Shelter History

Building of the shelter began in September 2003 funded solely by Albanian Kosovars Florim Ferati and Nexhmedin Kabashi.

The first dogs arrived in May 2004 from UN compounds, KFOR military bases and American Office within Prishtina and by April 2005  the shelter was home to 56 dogs and 17 cats.  At this time it consisted of a main building with attached indoor kennels and separate outdoor fenced gravel runs.

The UK based New Zealand veterinarians first visited the shelter in April 2005 and  independently established a veterinary surgery on site with donated drugs and equipment.  In addition to sterilising all the cats and dogs at the shelter, the vets initiated quarantine, worming and vaccination protocols to improve the health of the residents and minimise disease outbreaks.

The shelter has been continually improving and expanding its facilities and is presently home to approximately one hundred dogs and six cats.  The previous uncovered gravel outdoor runs now have roofs, are concreted and wind-proofed.  A separate nine unit brick quarantine building has recently been added and an outdoor exercise and education area is planned for the future.

Although not ideal, in an effort to make the shelter more self-sustainable, it also offers boarding facilities for both dogs and cats.

A registered NGO, the shelter receives no formal funding and relies upon the wages of Florim and Nexhi as well as donations to pay for the day to day running of the shelter and continual upgrading of the facilities.