We are already familiar with street animals, it’s nothing new. But it seems that there is still a big problem in some places around the world. Coming into a country with a lot of street animals is a bit shocking to me, but it also inspired me to write this article and to face this problem and – maybe – to contribute to a change. There are so many street animals in Macedonia that they lost count, so the exact number of street animals is not clear. But I did find the numbers in the following countries with the most street animals. These are the numbers in each country:
US = 1,300,000 dogs / 41,000,000 cats
India = 62,000,000 dogs / 9,100,00 cats
Germany = <1,000 dogs / 2,000,000 cats
Greece = 693,000 dogs / 2,000,000 cats
China = 20,000,000 dogs / 52,000,000 cats
Mexico = 4,600,00 dogs / 1,400,000 cats
UK = 67,000 dogs / 970,400 cats
South Africa = 1,700,000 dogs / 650,000 cats
Keep in mind that there are still other countries that have this problem, and it is not only the street animals but also shelter animals. So I did research after some dog shelters in Skopje. I came across a dog shelter named “Vardariste”. I found a lot of negative reviews about the shelter. But in today’s society, you should be careful with the information you find on the internet, so I went to the shelter to check by myself. My first impression was that it didn’t look as bad as they portrayed on the internet – one of the workers there even gave me a tour around the shelter and was open to answer my questions.
To me, the dogs looked very healthy and cared for. The worker told me that they get a rabies shot and get spayed when they enter the shelter, and this will prevent them from reproducing more, which means fewer street dogs. After that, they will get an earring that has a unique number on it, so if you see a street dog with an earring it means they have been neutered in a shelter.
But even after all this information I was still confused and unsure when I left the shelter, because why would people say all these negative things about a shelter that seems to be okay? So I texted them on their Facebook account for more answers to my questions and I’m happy I did because I found out that the site with the negative reviews was from the shelter named “Lajka”. Lajka managed to take over the shelter Vardariste by starting a petition some years ago! The location is still the same, that’s why there is a lot of confusion on if the shelter is good or bad. I was really happy and relieved when I heard that they took over Vardariste because this was a happy ending to a story I thought would take years to be over.
Before I end this article I would like to send a message to the world. We humans need to see animals more as living souls with feelings and emotions too. Just because we can’t understand their language doesn’t mean that we should treat them poorly. I once read a sentence that said: “God created animals to show us people that actions speak louder than words”.
Animals have so much love to give us so let’s give them some love back. If you live in a country with a lot of street animals, try to start by giving them some food and water. You don’t have to spend all your money on it but start with a small gesture. Ask your neighbors if they want to help, and who knows how many lives you all can save?
There is a Macedonian man named Viktor Maznev, who, being only 14 years old, started bringing street animals home with his parents. People thought he was wasting his time helping those animals but now he has his own shelter with not only dogs but also cats, goats, and even horses. We humans have so much power and ways to help others, so use them to make this world a better place. Try to put yourself in others’ shoes more often, others that suffer, and imagine how you would feel standing in that person’s/animal’s place.
“The more love you give into this world the more love you will receive back. Start to spread it more if you aren’t doing it yet, but be patient because good things often take more time to swing back than bad things. So don’t give up too quickly if you don’t see the results you were hoping for, at a certain time yet. Be prepared to get blessed, because of all the positivity and love you give into this world. There is still hope!”.
Eniola Aertgeerts
Sources:
VOICES 
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