Meet the Team

FLORENTINA

I was thinking a lot what to write. I want to tell everything about the life of the strays in Romania and the continuous fight we have but hundred pages will be not enough....... How to describe my work in few words? How to describe the despair, the struggling, the howling of the dogs kept in miserable conditions in public shelters, the diseases they have, the hunger, the fight for surviving......

The "luckiest " are on the streets, the runners (how I call them), they are free and they get a piece of bread from time to time , but also them are in great danger now - after the law of killings (which was stopped, but too late) , they are hunted, killed in terrible manners ...

I love every living creature, it's in my blood, and I rescue animals in need since I remember, but my battle is not enough. It's true that my team and I saved many of them, but more are killed, more die with no hope. I am involved more and more in rescuing, in fact I barely have a personal life, but doesn't bother me, I love every second of it.

Rescuing changed me a lot, I loose a piece of me with every kid (dog) I lost, with every kid I cant help.....

I try to focus on the saved ones , I never forget the others, but I must think more of those I rescued, of their medical treatments, food etc, because if I think of the public shelter dogs all the time , I can loose myself ... and to be honest, I'm not far off that.

Last year I was the first volunteer accepted in public shelter, was a premiere and I'm very proud of it , very proud for the dogs we saved and very proud because my example was followed by others !! I have a great team, a crew made from friends, without them ...hard to save at least one dog because the costs are high for an accountant wage !! We are animal crew, we found each other and stand together driven by the same force: LOVE, love for animals!! WE succeed to rescue, treat, vaccinate, neutered, find adopters, to a quite big number of dogs !! We make miracles , really we do, we saved dogs with no chance , we saved mums with pups, disabled, scared...

I cant talk only about me, in rescue, in our rescue there is no me, its us. Thank you to my wonderful crew, thank you to all who will read my story, thank you to everyone who will decide to follow us !! We need your help to help them !! Love has no meaning if its not shared!!

"They have a well oiled system of making sure the dogs who are adopted find great forever homes and are always on hand even today to chat. I first got Macie then 6 months later adopted Jackson as well."

AIMEE

I first got involved with rescue by transporting and homechecking and fostering, soon becoming a senior coordinator with a successful Scottish charity. Through this work I became aware of the Romanian dogs. I admit I was of the opinion there were plenty dogs here so we didn't need to bring any more over, however the more I became involved and saw what was happening the more I wanted to help.

In 2013 I first visited Florentina and saw first hand the stray dog problem. I also visited a public shelter for the first time. The experience will stay with me forever. I returned encouraged to help more and successfully rehomed many of Florentina's dogs that year.

In May 2014 I returned and things were very very different and not in a good way. By rounding up all the dogs the streets are quieter for sure but gone are the friendly dogs who great you looking for love and an ear rub. You can find them all packed into the public shelters now, puppies in with big dogs, sick dogs in with aggressive dogs. So many with no water, no food and no vets to ease their suffering. So many suffer the same fate there a slow and painful death in many ways unimaginable. One little dog changed my view on how I wanted to help so I returned home and shortly after my trip Animal Rescue Crew was formed.

I have been lucky to go every year, at least once, to visit our friends in Constanta, to make sure I can personally meet and get to know the dogs and cats we profile for adoption. Since starting the charity in May 2014 I have been very lucky to be able to adopt 3 lovely dogs from the rescue, Molly, Lenny and Esteban. All were due to suffer the same fate at the Constanta Public Shelter, but now living the happiest of lives in Scotland.

FLORIN

It's not that I'm not an animal person but I had no idea what was coming! Both of us, Florentina and I, were working on sea and at one point I told her to stop and find a job at home, because we started to meet less and less and was hard. She started to volunteer at the local shelter and she asked me if I agreed with her bringing home some of the injured and abandoned dogs and cats. I agreed and that's how it started!

I was a little hesitant at the beginning but when I met terminal ill dogs, nervous dogs scared dogs, bitey dogs and orphaned pups, and when I joined her for the first time in the public shelter, that was it. Since then, I support her in every rescue and I help her in everything. I started to feed one day old cats and dogs, waking up every hour, I drove and pick up injured ones, I build kennels, I learned how to train them, how to love them.

I must to be honest, I had my "that's enough" moments, but when I saw a picture she showed me and told me we are his/her only hope, I always said "Well, one more, maybe the last one". Nope, it wasn't the last one, but now, after so many years, there is not Florentina and I , there is only US!!

SANDRA

I have been involved with a small family run rescue here in North Wales (Happy Days Animal Rescue) for some time. Whilst looking for an elderly GSD to join our rescue family, we came across Florentina and Animal Rescue Crew. Granny Anne was the first Romania dog to join us, quickly followed by Kaya and so the chapter of Romanian rescue began.

We were so touched and shocked by the plight of the street dogs, that we continued to help by rehoming locally via our rescue centre here in Ruthin. Through that work, I had contact with Animal Rescue Crew I became friends with Florentina.

In 2017, I was lucky to be invited over to Romania and spend time with the team. I was able to see the amazing but relentless work they do to keep the strays of Constanta safe. The world of rescue is such a physical and emotional place to be, but seeing these beautiful loyal dogs learning to trust humans and settle with their own families, is worth every tear. I am so proud and humbled to play a small part if their journey to recovery.

I have always had rescue dogs and an now the proud mum of my own little Rommie girl.

"Saving one dog won't change the world, but for that one dog the world will change forever"

ANIMAL RESCUE CREW

MEET THE TEAM

​FLORENTINA

AIMEE

FLORIN

SANDRA

FLORENTINA