My experience of the IVHQ Animal Care project in Romania

My trip to Romania was a very last minute one having only applied 2 weeks before my placement at the animal shelter was due to start. The reason for my late application was that i had been deliberating over whether to apply or not due to a mix of nervousness and not knowing what the experience would entail. Inspite of this, i decided to go ahead and apply to the animal shelter project in Romania with IVHQ in partnership with care2travel and having just finished my time there, my only regret would be not spending longer at this incredible place and program.

With regard to the support surrounding the placement, i was picked up from the airport as soon as i arrived by one of the care2travel staff named Orsi who was incredibly welcoming and made me feel at ease straight away. Then, having arrived at the accommodation, which was situated in the centre of Miercurea Ciuc. I was impressed by a large courtyard surrounded by rustic buildings with generously sized rooms. In terms of my expenses, there were very little as not only was i able to request groceries for the house which was included in the program fee for breakfast and dinner, but lunch was also provided at a local restaurant. The restaurant offered a large variety of food for all different requirements including a range of local delicacies. As a result the only expenses that you will experience will be either for drinks at one of the local bars or cafés such as grund which was my personal favourite, or if you decide to do one of many afternoon experiences such as horse riding, adventure activities, cookery along with a host of other options which care2travel offer in partnership with locals in order to facilitate their ideals of sustainable tourism.

In terms of my time at the Pro Animalia animal shelter, i could not do the experience justice. Prior to applying, one of my main concerns was, being a huge dog person, whether i would be able to cope with the experience emotionally. As i thought i would, i became very close with several of the dogs, particularly one of the puppies named jeremiah. However, i quicky realised during my placement that they were receiving a very high standard of care which indeed is made possible with the help of volunteers such as yourselves. Therefore i understood that the best way to further help the dogs is to give them lots of affection and to encourage others who are on the fence about joining to further help the dogs at the shelter.

One of the things that i most enjoyed about the experience was that the staff were very flexible in terms of how i helped at the shelter. For instance i have a passion for photography and the staff encouraged me to use this skill set to take photos of the dogs for their website. My main role however was to socialise the puppies and young dogs. Although the majority of the puppies were very playful, there were several more timid dogs which can limit the likelihood of their adoption thus socialising these dogs early on their development is key. The importance of early socialisation is furthered by the fact that once a dog has found a new home, not only is it amazing for the dog but it also opens up space for the shelter to help other dogs who are in difficult situations. I am pleased to say that by the end of my week, i noticed several of the more timid dogs feeling more comfortable to interact with myself and the other volunteers. Better still i’ve heard from the volunteers who have stayed on that the dogs are making even more progress.

Overall, i had an incredible experience throughout my time in Romania both in terms of my experience at the shelter itself as well as meeting so many amazing volunteers from across the world. Therefore i would highly recommend this IVHQ program to anybody as not only will you he helping a very worthy project but i’m sure that you will also have an amazing personal experience in Romania.