About DNV
giving bosnias street animals a happy ever after
Who are DNV?
The DNV shelter is a Dog and cat rescue based in the town of Brcko, north eastern Bosnia.
In this region the welfare of dogs in particular is very poor. Many are left to roam the streets, scavenging for food, with uncontrolled breeding.
There is no national animal welfare support comparable to organisations in the UK such as the RSPCA, Dogs Trust, Cats Protection.
We work with other animal rescue organisations including Blind Dog Rescue, and UK Care Dog Rescue to rehome dogs that we have rescued.
Our History
2015
Vera Andric-Osmic and her daughters discovered an injured dog lying in the road. They brought him home and nursed him back to health. The DNV ‘shelter’ began in their backyard (DNV stands for Vera and her two daughters Diana and Nela). There were hundreds of dogs on the streets, the family began to take in as many of the injured ones and young pups as they could. Following this, improved accommodation for the animals was built on land rented from a neighbour. Both the first and second shelters were built by entirely by Vera and her husband Mirsad.
2016
It became clear that a further expansion of kennel accommodation was required to meet the increasing number of animals in danger and distress.
2017
A piece of land on the outskirts of Brcko was purchased funded by donations from UK and US supporters totalling 2700 euros. A new DNV shelter was built, again by Vera and Mirsad.
2018
DNV began spaying and neutering street dogs in the Brcko locality whenever funds allowed.
2019 - Present
Since then DNV has slowly expanded and continued working with the local community. Hundreds of dogs have been rescued and rehomed in the UK, Europe and even in the USA. The shelter has several buildings which house the dogs and cats, and allow for flexible use, depending on the ages, size and sexes of the animals. A quarantine area exists to allow newcomers to the shelter to be assessed and to ensure the safety of all in the shelter from any illnesses or virus’
Vera and family still go out on a daily basis to feed street dogs. Some are rehomed, some are neutered and all are fed. With this effort the number of street dogs has been reduced from approx. 200 to less than 50 over a 5-year period
We have approx 50 dogs and 10 cats rescued from the streets. Our daily work includes feeding cleaning and caring for them, vet visits, fundraising , responding to enquiries and general outreach. We have built a pool house to allow for swimming therapy for sick animals. We still go out on a daily basis to check on and feed the street dogs.
We still need your help, to pay for all this and to enable us to find good adoptive homes for these animals. Can you help us?
Interested in Adopting?
The first step in the process is completing our adoption enquiry form - complete yours today to get the ball rolling!