Diane Rowles is much like any other wife and mother. She makes sure the boys put on their coats before heading outside, that her husband eats his greens and that the dishes are washed before bedtime. But in addition to that classic role, Diane is also an extreme animal rescuer who has lifted thousands of starving dogs and cats out of the below-zero winter landscape. Yet one day soon, Diane may also become the newest inmate in Bulgarian prison. Her crime is simply being 'too poor' to rescue animals.
As incredulous as it sounds, following the European Union accession in 2007, new rules here created a bottomless divide between the culture of animal suffering that had settled in during communist times and the animal welfare doctrine brought in by the UK. Though there's no law enforcement against those who abandon or abuse their animals, there are very high standards for those who wish to rescue them.
When Diane Rowles and her husband Tony moved to Bulgaria from England with their four children a few years ago, they were shocked and heartbroken at what they saw. Dogs here are used as "doorbells", chained up outside with the sole purpose of alerting their owners of visitors. They survive on short chains eating moldy bread tossed at them every few days. Other animals simply roam the streets, and when pups are born, they are dumped in the forest. At first, the dogs pictured here had nowhere to go. Diane would visit large packs of dogs living in the forest, and bring them food. She set up simple wooden frames covered in plastic to try to keep them dry. But after mounting a campaign with friends and clearing much of their life savings, Diane and Tony were able to purchase a very old building and land for a modest animal shelter to bring animals in from the below-zero winter cold.
Every week, people take their unwanted dogs and cats and tie them up in sacks or cardboard boxes and hurl them at the shelter gate. All Diane can do is to open each box tenderly and try to calm the quivering animals inside. More than 150 cats and dogs here receive food on any given day. They have a roof over their heads, vaccines and spay/neuter. Once they have been rehabilitated, the animals are adopted to homes in England, Germany and Switzerland. The cost of caring for these recovering animals is extortionate, especially to pay for surgery on those who are badly injured, yet Diane is now threatened with jail for not doing enough.
Three weeks ago the municipality told Diane that if she doesn't comply with European Union's "professional" standards of animal sheltering, she'll be imprisoned. This means new floors, new windows, plumbing, insulation, and isolation ward. No one in Bulgaria will help. Is this justice? Do we jail the one woman who heals the dogs and cats simply because she can't match the well funded institutions elsewhere in wealthier countries?
The Harmony Fund international rescue charity, based in the USA, is stepping forward to help raise funds to renovate the shelter here. We aim to keep Diane where she belongs, at home with her family and functioning as nothing less than a super nanny to hundreds of homeless animals who need her each year.
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Wed Mar 13, 2013 9:35 am
at least she has the heart to try! xx
