May 17, 2021 - 21 youths from Croatia, Greece, and Serbia are now in Zadar, Croatia for a week of helping stray dogs. Youth for Stray Dogs is a long-term project aiming to develop a solution for the rampant stray dog problem. Join them at their public event tomorrow, May 18, 2021, at the Zadar Sea Organ from 10:30 am onwards. 

Youth for Stray Dogs on a day of helping Privlaka animal shelter | Photo credit: Udrugra Prizma 

Udruga Prizma from Gračac in line with the Erasmus + program of the European Union gathered 21 youths from three European countries (Croatia, Greece, and Serbia) with the highest numbers of stray dog population to come up with a long-term solution to lessen, if not totally eradicate, the problem. 

The group believes that human behaviour is the most important factor in determining the stray dogs’ population dynamics and that the best and the most effective way to help homeless animals is to raise awareness in the community by educating them on how to be responsible dog owners and to give knowledge and assistance to people who are interested in learning how to become one.

Udruga Prizma said that the main objectives of this project are to promote responsible ownership through the encouragement of communities about greater dog responsibility for future and current owners, to raise awareness for animal rights and adoptions, to increase human’s positive attitude toward all sentient beings and to entice the youth in actively helping the community through practical activities.

To do that, Youth for Stray Dogs will conduct group reflections and discussions about current animal rights, visit dog shelters, conduct an interview with a dog trainer and organise local activities to engage the community in increasing empathy for all animals.

Photo credit: Luana Matošević

Below is the itinerary for Youth for Stray Dogs provided by Luana Matošević, one of the project coordinators:

May 15, 2021 (Saturday) - visit the Sklonište za źivotinje Privlaka (animal shelter) to help and take the dogs out for a walk

May 16, 2021 (Sunday) - atelier workshop to create beds for dogs by reusing abandoned tires they have recently collected from the Musapstan forest

May 17, 2021 (Monday) - a symposium about dog behaviour and animal first-aid to be conducted by a veterinary student from Greece

May 18, 2021 - CULMINATION DAY: Youth for Stray Dogs will hold a public event at Zadar sea organ from 10:30am to promote the project. They will be giving out informative brochures about everything you need to know to lessen the existing stray problem, and raise funds and food to be donated to Privlaka animal shelter.

Photo credit: Luana Matošević

This is the first part of the youth exchange program. The second part of the project will be taking place in Greece, in the city of Lamia, in September this year should the epidemiological situation allow. The first part conducted in Zadar, Croatia focuses on the animals that stay in local shelters; however, in Greece - where there is a much larger population of stray animals - the focus would be to build food and water stations and to settle agreements with the local community to improve the situation.

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October 2, 2020 - Ivana Kramer from Vukovar became Croatia's first animal rights lawyer after graduating from the Faculty Of Law in Osijek

Ivana Kramer from Vukovar has become Croatia's first animal rights lawyer. She did so after graduating from the Faculty Of Law in Osijek, having received her diploma on September 23. The Faculty Of Law in Osijek is the only one in Croatia that has an elective course in animal rights.

In a recent interview with Vecernji List's Suzana Lepan Štefančić, Ivana explained that her desire to become Croatia's first animal rights lawyer stemmed from always having been around animals. “I have three dogs,” she said, in explaining her choice of the elective course in animal rights, “and my mother Željka adopts and helps abandoned animals.”


Some of the animals that Ivana's mum Željka looks after in Vukovar. Photos from the Facebook of Željka Kramer.

Ivana commuted to the Faculty Of Law in Osijek for five years in order to complete the course, choosing to stay living at home in Vukovar rather than move to the Slavonian capital. She says she would ideally like to stay in Vukovar to begin working in this field of law.

Her elective course in animal rights was undertaken in the final year of her studies and was the step that propelled her to the status of Croatia's first animal rights lawyer. During this final year, she researched the Animal Protection Act, which was implemented in 2017, with an emphasis on the situation in the Osijek-Baranja and Vukovar-Srijem counties. Her research included dog shelters in Vukovar and Osijek, where she occasionally volunteers.

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As Morski writes on the 28th of March, 2019, this weekend, the island of Murter will host the first of two sets of field work of Zagreb veterinary students within the "Blue Project - Contribution to the development of the DKU Program at VFZS" project, carried out by the Argonaut association in partnership with the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Zagreb, as well as the Pula Marine Education Centre.

The implementation of the project started back in April 2018, and the purpose of the project is to give the Zagreb veterinary students a chance to engage in socially beneficial marine environment conservation projects. Through the projects within the classes, and in cooperation with various civil society organisations, students will learn to properly identify the needs of the community and through the courses they undertake, develop potential solutions - projects that will see them engaged in the local community, according to a report from SibenikIN.

Within this concrete project, the topics that are likely among the most interesting to the Zagreb veterinary students will be the methods and ways of monitoring populations and providing treatment to the Adriatic's protected marine animals, such as sea turtles and dolphins.

In addition to Murter, students will also visit Pula and the Marine Education Center at the Pula Aquarium in mid-April this year.

Students will develop their projects through selected mentoring programs which include but aren't limited to visiting habitats during the winter months and learning how to properly aid a sea turtle who has become too cold, learning about the friendly behaviour of sea turtles and dolphins, what to do when coming across a sick or injured dolphin or sea turtle, and what the procedure is should a dead dolphin or sea turtle be discovered.

At the workshop in Murter, the thematic workshop will focus on dolphins and students will be educated on the development of monitoring protocols, recording the occurrence of protected marine animals - dates, times, geographical positions, the number of animals, their ages, their conditions and the level of potential human impact (maritime traffic, tourism and fishing), as well as the basics of photographing these types of protected marine species.

The project aimed at the Zagreb veterinary students and their further education will go on for eighteen months, more specifically until October 2019, and is co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF) in the amount of 854,018,21 kuna, with a total value of 1,004,727.31 kuna. The project leader is the Argonaut association from Murter, and the partners of the project are the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Zagreb and the Pula Marine Centre. The project is being implemented in the area of Šibenik-Knin County, Zagrebačka, and Istria County.

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Click here for the original article by SibenikIN

It isn't every day that you end up with a fish as big as this in your net! A look at the moment when fishermen in Savudrija discovered they might have bitten off a bit more than they could chew (or perhaps those were the thoughts of the unfortunate shark). 

As Morski writes on the 3rd of March, 2019, a large seven-metre-long shark unfortunately became entangled in the net of a fisherman from Savudrija, before being successfully cut free, removed from the net, and returned to the sea. The scene was filmed from an onlooker's standpoint and uploaded onto IstraMet's Facebook page.

While some onlookers and viewers of the video were likely intimidated by the size and power of this large shark, the better-informed among them claim that the unlucky shark is merely a harmless type which feeds on plankton and doesn't pose any threat to human life. The commentators writing below the released video greatly appreciated the selfless act of the fisherman from Savudrija who quickly got to work releasing the distressed shark, with the understanding that the nets in which the animal became tangled suffered damage and had to be cut in order to remove the shark.

The author of the footage, which has attracted well over 40,000 views at the time of writing this, wrote that the job of working to release the animal from the nets lasted for more than half an hour.

"It's great that he [the shark] has been returned [to the sea], finally common sense wins in this little country! I just hope that they really got him totally out of the net and released him completely - which is not seen in this too short video - otherwise his "release'' is in vain, plus the animal is still in shock,'' reads one of the video's comments.

However, according to other information from the field, the fishermen from Savudrija did not release the shark out of mercy, but releasing the shark from the surface wasn't possible, and they were unable to find out whether or not the animal was even alive at all at that point. More precise information on what happened and what type of shark is in question will be released upon inspection by a vet.

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The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS) has become well known for its witty Facebook statuses over the past couple of years or so, but not everything can be looked back at with a giggle. An animal in danger is one of them.

From warning tourists and other would-be mountaineers to perhaps refrain from trying to tackle mountains in the summer sunshine with no water and wearing only flip flops, to letting those who fancy themselves as Olympic swimmers that that pretty little island over there is actually a lot further away than it looks from the mainland, the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service, made up of generous volunteers from all types of jobs and walks of life, has been making us laugh in spite of the often ridiculous and downright dangerous scenarios they continually need to rescue people from.

Of course, not all of these stories and scenarios can have a funny spin put on them, and when it comes to abandoned animals suffering and in danger at the hands of careless humans, there can be no jokes. What there can be, however, is a very happy (and lucky) ending.

As Index writes on the 29th of December, 2018, as the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service reported, during the excavation of a cave in the area of Bratiškovci (Šibenik-Knin County), members of SOS HKP "Sveti Mihovil", which included four members of HGSS Šibenik who were the leaders of this expedition, heard the distressed barking and whining of a dog coming from somwhere in the dark and unwelcoming cave.

They immediately embarked on an action to locate and rescue the injured and underweight, clearly mistreated animal. Using specialist speleological techniques, the unlucky, unwell and frightened dog was located and pulled out of the cave to safety. Given the fact that when 112 was called, not one of the competent associations bothered to even respond, the dog was taken to safety and is currently being housed at the "Sea" (More) apothecary.

The members of HGSS Šibenik, as well as members of SOS "Sveti Mihovil", once again demonstrated their bravery, humanity and superior ability and talent to deal with serious situations in potentially dangerous caves.

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Well?

Good news for six sea turtles as they get ready re-begin their lives back in the deep blue of the Adriatic!

The Animal Protection Association has stated that the first two blocks should have been opened in April last year, but everything was just done on a promise.

New, responsible rules for pet owners in Karlovac.

Good news for Žarkovica!