Moldova is considered the poorest country in Europe, with more than 25% of the total population living below the national poverty line. Many adult Moldavians have left the country to seek work in Western European countries, leaving behind a dysfunctional society of mostly elderly people and small children. The country is torn between pro-Russian and pro-European political leaders and mismanagement of public funds is an ongoing issue.

So it is no surprise, that Moldova also has a very high density of stray dogs with an estimated 20,000 dogs living in the capital city, Chisinau, and surrounding areas alone. While there are thousands of dogs born on the streets or abandoned each year, many will die at a young age due to the hardships they must face. In addition, there is a large number of public and private shelters, where dogs are housed in poor conditions and kept in large groups resulting in terrible, deadly fights and death. And while dog ownership is popular, abandonment is high and there are almost no local shelter adoptions.

The overall welfare of the dogs on the streets as well as in shelters is extremely poor. Shooting, poisoning, starving to death and even skinning dogs for their fur is a regular occurrence in some communities.

In 2020, the authorities of Moldova contacted FOUR PAWS and confirmed the huge need for a sustainable and humane stray animal management programme. The country itself does not only lack money and resources to implement such a programme, but also the skill sets necessary. FOUR PAWS is helping the authorities to set up spay and neuter clinics to implement high-volume, high-quality sterilisations, starting from basic veterinary training, veterinary licenses for appropriate anaesthesia drugs and equipment, training in humane methods of catching and transporting animals, and sharing best practise monitoring and evaluation processes.

Since 2021, we have collaborated with our local partner Doctor Vet in Moldova to help with this project.

When FOUR PAWS became aware of the dire situation for strays in Moldova in 2020, we knew we had to act. And so we did. But with so many dogs in the country everywhere, there was only one way forward: to set up, together with the community, a systematic, sustainable, and humane dog population management programme to avoid further dogs being born onto the streets in the years to come and to, over time, reduce the number of strays.