Women Who Save Stray Dogs

Women Making a Difference to the Lives of Stray Dogs All Over the World.

We thought we would take the opportunity to celebrate all the incredible women that we support and work with. It’s time to shed some light on their hard work, dedication and selflessness. They ensure abandoned, unloved and mistreated dogs get the lives they deserve.

Let us introduce you to our amazing female partners and tell you a bit more about what they do.

Vassilia from Lesvos

Independent rescuer Vassilia Mavraghani runs her shelter, Lesvos X-Strays on the Greek island of Lesvos and has been partnered with us since our inception in 2015. She manages the shelter alone and cares for numerous dogs in both the shelter and her home. She is one of a network of dedicated and like-minded women on the island who work tirelessly to provide for the street dogs of Lesvos.

Alexandra & Oana from Romania

Alexandra and Oana of Sava’s Safe Haven have two huge hearts of gold and dedicate their time to saving the street dogs of Romania. Not only this, but they have also been working extremely hard since the start of the Ukrainian conflict. Since the outbreak of the war, they have provided animal and humanitarian aid as they are close to the Ukraine border. Over their 10-year history, they have helped over 5,000 animals in need. This is an incredible number of animals saved from a life of misery on the streets.

Gillian from Mexico

Formerly USA-based Gillian Wood has an impressive record, with 25 years working within New York shelters to rescue and rehabilitate stray dogs. Nikki found a like-minded individual in Gil while in Puerto Rico, both sharing a mission to reduce the world’s stray dog population with compassion. From this initial meeting, a strong partnership was formed and became the catalyst for our work in Mexico. You can see more about Gil’s work with the Maya Animal Alliance on their brand new Instagram page – @maya_animal_alliance.

Anca from Romania

Anca, our long-standing partner in Romania has been with us since the beginning. She runs a small shelter from her home, where she cares for the neglected and unloved dogs in her area. She is a devoted dog lover, an incredible rescuer, and a vet with a strong desire to provide a haven for stray dogs. Due to her veterinary skills, she is an advocate for sterilisation and provides these services to both owned and street dogs in her community.

Rachael from South Africa

Rachael Sylvester founded Sidewalk Specials, an organization that rescues dogs from euthanasia lists, abusive situations, and township outreach programs. They have no shelter and rely on foster homes to care for the dogs. Sidewalk Specials work extremely hard to provide sterilisations, local community education and general veterinary care. During their most successful sterilisation drive, they treated over 600 animals in just 4 days.

Annie from South Korea

Annie and the WeACT team, an entirely volunteer-based organisation, work extremely hard towards helping the stray dogs of South Korea. They work to close dog meat farms, liberate these helpless dogs and rehabilitate them through foster care and adoptions. They have also built a shelter to help with their efforts which can house 150 dogs. WeACT have saved over 1000 dogs, not only from the dog meat industry but also those found on the street or rescued from horrific situations; they will finally be free of pain, trauma and the risk of re-capture.

These women are dedicated to improving the lives of abandoned dogs. We are grateful to support their vital work. Without these women, countless dogs would continue to live a life of misery on the streets please help us to help them continue this work by donating – head over to our Donation Page for more information.