CARING FOR ABANDONED DOGS
The Republic of Georgia Dog Refuge is the first and only no-kill, no-cage animal sanctuary in the country. We take in dogs in any condition, including senior and disabled ones. Your donations go towards the expansion of our rescue program and facilities so we can accommodate the rapidly increasing number of street dogs here, along with providing medical care, spaying and neutering services, an outreach program, community education, facility running costs (energy bills, maintenance, rent), food, transportation, and staff.
Our mission is to rescue, rehabilitate, and rehome (in-country) as many dogs as possible, to provide sterilization services to help reduce the stray population, and educate communities on the proper care and humane treatment of both pets and street dogs.
Did you know? THERE ARE NO GOVERNMENT FUNDED ANIMAL RESCUE SERVICES IN THE REPUBLIC OF GEORGIA. Unwanted animals are just abandoned on the streets.
DOGS LEFT BEHIND
When we first came to the Republic of Georgia 3 years ago, we were stunned by the number of street dogs, particularly on the beach across from our hotel in Batumi. There were dozens of them desperately begging for food from tourists.
We were saddened to learn many dogs were abandoned by owners who had moved into apartments after they sold their beach-front houses to developers for hotel construction. Some dogs had escaped from homes where they had been kept chained in backyards or locked in “pet boxes” outside. Dogs aren’t normally allowed to live inside, and, in this developing country, many people only feed them bread and water, so the dogs are undernourished. Also, many dogs are left or lost by tourists.
THE EFFECTS OF THE WAR ON UKRAINE
Georgia is directly affected by the war between neighboring Russia and Ukraine. Due to the flood of refugees and war-inflated food prices, some locals can no longer afford to keep pets, so they abandon them on the streets, where they are vulnerable to abuse, starvation, and poor weather (Batumi is in one of the rainiest regions in the Northern Hemisphere, with an average of 2 weeks of rain every month. There is no dry season.). Due to this dramatic growth in the number of street dogs here, we need your help to expand our facility so we can rescue, provide shelter, food, and medical care for them. For unwanted disabled and senior dogs, our refuge will become their forever home, while healthy dogs can be adopted by carefully screened families.
OUTREACH PROGRAM
We regularly feed and assess dogs in rural areas and other towns, with the aim of rescuing them in the future when we have expanded our shelter to be able to accommodate them.
COMMUNITY EDUCATION
We plan to launch a program to educate the public about the humane treatment of both pets and street dogs. The short-term goal is to foster compassion towards dogs by educating them about animal sentience: Studies have shown animals have thoughts, feelings and self-awareness, just as humans do, so they should be treated with kindness and respect. The long-term goal is to eliminate the stray problem through a country-wide spaying and neutering program, along with advocating for local government policies in line with those adapted by the Netherlands in 2016 which led to the achievement of ZERO stray dogs.
Your donations go towards expanding our dog rescue shelter, medical care, spaying and neutering services, outreach program, community education, facility running costs (energy bills, maintenance, rent), food, transportation, and staff.