We‘ve called “her” Little Fox.
She is intelligent, funny, faithful and welcomes us every day when we reach the office; has become “part of our team” so we intend to take her with us now that we’re moving to another location.
Little Fox is one of the nearly 30,000 street dogs in Bucharest (in conformity with the results of a study made by animal protection organizations).
They live everywhere: in the streets, in the nearby areas of blocks, shops, schools, in the factory yards and so on. Summer or winter, in warm or cold weather, when it’s raining or snowing, they stay there.
People with a love for animals care for them, feed them and even make them shelters; they are given names and become “members of the community“.
Others consider them real enemies and want them to be exterminated. Many of these people have been scared or bitten by them and needed medical treatment.
Maybe you’re wondering how could such a dog population develop in a European capital city!?
The answer is that, more than 20 years after the fall of communism, its consequences are still present in our lives.
One of the most “dear“ ideas of dictator Ceausescu‘s family was to destroy Bucharest soul and its inhabitants’ feeling of belonging.
In the 80’s he ordered massive demolishments, moved the people into blocks of flats, raising huge administrative buildings instead of their homes. As a result, many of their companion animals (most of them dogs) were released in the streets. And nobody cared for them any more.
For years, local administration has been trying to stop the development of this dog population but hasn’t been successful.
The numerous NGO’s for animal protection, established after 1989, haven’t either. Some of them organised fundraising events for building shelters, buying food or hiring vets to sterilize the street dogs. And also campaigns or “adopting sessions” to raise the awareness of people and find “new homes” for them. The others just pretended to.
A lot of VIP’s have been implicated in these campaigns – like Brigitte Bardot, the famous French movie star. All in vain.
At present the debates on Animal Protection Laws are in progress raising a lot of “pros” and “contras”. “Man’s best friends” still have a chance.
There are many stray dogs in Turkey as well. I don’t know if anyone cares for them. There are a lot of stray cats too, I think they are more likely to be cared for.