Best Friends writer and international traveler, Ted Brewer, got to know some of the organizations from around the globe that attended this exciting event!
Holland/BosniaStichting Dierenopvang Bosnie (or Animal Help Bosnia)
A Dutch organization, Animal Help Bosnia regularly transports medicine, building materials, and other supplies to one of the few shelters operating in post-war Bosnia, taking along a veterinarian and vet tech whenever it does so. The organization has adopted dozens of dogs in Bosnia and Holland. A great group of people working under extremely adverse condition. For more information,
click here or see the International Friends story on the organization at
http://network.bestfriends.org/international/news/20251.html.
JapanAnimal Refuge Kansai
Perhaps the largest and most effective animal welfare organization in Japan, Animal Refuge Kansai (ARK) has been operating since 1990. Founded by American Elizabeth Oliver, ARK runs the largest shelter in Japan, which is located in Osaka. Since 1991, ARK has adopted 2025 dogs and 721 cats, and in the meantime making great strides in establishing a humane approach to animals in Japan, a country which does very little, if anything, to care for its large homeless animal population. For more information,
click here Heart
Another organization in Japan started by a North American, Heart rescues stray dogs and cats from the streets of Tokushima, provides for their medical care, and adopts them to good homes. Active in humane education, Heart also runs a small shelter for highly at-risk animals. For more information,
click here Japan Cat Network
Run by an intrepid American couple, Japan Cat Network conducts a TNR program in their Japanese community, and teaches people in other parts of the country how to run such a program in their own communities. For more information,
click here RomaniaAnimed Arad
Started by Rodica Pintea and her veterinarian-in-training son Claudiu Iosim, Animed Arad runs a trap/neuter/return program for the feral cats and homeless dogs in the city of Arad. Signing an agreement with a local veterinarian clinic, Animed Arad also provides low-cost medical care for animals with low-income caregivers. Both Rodica and Claudiu have been adamant about going out into world and learning the best techniques and methods for reducing the number of homeless companion animals in their city. For more information
click here The Nature—a Heritage for the Future Association
Founders Roxana Macoviciuc and Carmen Milobendzhi established this organization in 2002, and have since created a no-kill shelter on the outskirts of Bucharest, where some 1000 animals have been vaccinated, spayed/neutered, socialized, and adopted. Humane education is also a priority, and the organization is in the completion stages of building a center for teaching children respect for all life. For more information,
click hereThailandCare for Dogs
The volunteers of Care for Dogs roam Chiang Mai and the city’s environs on a daily basis to feed the hundreds of dogs living on the city’s streets or abandoned at the local temples. They also administer first aid and vaccinations, and have made it their mission to spay all the female dogs in the area. Recently, they’ve begun an adoption campaign, of dogs and cats. For more information,
click here