An elderly lady with 162 dogs and cats in her care is truly terrified of spending another winter alone. Gorica Angelkovska, 71, uses every penny of her pension to run an animal shelter in a small village in Serbia. Without her selflessness, the unwanted and abandoned pups would otherwise starve and die on the streets.
After falling on the ice and breaking her leg last year, Gorica is deeply afraid of what this winter will bring. She told the Mirror : "I am alone. It gets hard to walk around the shelter, to clean and feed them. The concrete gets frozen and slippery. I fell many times and fear what will happen to my dogs if I get injured."
In 2016, Gorica returned to her home country of Serbia after living in Australia for 45 years.
She was immediately overwhelmed at the horrific state of the stray dogs, and wanted to do everything she could to help.
"I could no longer enjoy my life knowing that these hopeless animals don't have anyone to care for them. Their looks full of desperation haunted me," Gorica said.
She made the decision to sell everything she owned and buy a piece of land in Drazevac to make a home for them.
In June 2019, she finally opened up a registered animal shelter and welcomed more than one hundred dogs through the gates.
"They are often starved, malnourished and abused. In the winter, they are freezing and shaking from the cold," she said.
"I have seen with my own eyes people who beat them or yell at them to go away. I always get involved, I am never afraid to fight for animals."
Gorica takes in dogs that have been shot or poisoned and tries her hardest to help them, but many don't survive.
"My greatest fear in the winter is not being able to care for them the way they deserve," Gorica said.
"It is already very difficult for me to lift buckets, to carry garbage and anything heavy.
"In the winter it all gets 10 times harder. I desperately need a helping hand.
"Having to spend most of the day with them outside, even some of the nights during the storm (the dogs get anxious and scared and they need me), makes my bones get really cold and I get sick.
"I can't take sick days. I have nobody else to help and just have to keep on. I am getting very old. I am very worried about getting through this winter."
In order to keep Gorica and the animals safe, international animal charity Harmony Fund is seeking monthly supporters to sponsor a full-time worker.
It will cost approximately £850 a month for a member of staff to be at the shelter daily and take over the chores in caring for the 25 cats and 137 dogs.
"I am looking for someone to take over the shelter eventually. I would be happiest knowing the animals would be taken care of when I am no longer here," Gorica said.
"It is hard to find someone with the same motivation and passion for them."
Without stable funds, Gorica cannot predict the next week or month and doesn't know if they'll make it till Christmas.
"Dogs, cats and I, we are surviving. Their love, loyalty and gratitude gives me so much strength to keep on going," she said.
"When I see them get better, when their real characters come to life, it makes all the hardship, misery and sadness go away."
If Gorica is unable to care for the animals, they will all end up on the streets again - and just the thought of it gives her sleepless nights.
"It is my greatest wish to be able to sit with the dogs and cats here and give them the attention and love they need," she added.
"I want people to know that I will do everything in my power, to my last breath, everything I can, to help as many animals as possible."
If you'd like to donate towards Gorica's fundraiser, you can visit Harmony Fund's page.
