Non public shelter - Armenia
Living a Dog’s Life in Armenia “Save the Dogs” Shelter Run by Samaritan Nune Mehrabyans, Sona Krikorian.
Nune Mehrabyans rushed toward us as we waited for her on the corner of Toumanian & Nalbandian Avenues. She’s a slight woman. On closer inspection one might fear to break her if they embrace her too strongly – but embrace her, you must.
She tries to accomplish the impossible here in Armenia, and does it with a steel resilience that belies her physical appearance: Nune is one of two young women who run the only dog shelter in Armenia.
In Armenia, dog ownership is simply not a part of the normal experience. The discrepancy in income comes into play here: the majority of people cannot afford to buy the dogs they see at Vernisage (an street market) while the top 4% in income in Armenia (usually considered oligarchs) buy their dogs for thousands of dollars, importing them from their countries of origin (Germany, Russia, etc.)
These prize dogs are kept in compounds and used primarily for dog fights, or the entertainment of their owners. Regardless of social standing, the Armenian public has a misconception that dogs inherently carry diseases that can transfer to humans, and are prone to violent attacks against their owners, or any other human.
The idea of keeping a dog inside your house, or as a companion is non-existent, let alone the idea of adopting one from a dog shelter.
My personal interaction with Nune went back only to the middle of this past summer, when I encountered inhumane treatment and irresponsible breeding of dogs in my neighborhood. My colleague, Vika, called her, exclaiming “if anyone can help you, it’s she.”
Within a few hours, Nune was at my house, and after I recounted the situation of the dogs in my neighborhood, this fragile women, who I feared would break from her visceral reaction to my stories, summoned up some sort of courage and marched down to my neighbor, pamphlet in hand, demanded to see the premises and…the rest is history.
$166 a day to feed 220 dogs
Armed with a photographer and videographer, we met Nune on the street as she went to meet a taxi. We all piled into the car and started on our path. First we stopped at a street lined with outdoor meat markets.
Here we discovered one of the biggest costs of the dog shelter. In order to feed the 220 dogs at Save the Dogs shelter, she has to buy over 70 kilograms of meat every day, at 800AMD/kilogram ($2USD) of meat.
She also has to buy around 5,000AMD ($14USD) of rice and 2,000AMD ($5USD) of parsley for the dogs: it helps with the dogs’ digestion, and she says with a faint smile “it takes the smell of meat away from their food; they enjoy it.”
One more stop at the pharmacy where she goes in to buy pro-biotics for the dogs that need it, another 1,000AMD ($2.5USD), and we’re on our way. Total cost to feed the dogs for the day: close to 60,000 drams ($166USD).
Our taxi carries us out of the city and into an area that once housed factories. We pull up to a closed gate and are greeted by a stray dog sitting outside the compound. Nune points out that she simply doesn’t have a place to keep this one dog, so he just hangs around outside and she feeds him and takes care of him as much as she can.
He’s a sweet dog and greets us fearfully. We pet him, and it seems he’s not sure what to do with the attention. We move past him and are greeted by a group of the sweetest, friendliest dogs who have, unfortunately. been badly treated at some point before they were saved by Save the Animals.
Despite being scrawny and having had some sad, cruel moments in their lives, these dogs have moved on from their past and are just happy to see Nune, and are curious about these newcomers.
Dog shelter housed in former factory
The location of the dog shelter is a former sewing factory. A kind-hearted local, disturbed by the plight of animals in Armenia, donated it to Save the Animals.
It is currently home to 220 dogs, and is run by a staff of six: two people to feed and run the dogs, (they are fed and exercised in shifts in order to avoid chaos); two people to clean up after the dogs; a guard (which has been needed) and a manager.
The raw meat, rice and parsley are brought in and taken into the factory, while we hang around outside with Nune, one of her feeders, and the dogs.
Outside, in the hot summer of Armenia, among dogs in their runs, dogs outside, dogs sitting around us, nudging our hands to pet their faces and watching us fearfully from afar, Nune tells us the story of the plight of dogs in Armenia.
There are many programs, international and local in Armenia that attempt to help the dog situation in Armenia, she states, as she picks fleas off of one of her dogs. We find out that the Armenian government budgets 80 million AMD ($222,000) on animal sterilization programs; but instead of spaying and neutering, they simply find stray dogs on the street and shoot them. In addition to being inhumane, this doesn’t help the increasing problem in Armenia of stay dogs multiplying.
There have been efforts by international organizations to help promote the idea of proactively approaching the problem of over-population of animals instead of reacting to it with killings.
The 1st Conference on Stray Animals in the Caucasus’ was held in Yerevan this past July (2009). The conference was organized as collaboration between the Pro Paws Charity, the Acopian Center for the Environment (ACE), the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in partnership with WSPA, Dogs Trust, WVC, etc.
A regional representative of Yerevan’s Municipal Council was available, and only commented “The issue of dog welfare does not have a precedent in Armenia, and will take a long time to be created in terms of policy.”
Armenia lacks cohesive policy on strays
The biggest issue for stray dogs in Armenia right now is the fact that there isn’t a cohesive policy. Actually, there is no real policy.
Anyone can call and file a complaint against a neighborhood dog, sometimes out of fear – “what if the dog bites us?”, or out of annoyance – “the dog barks too much.” The common response is for the police to shoot the dogs on sight.
However, if the common practice, and policy, of catching these dogs, spaying/neutering, and then re-releasing these dogs was followed, not only would the problem of stray dogs be drastically reduced, the issue of territorial dominance by the stray dogs would be addressed.
After the advent of veterinarians working in private practice (in the past two years) the practice of spaying and neutering dogs has been drastically impacted: the market value of a spay/neuter surgery in Yerevan is 20,000AMD ($55) (for the dog shelter, not for private owners). For a country that is barely clawing its way into the world of developed nations, it makes sense that the cost of such a project would seem overwhelming, except in the face of an already present federal budget which is supposedly geared toward addressing this precise issue.
In between petting the dogs that come to her, Nune explains to us the logic of the spay/neuter campaign in Armenia. “If they had simply followed thru with the course of action, we wouldn’t be in this mess. Two dogs give birth to at least 5 new puppies those puppies grow up and give birth to their own litters…the population expands exponentially.”
Later in our conversation, we asked Nune “what do you really need, outside of financial support?”
Her answers were humbling – surgical thread, for when she has to treat the dogs she saves and can’t afford to take to the veterinarian; dog food, as the cost of 25,000AMD ($69USD) is quickly becoming impossible to meet; grass for the play area her dogs use during their daily scheduled exercise; and concrete for building more kennels for the increasing amount of dogs she saves.
With no change in the federal policies of Armenia, and the perception of Armenians toward shelter dogs, it is safe to assume the need will not be met by the supply she has now.
As we left, the enormity of her efforts struck us as the dog that had met us at the gate had been joined by yet another dog who somehow felt safer in front of these gates, in the hot Yerevan sun, than anywhere else.
These dogs, in America or Europe, would be cherished members of families: fed, bathed and properly treated. Instead, in Armenia, they just search for a safe place to rest their weary head. It costs Save the Animals roughly $10USD to feed one dog for a month. The Animal Sterilization budget for Armenia amounts to feeding 1,850 dogs per month, or 370 sterilizations a month. Save The Animals shelter has roughly 280 dogs now. The lack of logic, to me, is astounding.
Gandhi once commented, “A nation can be judged by how it treats its animals.”
If this is the case, the dignity of Armenia is solely being saved by people like Nune. Perhaps the government of Armenia would benefit from a lesson in humanity.
While people like Kotayk’s Gago Tsarukyan chortle as he throws a live donkey to his lions for entertainment, the rest of the world watches Armenia and wonders when it will join the ranks of civilized nations. Source and more info
Nune Mehrabyans rushed toward us as we waited for her on the corner of Toumanian & Nalbandian Avenues. She’s a slight woman. On closer inspection one might fear to break her if they embrace her too strongly – but embrace her, you must.
She tries to accomplish the impossible here in Armenia, and does it with a steel resilience that belies her physical appearance: Nune is one of two young women who run the only dog shelter in Armenia.
In Armenia, dog ownership is simply not a part of the normal experience. The discrepancy in income comes into play here: the majority of people cannot afford to buy the dogs they see at Vernisage (an street market) while the top 4% in income in Armenia (usually considered oligarchs) buy their dogs for thousands of dollars, importing them from their countries of origin (Germany, Russia, etc.)
These prize dogs are kept in compounds and used primarily for dog fights, or the entertainment of their owners. Regardless of social standing, the Armenian public has a misconception that dogs inherently carry diseases that can transfer to humans, and are prone to violent attacks against their owners, or any other human.
The idea of keeping a dog inside your house, or as a companion is non-existent, let alone the idea of adopting one from a dog shelter.
My personal interaction with Nune went back only to the middle of this past summer, when I encountered inhumane treatment and irresponsible breeding of dogs in my neighborhood. My colleague, Vika, called her, exclaiming “if anyone can help you, it’s she.”
Within a few hours, Nune was at my house, and after I recounted the situation of the dogs in my neighborhood, this fragile women, who I feared would break from her visceral reaction to my stories, summoned up some sort of courage and marched down to my neighbor, pamphlet in hand, demanded to see the premises and…the rest is history.
$166 a day to feed 220 dogs
Armed with a photographer and videographer, we met Nune on the street as she went to meet a taxi. We all piled into the car and started on our path. First we stopped at a street lined with outdoor meat markets.
Here we discovered one of the biggest costs of the dog shelter. In order to feed the 220 dogs at Save the Dogs shelter, she has to buy over 70 kilograms of meat every day, at 800AMD/kilogram ($2USD) of meat.
She also has to buy around 5,000AMD ($14USD) of rice and 2,000AMD ($5USD) of parsley for the dogs: it helps with the dogs’ digestion, and she says with a faint smile “it takes the smell of meat away from their food; they enjoy it.”
One more stop at the pharmacy where she goes in to buy pro-biotics for the dogs that need it, another 1,000AMD ($2.5USD), and we’re on our way. Total cost to feed the dogs for the day: close to 60,000 drams ($166USD).
Our taxi carries us out of the city and into an area that once housed factories. We pull up to a closed gate and are greeted by a stray dog sitting outside the compound. Nune points out that she simply doesn’t have a place to keep this one dog, so he just hangs around outside and she feeds him and takes care of him as much as she can.
He’s a sweet dog and greets us fearfully. We pet him, and it seems he’s not sure what to do with the attention. We move past him and are greeted by a group of the sweetest, friendliest dogs who have, unfortunately. been badly treated at some point before they were saved by Save the Animals.
Despite being scrawny and having had some sad, cruel moments in their lives, these dogs have moved on from their past and are just happy to see Nune, and are curious about these newcomers.
Dog shelter housed in former factory
The location of the dog shelter is a former sewing factory. A kind-hearted local, disturbed by the plight of animals in Armenia, donated it to Save the Animals.
It is currently home to 220 dogs, and is run by a staff of six: two people to feed and run the dogs, (they are fed and exercised in shifts in order to avoid chaos); two people to clean up after the dogs; a guard (which has been needed) and a manager.
The raw meat, rice and parsley are brought in and taken into the factory, while we hang around outside with Nune, one of her feeders, and the dogs.
Outside, in the hot summer of Armenia, among dogs in their runs, dogs outside, dogs sitting around us, nudging our hands to pet their faces and watching us fearfully from afar, Nune tells us the story of the plight of dogs in Armenia.
There are many programs, international and local in Armenia that attempt to help the dog situation in Armenia, she states, as she picks fleas off of one of her dogs. We find out that the Armenian government budgets 80 million AMD ($222,000) on animal sterilization programs; but instead of spaying and neutering, they simply find stray dogs on the street and shoot them. In addition to being inhumane, this doesn’t help the increasing problem in Armenia of stay dogs multiplying.
There have been efforts by international organizations to help promote the idea of proactively approaching the problem of over-population of animals instead of reacting to it with killings.
The 1st Conference on Stray Animals in the Caucasus’ was held in Yerevan this past July (2009). The conference was organized as collaboration between the Pro Paws Charity, the Acopian Center for the Environment (ACE), the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in partnership with WSPA, Dogs Trust, WVC, etc.
A regional representative of Yerevan’s Municipal Council was available, and only commented “The issue of dog welfare does not have a precedent in Armenia, and will take a long time to be created in terms of policy.”
Armenia lacks cohesive policy on strays
The biggest issue for stray dogs in Armenia right now is the fact that there isn’t a cohesive policy. Actually, there is no real policy.
Anyone can call and file a complaint against a neighborhood dog, sometimes out of fear – “what if the dog bites us?”, or out of annoyance – “the dog barks too much.” The common response is for the police to shoot the dogs on sight.
However, if the common practice, and policy, of catching these dogs, spaying/neutering, and then re-releasing these dogs was followed, not only would the problem of stray dogs be drastically reduced, the issue of territorial dominance by the stray dogs would be addressed.
After the advent of veterinarians working in private practice (in the past two years) the practice of spaying and neutering dogs has been drastically impacted: the market value of a spay/neuter surgery in Yerevan is 20,000AMD ($55) (for the dog shelter, not for private owners). For a country that is barely clawing its way into the world of developed nations, it makes sense that the cost of such a project would seem overwhelming, except in the face of an already present federal budget which is supposedly geared toward addressing this precise issue.
In between petting the dogs that come to her, Nune explains to us the logic of the spay/neuter campaign in Armenia. “If they had simply followed thru with the course of action, we wouldn’t be in this mess. Two dogs give birth to at least 5 new puppies those puppies grow up and give birth to their own litters…the population expands exponentially.”
Later in our conversation, we asked Nune “what do you really need, outside of financial support?”
Her answers were humbling – surgical thread, for when she has to treat the dogs she saves and can’t afford to take to the veterinarian; dog food, as the cost of 25,000AMD ($69USD) is quickly becoming impossible to meet; grass for the play area her dogs use during their daily scheduled exercise; and concrete for building more kennels for the increasing amount of dogs she saves.
With no change in the federal policies of Armenia, and the perception of Armenians toward shelter dogs, it is safe to assume the need will not be met by the supply she has now.
As we left, the enormity of her efforts struck us as the dog that had met us at the gate had been joined by yet another dog who somehow felt safer in front of these gates, in the hot Yerevan sun, than anywhere else.
These dogs, in America or Europe, would be cherished members of families: fed, bathed and properly treated. Instead, in Armenia, they just search for a safe place to rest their weary head. It costs Save the Animals roughly $10USD to feed one dog for a month. The Animal Sterilization budget for Armenia amounts to feeding 1,850 dogs per month, or 370 sterilizations a month. Save The Animals shelter has roughly 280 dogs now. The lack of logic, to me, is astounding.
Gandhi once commented, “A nation can be judged by how it treats its animals.”
If this is the case, the dignity of Armenia is solely being saved by people like Nune. Perhaps the government of Armenia would benefit from a lesson in humanity.
While people like Kotayk’s Gago Tsarukyan chortle as he throws a live donkey to his lions for entertainment, the rest of the world watches Armenia and wonders when it will join the ranks of civilized nations. Source and more info