Almost 1,370 miles away in shelters in Bacau, Romania, dogs and puppies are being rescued everyday from the cruellest of fates.
Some have been abandoned, others taken to kill shelters and many have been left with injuries, some requiring urgent veterinary treatment.
While in Romania rescuers pick up these dogs and take them to a place of sanctuary at rescue shelters across the country, here in Bristol, one woman has made it her mission to save these animals and find them forever homes in the UK.
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Caroline Prater is a full-time carer working 40 hours a week, but her passion for rescuing dogs and cats has kept her extremely busy in her down time. She's been rescuing Romanian street dogs since 2012 through her very own rescue page called 'Caroline's Caring Across the Continent'.
She's rescued animals from all across Romania and she even heads out there around three times a year to help at the 'Ville Shelter', which is ran by Maria Manea who Caroline says "dedicates her life to the dogs" and only works with a small team of two others.
Now Caroline mainly focuses her attention in Bacau where the shelter is based. At the 'Ville Shelter' there are currently around 600 dogs and puppies who have been rescued from either the streets of Romania, or from the dreaded kill shelters.
Caroline said: "These kill shelters are horrendous. So many dogs are starving, dogs will fight until the strongest wins. Dogs will even eat the dead dogs and when the shelters become overrun dogs are poisoned.
"I've known of some being injected with petrol. It's just heartbreaking."
Once rescued by shelters in Romania, Caroline then posts photographs of the dogs and puppies looking for foster or forever homes here in the UK to her Facebook page. Potential adopters can then get in touch either by messaging the page directly or by filling in an adoption form found on Caroline's website.
Before the go ahead is given for prospective adopters to adopt the dog of their choosing, Caroline puts them through their paces to ensure that all of the rescued Romanian pups are going to the right homes and she reiterates just how different - and often difficult - it can be to adopt a rescue 'Rommie' compared to buying a new puppy or adopting from here in the UK.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, while Caroline would usually try to carry out home checks on potential owners, Caroline was doing this virtually in order to check that each and every adopted dog had a secure garden to run around in and a space to feel safe and secure.
As it states on her website, most Romanian dogs have never lived in a home before and will have little training or exposure to human contact. They can be scared and nervous and need a lot of time, patience and love in order to live the happiest and fullest life possible - and Caroline's work, as well as that of people like rescuer and shelter owner Maria, is the start of that process.
Caroline said: "Rescue is my passion. I rescued my first dog Murphy from a kill shelter in Romania and since rescuing him I knew I had to do more to help other dogs from the fate of such cruel deaths, hence why I started up my own rescue page - Caroline's Caring Across the Continent."
Caroline, who is from Cadbury Heath, has rehomed over 1,500 dogs now into the UK - all into loving homes, as well as many cats and says that she has to self fund a lot of the work she does through rescuing as she gets very little time to fundraise due to working full time.
She said: "I have many rescue dogs myself - 18 in total - which include Zoey who has no back legs. She lost them after they were cut off by a train.
"I also have four blind dogs. Faith is one of my girls who was sadly found on the street with her eyes cut out. Yes, it's barbaric to think that a so-called human being did this and, while the government receives money to support the dogs in Romania, it seems that a lot of it isn't going to the dogs, even now.
"I'm hoping I can spread the word more about the horrors that take place in a so-say EU country. It's pure evil what these dear animals endure."
Once a prospective adopter has been given the go-ahead to adopt a Romanian rescue dog from Caroline's Caring Across the Continent, she keeps them informed about their dog's progress, adding them into a Facebook Messenger group with other adopters about a week before the dog is due to travel from Romania to Bristol.
Using a pet transport service called 'CHR Pet Transport', on selected dates (usually around every two weeks) dogs, puppies and sometimes even a cat or two make the gruelling journey from Romania to Bristol by van and Eurotunnel and each pet is delivered to their new home by hand.
New owners even get sent an itinerary outlining what number stop their pet will be and what time they can expect them to be 'delivered'. Caroline is always on-hand to offer advice and a checklist of items new owners will need to have ready for when their new pet arrives.
Pets even come with their own European pet passport, outlining the full list of vaccines and tests they have had before travelling.
What's more, pets will be microchipped and all owners need to do is register the microchip number for their pet online. Caroline then stays in contact with all adopters to keep an eye on their progress once they've received their pets and to offer further advice on training, behaviour, health and more.
If you think that you would give a loving forever home to a Romanian rescue dog, or feel like you wish to help Caroline's cause, you can contact her via her Facebook page here.
Have you rescued or adopted a dog from overseas? We'd love to hear from you. Tell us your story in the comments below.
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