You helped us reach the goal,

HELP US STRETCH IT NOW!

STRETCH GOAL:

$17,500

About 200 donators already helped us raise enough to be able to obtain two container homes (for checking office & veterinary station) and a mobile unit to accomodate more abandoned cats, including those already on our care (placed in homes of our volunteers since we don't have any kind of suitable place for them).

If we raised another $4,000, we would be able to make 10 outdoor boxes with dog houses, insulated for all seasons. With those boxes, we would be able to accomodate additional 15 to 20 dogs and puppies.

So, share the word if you can, contribute if you can, adopt one of our dogs & cats if you can.

Thank you! :)

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Short Summary

We’re an NGO taking care and re-homing abandoned animals (mostly dogs and cats) in the area of Zagreb County, Croatia.

The private shelter we took care of was closed because it was too close to the residential area.

With the help of our donors, we found a new place and this spring we started building a new shelter.

But we need your help to finish it. We already spent around $25,000 and we still need at least two more container homes before the winter comes, to comply with the law regulations and keep the shelter.

We’re building this new shelter for dogs and cats to feel comfortable, be stress free as much as possible and get socialized for new homes. We want to build it in accordance with their needs, and make it a place where animal lovers love to come.

Who, what, where and when?

We, as a group of enthusiasts founded The Association Šapica (“Little paw”) in 2006 with the main goal to improve welfare of dogs that were placed in a local dog pound (owned by private veterinary company). From 2009, we took complete care of the dogs in the pound, securing food and socialization, as well as re-homing dogs.

Although the law in Croatia allows dogs to be put to sleep after 60 days in a pound, we managed this to be a no-kill shelter. Soon, we launched programs for neutering street cats, placement of kittens in foster homes and managed adoptions.

A year ago, the local pound was closed because neighbors complained to numerous dogs barking. We prevented the dogs’ euthanasia by placing them in foster homes and we put other dogs in a dog’s hotel. Furthermore, we continued to collect newly found dogs and cats from the streets.

This spring, we found suitable land and started building a new shelter, approximately 20km from Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.

What we need & what you get:

We need about $7,000 more to finish what we started before winter.

With the funds we receive, we hope to be able to acquire at least two shipping container homes. One will be used as the checking office and the other as veterinary station.

The perks for helping with our cause:

Other than the warm & fuzzy feeling around your heart, which we know helping these animals will bring you, we really want to show appreciations to our funders, so we prepared the following:

$19 or more = Thank You!

Every bit helps, but if You can help us with $19 or more, we'll send You a personal Thank You note - by e-mail and by social networks.

$34 or more = Little Paw Digital Photo Pack

With our personal Thank You note, we'll send you a digital collection of high-quality photos of our dogs and cats. These will be Yours to do with them whatever You want - royalty free (so you can even use them in a commercial product).

$49 or more = Little Paw Thank You

With the help of our faithful dogs and cats, we'll send You a physical, one of a kind Paw Thank You Note - signed not by us, but by one of our dogs/cats. :)

Estimated delivery: January 2015

$99 or more = Little Paw Thank You x3

With the help of our faithful dogs and cats, we'll make You THREE physical Thank You Notes - signed not by us, but by our dogs & cats. :)

Estimated delivery: January 2015

$149 or more = Personal Little Paw Video

We'll make an exclusive personal Thank You note on a video with one of our protegees in front of the camera. :)

Estimated delivery: January 2015

$299 or more = Little Paw Puppy Box Sponsor

You will became a puppy box sponsor, so our 8 puppies will have Your name and/or logo printed on their puppy box. Oh, and we'll send you a picture of it! ;) We'll keep Your name and/or logo for at least 2 years, if not longer.

$499 or more = Little Paw Sponsor Wall

We'll place Your name and/or logo on our sponsor wall and send you a picture of it.

$999 or more = Named Shelter Building

If You're an animal lover who can help us with $999, You will get one of our two shelter buildings named by You or according to Your proposal for one year. Obviously, we'll send You a picture of it if You can't visit us.

$4,999 or more = Shelter General Sponsor

If You're an animal lover who can help us with $4999, You will get to become our shelter's general sponsor. We'll feature you on site and on our website.

The plan:

The plan is to build the shelter in three phases. The first phase (building the whole shelter from the ground up) should be over before winter this year, and it should give a place to stay for current protégés of the Association.

Additionally, we wish to get approval of the shelter by state administration, and for that we need at minimum of two more containers to be used for an isolation room, an ambulance and a warehouse.

The second phase should bring improvements in the quality of enclosures and enlarge the capacity of the shelter.

In the last phase, the shelter should get a classroom for pupils and other visitors, agility field, a pet shop and more content that will provide the Association with funds for self-sustaining the shelter.

The impact:

At the time of writing this, we are taking care of 64 dogs and 30 cats, and already this year, we found new homes for around 170 dogs and 30 cats. Last year, we found new homes for about 220 dogs and cats.

The simultaneous construction of the shelter and a full-time care of existing residents, presents a great financial burden on the Association, which was so far maintained solely by the donations of citizens.

Croatian law obliges every city to build and finance an animal shelter, but due to a financial crisis that still lasts in Croatia, they are all still trying but not solving this problem.

It is important to mention that the Croatian animal welfare law obliges local authorities to take care for abandoned animals for 60 days in shelters. However, until now local authorities did not recompense for the shelter of dogs and cats that the Association collected in their area. Furthermore, local authorities have not given any financial support for the construction of the new shelter, although this new shelter is going to be the only shelter in the whole region of Zagreb County.

We hope to make this shelter an excellent example of cooperation between NGO, town Bistra and of course our beneficiaries and donors.

Other ways you can help:

Obviously, we get all kinds of help other than monetary help. If you can’t help us by funding this campaign, you may be able to help us by doing some of the following:

• share, share, share the word - the more people we reach, better chances we have of finishing this shelter before winter

• donate food or other material that could help us in a shelter

• donate or help finding a shipping container home in our vicinity

• help with the transfer of the shipping container (which we will try to buy in our vicinity)