CHARITY PRESENTATION
FROM CEAUCESCU TO COVID
HISTORY OF ROMANIAN STRAY DOGS
In the 1980s, the communist Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu ordered the demolition of traditional homes and built tall apartment blocks instead.
Farmers had to move into the city and were forced to leave their dogs on the street.
The dogs quickly adapted to the new urban environment and since neutering was relatively rare at the time, their numbers multiplied rapidly.
Today, there are about 50,000 street dogs living in Bucharest and the problem is deeply rooted.
head over heels
Why WE GOT INVOLVED
During a business trip in Romania, Noëlle and her husband Tobi were confronted with the devastating street dog situation. Among many other sad examples, they found 2 surviving puppies lying helplessly next to dozens of carcasses in a stinking hole. That’s when Noëlle made the decision to help the street dogs. Together with Romanian dog friends, she was able to improve the situation on site in a very short time. Within a few months and with minimal financial effort, about a quarter of the dogs on the premises could be castrated and medically treated. Simple shelters were built for the dogs.
Noëlle quickly realized that with a little courage, heart and the support of local helpers, a solution could be found for these poor creatures.
redefining animal shelters
tHE VISION
A sustainable solution to the street dog problem can only succeed with a change in attitude among the younger generation. In its own dog school, The Dog Rose teaches children and school classes how to deal with street dogs in an unbiased way. Socially neglected children and traumatized street dogs benefit from each other. Thanks to daily contact with people, shy orphan dogs become trusting and adoptable.
The Dog Rose transforms depressing animal rescue centers into a hopeful tourist attraction with happily frolicking dogs and a variety of revenue streams: local veterinary clinic, amusement park with vegetarian café, vacation stay for upper class dogs from Bucharest, event offer for children’s birthday parties, volunteer hostel for young people from all over the world and much more. The declared goal is the long-term financial independence from donations and the development of a non-profit oriented business idea to ensure the survival of the project.
redefining animal shelters
tHE DOG ROSE
The Dog Rose is a Swiss charity startup for a new kind of animal shelter worldwide. Instead of confining orphaned animals to cramped cages, at The Dog Rose street dogs live in a 2-acre shelter park with constant contact with humans and their peers. School children learn all about the street dog problem on site, cute puppies play with young families at Sunday picnics in the great outdoors, and young adults from all over Europe pay their way as volunteer dog park rangers for meaningful, modern volunteer tourism.
the caretaker house
KEEPING HELP CLOSE
A solidly built staff house has countless advantages: In emergency situations, our team can spend the night in home-like surroundings rather than sleeping in an improvised container house. When emergency animals need to be cared for on site our team is there day and night. Our hard working team needs a place to rest with proper beds and privacy. Only in this way can the intensive work with animals be done in the long term. Please help us with your donation so that we can provide our staff with a ‘Home away from Home’: as a token of appreciation and to make their fantastic work easier, which they do every day for our animals and the strays on the streets.
learn to speak dog
STRAY DOG DICTIONARY
Direct eye contact is an intimidating gesture for a dog – so don’t look a dog directly in the eyes.
Invading a dog’s space is rude and can make a react aggressively –turning away and crouching down is a neutral gesture.
Make your presence a positive experience that lasts by recognizing that dogs don’t have to like you, so don’t force them. But the more treats the better!
learn to speak dog
STRAY DOG DICTIONARY
Pushing dogs past their threshold can make them aggressive. Always use positive reinforcement to encourage a dog to do want you want it to do.
Encourage your dog to build positive associations with new places or new people but giving them food treats to reward them.
EN 
DE 
RO
from underdog to wonderdog
SOCIAL MEDIA