Aboutus

We landed in Bucharest and, very quickly, too quickly, we met their gazes. The ones we were there for: the strays, the wandering dogs of Romania. Born in a country that does not want them and condemned to certain death. We stop at the first one we see, slow down at the second, but very quickly, we have to face the obvious and, like all the volunteers on the ground, we learn to look away, our hearts heavy, because there are far too many of them, and we are far too few.

After 7 hours on the road, where we crossed paths with so many dogs, dead or alive, that we stopped counting, we finally reach Pascani. This town has been haunting our nights for years and reading its name on the road signs, we can hardly believe our eyes. We hold our breath. We expected horror; what we discover is far worse. We had imagined purgatory; we are visiting hell.

The Pascani pound, sinister and isolated, freezes our blood. More than 120 dogs are penned in tiny, overcrowded kennels. All lying down, they probably cover the entire surface allotted to them. The wind whips us, but it is not the cause of the tears running down our cheeks. It is late September, it has frozen overnight, we are shivering. After an hour there, our fingers go numb, our lips turn blue. How can we imagine what these dogs go through at night, or worse, in the heart of winter, when snow covers the shelters and demands silence? Impossible, and yet true.

In a corner, death, lurking, waits its turn. In a pitch-black, freezing kennel covered in droppings, more than 15 puppies stare at us in terror. They are only a few months old, some are huddled in holes, others cry their endless despair, others still scream in fear when touched. Beside them, a tiny mother courage, skeletal, nurses 4 minuscule puppies, who must be 2 months old but look no more than one. There were 6 of them at the start. Exhausted, she will die during the night.

After the shock comes awareness. There is blood everywhere on the ground. A puppy has stopped eating; we take him out of the hell to try to save him. He dies during the night and the diagnosis falls: parvovirus. They are all carriers, they are all doomed. The medicine that could save them is not available here, deep in Romania. We order it, but it will not arrive until 3 days later. Far too late for them. A second puppy dies during the night, a third in our arms.

In our arms, Remember, a beautiful 4-month-old female puppy, slowly fades away. The warmth we try to give her can no longer reach her. A few hours later, she goes out, a small starfish in an ocean of suffering. Remember will become our star and the emblem of our association.

Thanks to the wonderful volunteers on the ground, Carmina and Lucian, we manage to save the others. With them, we share the worst. And undoubtedly, a bond is created. We read in their eyes the reflection of our own despair at the situation of the pound. But also hope, faint but real, of being able to change things. What they tell us freezes our blood: winter is coming, and problems with it. What we saw was not the worst. We leave with heavy hearts and tears in our eyes. We were only there for 3 days; it already felt like a year.

In Bucharest, we visit other shelters, all facing different challenges. Carmina has chosen a small shelter where all her dogs are well looked after, but she has only her own financial resources. She had to borrow money to fund work needed to improve her dogs' living conditions. Anda and Alina, for their part, are in a critical situation: after having had to move their shelter a few months earlier, the new owner of the land they rent has decided to evict them and their dogs.

On the last day of our trip, all the Bucharest volunteers are gathered to protest the slaughter of the strays. We meet those who want to change things, including Stefan Eck, German MEP, and Rémus Cernea, Romanian member of parliament. We cannot resist taking the microphone and telling what we have seen and lived. In their place, would we find the strength and courage needed? And who will support them if we don't? How can we abandon them?

We did not know what we had come looking for; we know what we found: the strength and courage to support them in their fight and to come to the aid of the Romanian strays. And above all, above all: never again do we want to forget.

« We will be there, today, tomorrow, always. Our Remember Me association is born, and we will never abandon them. »

Vanessa, President and founder of Remember Me France