71-year-old Gorica Angelkovska cares for 162 dogs and cats at the animal shelter she runs in a small Serbian village with her pension.
However, she fell on the ice and broke her leg last year, and has concerns about the upcoming winter too. “I am alone,” she told The Mirror. “It gets hard to walk around the shelter, to clean and feed them … I fell many times and fear what will happen to my dogs if I get injured.”
Caring for Local Animals Since 2016
After living in Australia for over four decades, Macedonian Angelkovska came to Serbia in 2016. Affected by the plight of the stray dogs and cats around her, she decided to begin caring for them. In 2019, she opened a registered animal shelter in the village of Draževac, about 24 miles away from the Serbian capital Belgrade.
“[The dogs] are often starved, malnourished, and abused,” she explained. “In the winter, they are freezing and shaking from the cold.
“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.”
She then described not being able to care for the animals as being her “greatest fear”, as things become more difficult in the winter.
“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,” she said.
Raising Funds for Help
To help her (and the animals) out, Harmony Fund is looking for monthly supporters to sponsor a full-time worker. It’ll cost just over $1000 a month to provide a member of staff to help lighten Angelkovska’s daily workload.
“I am looking for someone to take over the shelter eventually,” said Angelovska. She explained that it’s difficult to find someone with “the same motivation and passion” for the animals.
You can donate to Harmony Fund’s fundraiser here.
