Bucharest stray dogs will slowly move to their own little village called Dogtown. The first 40 stray dogs have already arrived at the shelter at Uzunu, Calugareni, in Giurgiu county, and 60 more will be brought there this week.

Stray dogs will be taken off Bucharest's streets, sent to municipality shelters, where they will be vaccinated and implanted with microchips. Then after a stint in quarantine, they will be sent to Dogtown, from where people can adopt them.

The new center in Uzunu can cater for up to 1,000 dogs, in two halls and in the veterinary hospital that were built on the site of a former chicken farm.

The center is run by the Association Portico, which will provide food and drugs in a first stage, for the first two months. After that, the municipality will see what funding it has for the center. Portico has asked other similar NGOs to join forces so that as many dogs as possible find new homes.

The Dogtown project, on some 3.8 hectares in a first phase, should cater for 2,000 dogs, and 8,000 dogs in a second stage, according to data from Portico.

editor@romania-insider.com