Welcome

To Semper Fidelis Domus

Shelter

Our Story…………..

The story begins around ten years ago, when a kind lady bought a small piece of land in Dambovita County and built a cottage as a weekend retreat for herself, her family and her dogs. She rented out part of her land to another lady who was looking to build a sanctuary for two hundred dogs she had rescued from the streets. Mrs Bogza helped the lady to fence off the land for her shelter. The problem was that Mrs Bogza could not leave strays and abandoned dogs to fend for themselves and she picked up the strays she saw on the side of the road during her journey from Bucharest to her retreat in Butimanu. Soon her own land was also a sanctuary and she build over a hundred pens with shelter for several dogs in each. Very quickly the numbers escalated At that time the government in Romania began the barbaric killing of strays, whose only crime was that they had been abandoned on the streets by humans! Mrs Bogza began a campaign to save every dog and cat she found abandoned and within two years the number of animals in her shelter topped four hundred. Mrs Bogza atttempted to rehome some of the dogs, but the first two that were adopted went to a Romanian family who were unable to care for them and they were returned. Mrs Bogza had heard horror stories about dogs sent abroad, being told that they would be “killed and would become gloves”. For some years she was afraid to rehome them - no dogs left the shelter and the numbers kept on increasing. For almost eight years, Mrs Bogza cared for over four hundred dogs entirely at her own expense. Her family savings were used to pay workers to look after the dogs from this shelter and another smaller one she had in Bucharest. With no help at all she paid all the food and vets’ bills, registering, spaying, neutering and vaccinating all at her own expense. She created Semper Fidelis Domus Shelter, a non profit organisation. Last year Mrs Bogza suffered several setbacks - a relative tried to make a claim on the estate left to her by her husband on his death. She suffered ill health and the court blocked her access to her husband’s estate until a final decision. She has only a small pension on which to survive and she lives in a tiny apartment, barely able to pay her own way. There are still over three hundred dogs in the Shelter, all of whom need to be fed and have medical care where necessary. Staff need to be paid as there are no volunteers at the Shelter. A Facebook Page and a Fundraising Page have been set up and a small number of kind folk have pledged monthly sponsorship amounts to help. Much more needs to be raised to keep these dogs safe. Forever homes need to be found for as many as possible to reduce the monthly bills. IF ADEQUATE FUNDS CANNOT BE RAISED. IF HOMES CANNOT BE FOUND. IF OTHER PRIVATE SHELTERS CANNOT TAKE SOME OF THE DOGS. IF NOTHING ELSE CAN BE DONE THE DOGS WILL GO TO THE PUBLIC SHELTER AND SEMPER FIDELIS DOMUS WILL BE CLOSED DOWN FOR EVER. DOGS IN THE PUBLIC SHELTER HAVE FIFTEEN DAYS GRACE BEFORE INHUMANE EUTHANASIA TAKES PLACE. Mrs Bogza is breaking her heart. She has given all her money, all her body and all her soul to these poor dogs - can you really allow them to end up dead? Please have a good look at this website, as well as the Facebook Pages, and do whatever you can to help. Also, please involve everyone you know that might be in a position to adopt, foster, sponsor, donate, spread the word. THANK YOU FOR READING THIS