Charity rescuing ‘terrified’ dogs from Romania holds fundraiser in Waterlooville

On September 18, Pennypaws Romanian dog rescue held a coffee morning featuring an array of pup-themed activities at the Acorn Community Centre in Waterlooville.

Whilst the fundraiser welcomed donations, the main aim of the event was to attract support and awareness for the Romanian dog rescue charity which has been running for just three years.

Pennypaws are a small team of volunteers rescuing dogs from streets and kill shelters in Romania by funding necessary vaccinations and quarantine costs, ensuring the dog’s safe travel to the UK, where they will hopefully continue on to their ‘forever home’.

Dana James, a member, campaigner and fosterer for the charity has now adopted two dogs from Romania through the charity and wants to help other dogs to find refuge from the ‘starvation, cruelty and death’ that others are experiencing abroad.

‘I first got involved with the charity as my friend, who also helped with the fundraising, adopted a dog herself five months ago,’ Dana said.

Introduced to the charity by Leanne Dorn, Dana very quickly got involved with Pennypaws and has been bringing attention and support to the charity ever since.

‘I had been umming and ahhing about getting a dog for quite a while, she convinced me to start fostering for them and I ended up adopting one of the dogs, quickly followed by a second,’ Dana added.

Dana, who is now a regular fosterer for Pennypaws, decided she wanted to do more to help the new charity so she, along with Leanne and other supporters of the charity, organised the coffee morning featuring various fundraising, games and activities.

‘We’re desperately looking for fosterer’s at the moment so we really want to get the charity out there, we have quite a few pups that we are currently trying to rescue from Romania,’ said Dana.

Dana says that the dogs that arrive from kill shelters in Romania are ‘terrified’ and coming from ‘horrendous conditions’, with no animal-rights laws to protect them.

‘They’re brutalised each day by the handlers who are supposed to care for them,’ said Dana.

For the lucky ones, Pennypaws will provide full support throughout the dog's life through

Rehabilitation centres and to enable them to do so, they are planning a second event at St Georges Hall in Waterlooville in the new year to continue to raise funds for the charity.

‘We’re now in the process of organising our second fundraiser and we want to get as many people involved in the community as possible,’ Dana said.

To find out more, visit the Pennypaws Romania To Uk Rescue Support Group on Facebook.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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