Whilst dogs are one of the most popular domestic pets across Europe, there are a number of countries across the continent that have significant numbers of stray dogs. One such country is Bosnia, where it is estimated there are more than 12,000 street dogs in the city of Sarajevo alone. One lady’s mission has seen her rescue thousands of these dogs over recent years, and rehome them here in the UK. Svetlana Scredic is the founder of Ceca’s Rescued Paws and one of her biggest UK supporters, Victoria, got in touch to tell us all about her remarkable work and why she feels so strongly about the charity.
Tell us all about Ceca’s Rescued Paws
Svetlana runs CECA’s Rescued Paws single handedly, while I am responsible for fundraising for her mission here in the UK. I first met Svetlana when I adopted my dog Beni (Shown above in his bow tie!), one of her rescues – he is my absolute pride and joy and brings so much happiness to my life. I do all I can to give him the best life possible now but he was previously a stray in Prejedor, Bosnia, trying to survive each day in awful conditions and with a lack of food and water. CECA’s is life saving for dogs like my Beni. An organisation dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating, and rehoming dogs who deserve a second chance at life in a country where stray dogs are a huge problem.
Why is funding needed?
As explained, Bosnia is a country where stray dogs are a real issue. While there are big animal welfare charities that try and support this in some of the bigger towns such as Sarajevo, in smaller areas like Prejedor CECA’s is working hard to meet the demand of rescuing the unfortunate dogs. Funding is needed to cover medical treatment, food, resources and cover the admin costs of rehoming the dogs.
Why did you register CECA’s with easyfundraising?
I chose to set us up on easyfundraising because it provides a great way for a number of people to get behind our mission without it costing them an extra penny. All the biggest retailers are on there which proves just how credible and trustworthy a platform it is and causes like ours have the potential to raise so much so easily.
What has the money raised to date made possible?
We have raised just under £200 so far and this has been used to fund flea treatment and food for the dogs.
Is there something in particular you are fundraising towards at the moment?
The most frequent bill for the charity is food provision. So we are constantly fundraising towards this.
How do you encourage supporters to get behind you?
The subject of our charity is hugely emotive, so many beautiful dogs who are being given a second chance. The most important way of promoting our work is social media and promoting easyfundraising fits easily with this. We regularly post updates on our latest rescues, lots of photos and accompany that with links to our easyfundraising page. We regularly update with information on how much has been raised, what it will go towards and of course thank yous! All our wonderful families and individuals in the UK who adopt one of our dogs are told all about easyfundraising too.
How you can support CECA’s Rescued Paws
Svetlana is a remarkable woman and it’s fantastic that Victoria is working so hard to help fundraise for the charity here in the UK. If you would like to support CECA’s every time you shop, you can sign up to support them here.
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