Martina, Slobodanka, Isidora and Ivana are wonderful people. Because of them, and their tireless efforts over the last several years to build a rescue, myself and many people I know now have furry friends in their homes who are happy, healthy and grateful for a sofa snuggle.

How would a donation you make be spent?

• €1,700 per month, or €425 per week, on food alone

• €50 per dog, minimum, to keep them protected from parasites for the spring and summer months

• Maintenance cost for the fences and pens (around a crew of naughty puppies your structures don't seem to last very long!)

• An unpredictable and never-ending vet bill: The girls will take on anyone, no matter what care they need. Through bladder surgeries, broken legs, parvo... They are there.

I set up this fundraiser to support with ongoing monthly costs the girls are facing (we currently have around a quarter of the regular donations needed to keep going without the constant stress of knowing how you will pay your bills!) - can you spare £5 or £10 per month to keep a dog happy, and not hungry?

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Current project at the shelter...

After a year of battling with mud the girls decided to make some serious long term changes in the shelter and finally protect their dogs from living covered in mud. This will also help them and ease the feeding & cleaning process especially during a bad weather.

The plan is to hit only the critical spots in the shelter which are some enclosures where dogs spend the most of their time. With our help, the girls would pave the floors of some enclosures and that way keep the dogs clean and less wet.

The costs for this venture are:

**Pavel bricks for flooring→5 euros per 1m2, 500e - 100m2

**Sand that goes beneath the bricks → 5 m3 - 70euros

As for the yard, which is still in holes and one part is still pretty much drowning in mud, they’ll need gravel, but this time they were told that if the gravel is compressed with the asphalt/soil compactor machine, it will be able to last longer.

The costs are:

*120 euros-10m3 of gravel

*The compactor machine service - 40euros/h

Since they’ve got only 5 new houses in the whole shelter of 60 dogs, some of the old ones are worn out and won’t be usable during winter. It would be nice if we could gather some funds for at least 10 new houses for the dogs to ensure they’ll be dry and warm throughout the cold/wet weather.

** 1 new house for dogs is 80euros

Straw is very much needed in the winter so a small part of funds will ensure that all the dogs have enough of it during wintertime.

The girls at MISI's currently have around 70 dogs in the shelter, 120+ dogs in their care in total, and 18 enclosures to look after. They were hoping for at least half of the enclosures to be covered with paving bricks and the rest will have wooden floors or gravel inside.

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It's been a journey since I first spoke with the girls at MISI's - and there are now well over 250 dogs off the streets of Eastern Europe, and in loving new homes in many countries across Europe - mainly the UK, Germany, Netherlands. Thinking about the work the ladies do to make this happen makes me pretty emotional. The constant battling with food and veterinary costs, new puppies turning up abandoned outside their homes and workplaces must be so tough - but they still do it with a smile on their faces because every dog means something to them, and is worth saving.

We're so grateful for all of the support we've had to get us to where we are now. Nothing would've been possible without your generous help.