Dog News

Truck driver drives 2,000 miles to help animals in Romania

by Katherine

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Homeless dogs and cats in Romania suffer extreme animal cruelty and neglect, but among all that suffering there are good Samaritans willing to do whatever they can to help innocent pets. That is the case of Tamara Raab and Harmony Fund.

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Campulung Shelter in Romania
Photo Credit: Harmony Fund

Raab is a woman truck driver from Germany who makes 2,000 miles round-trips to Romania. On her truck, Raab brings supplies such as dog and cat food, veterinary supplies, and beds to local shelters in needs.

Harmony Fund learn about Raab and decided they wanted to help fuel her truck. Her next drop off is this July. However, Harmony Fund had no way of reaching Raab.

Laura Simpson, Founder of Harmony Fund & The Great Animal Rescue, had been looking for Raab for a few weeks to no avail. She was close to giving up on her search when she received news of Raab.

“I did research and sent several emails but no one seemed to know who she was or how to find her,” said Simpson. “I simply gave up one morning. That same day I received an email from one of our supporters in England saying, ‘I’d like to introduce you to someone. Her name is Tamara Raab.'”

Both Raab and Simpson couldn’t contain their excitement when they finally connected, and Raab had no idea to what extend Harmony Fund was going to help her.

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Truck driver Tamara Raab
Photo Credit: Harmony Fund

“Tamara broke down in tears when I told her we would pay for the fuel to drive her big rig back to Romania,” said Simpson.

The cost of fueling Raab’s truck is 3,500 Euros. Volunteers will meet on the shelter in Campulung where more than 1,000 dogs take refuge in a series of dilapidated buildings.

During this sponsored trip, Harmony Fund wants to concentrate on doing some transformations to the shelter, this, in order to prepare them for the winter. Right now, many of the facilities where the animals reside are in terrible conditions. There are open holes in the roofs that need to be repaired and other small buildings in Campulung must be torn down and reconstructed.

Simpson says the buildings that need to be torn down flood during the winter. The water level gets so high “the dogs can’t lay their heads down to sleep without risk of drowning.”

Other good Samaritans from the area are Dodi Carmen and Antoaneta Ionescu. Carmen tries to keep the dogs warm at her small home-based shelter, and Ionescu looks after the dogs in the Campulung shelter. At night, Ionescu cares for sick animals in her own home.

If you would like to help Harmony Fund’s PROJECT ROMANIA you can make a tax deductible donation at http://animalrescuechase.com/donation/project-romania.html. You can also learn more about this project by visiting Harmony Fund’s Facebook page.