Senior dog care is at the heart of everything we do. Elderly dogs are a sensitive subject for our shelter. At Speranța, we have more than 200 dogs that are seniors, each at least 12 years old, some even older than 15. Many of these senior dogs in shelters have spent their entire lives in a dog shelter, waiting every day in vain for someone to show them what being a loved dog truly means.
While our biggest dream is still to adopt senior dogs into loving homes, the reality is difficult: very few people choose elderly animals. For this reason, Speranța has become a true shelter for senior dogs, a safe place for those who may never leave. These dogs need ongoing, specialised senior dog care because age often comes with chronic illnesses and mobility issues.
Your support helps us provide medicines, heating, hygiene, and a proper senior dog diet, tailored to their changing nutritional needs. Our elderly dogs need quality food, physical and emotional warmth, and daily medication to manage pain and age-related conditions. Without this support, their quality of life would decline rapidly.
For our seniors, every pain-free day is a small victory. Every warm night, every carefully prepared meal, every gentle touch matters immensely. They no longer ask much from life, just peace, safety and a little comfort after years of waiting in a shelter.
Your donation can make the difference between an old age lived in suffering and one lived with dignity. Through your support, we offer not only medical care, but also the reassurance that they are not forgotten and that their lives mattered, and still matter.
Even if you cannot adopt, there are other ways to help. By supporting senior dogs for remote adoption, you become part of their lives from afar, ensuring they receive the care and love they deserve.
Help us be their family until the very end. Because when no one else chose them, we did, together with you.
The Speranța Shelter Foundation was founded in 1996 by Florina Tomescu and, since its inception, has contributed decisively to the welfare of animals in Romania, especially abandoned and suffering dogs.
On the night of 18.04.2001, the staff of the Speranța Foundation, together with the Vier Pfoten Romania team, rescued 300 dogs from the city hall shelters, dogs that would otherwise have fallen victim to the new euthanasia law. It was a real act of mass rescue at a terrible time for both animals and animal lovers.
The dogs at Speranța were rescued from the streets or from various life-threatening situations. Our shelter is home to about 500 dogs. Of these, 7 are paraplegics (they receive special care and are moved around with the help of prams) and about 200 are seniors, i.e. over 12 years old. We have a lot of older dogs in the shelter, but we are constantly trying to find families for them.
The Speranța Foundation is working hard to find adopters for the dogs in the shelter, including offering the possibility of distance adoption. Speranța Foundation is constantly organising events to promote adoptions and to raise awareness of the responsibility we all have towards animals.
Every year, the team from Speranța Shelter conducts sterilization programs for dogs and cats with owners, a pro bono project for those interested.
Speranța Shelter relies entirely on private donations to care for its more than 500 dogs each year and to fund all of its programs. The shelter’s monthly maintenance costs amount to more than €30,000.
In addition to maintenance expenses, we continually need financial support to improve the living conditions of the dogs by providing them with a clean, safe and loving environment. The shelter has been constantly upgraded, the paddocks have been rebuilt to be more comfortable and welcoming for their residents, 4 playgrounds have been created for the dogs, the 2 medical clinics have been equipped with state-of-the-art equipment.
Speranța Shelter is also actively involved in campaigns to promote adoptions and to educate and raise awareness of the responsibility we all have towards animals, in order to prevent abandonment and acts of cruelty towards them.
For more information on the work of the shelter, visit the About Us page
Any contribution, no matter the amount, can make a difference in the lives of many animals. Here are a few reasons why you should consider donating monthly:
Continuous support:
Monthly donations provide a stable income stream for the foundation, which allows for long-term planning and implementation of actions for the good of the dogs.
Save time and effort:
Setting up a monthly donation is an efficient way to contribute without having to remember to do it every month.
Personal Satisfaction:
Regular donation gives you the feeling of actively contributing to an important cause and having a direct impact on the lives of animals.
Sustainability of the activity:
A steady stream of monthly donations can help the shelter weather tough times and continue to do valuable work.
With your donations, we can give senior dogs the attention and care they so desperately need.
With your donation, you will make a significant difference in their lives.
With your donations, we can give senior dogs the attention and care they so desperately need.
With your donation, you will make a significant difference in their lives.