Spay and Neuter for 3,000 dogs in Romania

Thinking of all these I realized how many things have changed due to the RAR campaigns and the free s/n programs hosted by the Family Vet clinic .

I remember the first time I took a stray dog , a female , to be spayed .
It was in 1995 and the experience , which I prefer not to describe in detail , was so gruesome , that , despite my conviction that it was a very necessary step, a “must” in order to protect the lives of stray dogs , it took me two years before I could gather enough mental strength to take another female to be spayed in a vet practice recently opened at that time .
It was closer to what it should be and since then I have been involved constantly in this volunteer activity .
But it was only years later , when we got the chance of meeting the wonderful vets of the RAR team, doctor Aurelian Stefan and doctor Petrisor Stefan that my efforts and those of other animal lovers in Craiova , who struggled to find a humane method for stray dogs population control, reached a scale that we could have only dreamed of .

Beyond the very obvious benefits of the thousands ( and this is not a typing error ) of s/n ‘s done in these last four years since our collaboration has started , which meant curbing down the strays population , there are other things that have changed that are not always noticed since they don’t have a statistic or quantitative nature .

First of all RAR campaigns have spread a new mentality towards s/n in itself as surgical procedure , they shattered some cultural barriers that kept people away , like some unwanted consequences for the health of the animals , or radical modifications of behavior following s/n .
Years ago I kept hearing these arguments even from people who had a certain level of education . I can say that I rarely hear these arguments again today.

Bearing in mind what I have said about how s/n was done before, I know that RAR campaigns have set a standard regarding anesthesia protocol , the sterile work , the quality of suture materials . These methods were copied and this resulted in progress of the medical act even for some vets who would not admit they “stole “ it .
The RAR team of doctors of vet techs is growing steadily , I can say that a new generation of fine professionals is growing under our own eyes .
This means RAR is actually filling a gap in the system , it takes over where the official veterinarian educational system still fails to produce skilled and dedicated professionals.

One other benefit derived from the intense collaboration with RAR is that during these very special events the real “ roll-up sleeves volunteers “ were tested and selected.
Some have started from zero , with no previous knowledge or experience about s/n and they are now enthusiastic “preachers “, showing the way to many others .

By bringing together at RAR campaigns so many people who shared interest and love for their own animals and for stray animals too , there was the perfect opportunity to meet, to talk , to exchange views and hopes and in many cases afterwards to work together
So, in an unseen way , RAR has also contributed to the formation of rescue groups , not only ours , but others across the country as well .

The members of Speranta Pentru Animale team consider it a privilege to be so closely associated with Romania Animal Rescue and will strive to rise to the expectations .
With new projects ahead , like the October Spayathon , we are once again looking forward to a testing but hopefully successful event that will continue all the great work of the previous years."