Bringing veterinary care to the animals of Pata Rat, Romania

In May 2023, our team deployed to Pata Rat, the site of Romania’s largest landfill, to help provide critical veterinary treatment to the animals who call the area home. Together with our partnering organizations TAC Social and Nomad Vet, we were able to provide care and comfort to hundreds of animals, including flea/tick treatment, spay/neuter services, and vaccinations. The animals of Pata Rat live in incredibly challenging conditions, but thanks to your support, they are getting the care they always deserved. More about our ongoing initiative in Romania: Romania has a very large roaming dog and cat population and no nationwide coordinated street animal population management program. These animals endure a very tough existence with lack of food and shelter, untreated illness, injuries and even deliberate abuse and killing. They are also often inhumanely rounded up and placed in already overcrowded shelters where they frequently live in deplorable conditions with little to no veterinary care and very little hope of being adopted. Owned dogs and cats living with families in poorer communities in Romania are at risk of suffering and abandonment due to the lack of access to veterinary services and resources to properly care for pets. The conflict in neighboring Ukraine has caused the pre-existing companion animal welfare situation in Romania to worsen. Many refugees who fled Ukraine through Romania with their pets found themselves unable to continue their journey with their animals and made the difficult decision to place them in Romania’s already overwhelmed sheltering system. The influx of animals, coupled with rising energy and medical supply costs, has been devastating for these shelters. By financially supporting two local organizations in Romania, HSI/UK is able to ensure both shelter and owned animals receive the veterinary care they so desperately need whilst easing the burden on local services at this extremely challenging time. One of the biggest issues for Romanian animal charities and remote, under-served communities, is lack of access to veterinary care. HSI/UK is helping by supporting two partner organizations in Romania which run mobile animal clinics, to provide free, frontline veterinary care in underserved areas. These services include flea, worm and tick treatments, vaccinations, injury care and treatment, as well as spay/neuter surgery to prevent the continued birth of unwanted animals. Helping community animals in this way reduces the risk of them becoming abandoned, and helping shelters improve welfare also increases their animals’ chances of local adoption.