter.

Contact Florim on one of the numbers below and he or Nexhmedin will arrange to meet you at the shelter. You must call Florim first as our workers speak only Albanian and do not have the authority to allow any animals to enter the shelter.

The reason for this policy is to ensure the health and welfare not only of the animal you have rescued but also those of the dogs and cats already living in the shelter. It is important that any new arrivals are isolated, placed in our quarantine unit, observed for any health or behavioural problems, treated for parasites, receive any medication prescribed by the veterinarian and are fully vaccinated before moving into the main shelter. If the shelter is full we may not be able to take him/her but will always endeavour to find a solution.

We do not encourage very young or orphaned puppies to be brought to the shelter. It is far from the ideal environment to raise physically and mentally healthy pups as we do not have the staff numbers or facilities to encourage optimal nutrition, development and socialisation. We do have a small network of foster homes and will try to find placements within these.

If possible we would encourage you to visit any animal you leave at the shelter and donate food whenever possible.