Speranta Shelter marks its 30th anniversary in October.
Speranta Shelter: A 30-year Case Study In Tackling Stray Dog Crisis
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As Speranta Shelter prepares to mark 30 years of clinical practice in Bucharest this October, its lead vet is offering UK colleagues an on-the-ground perspective of its pioneering model
Since Florina Tomescu took in 300 dogs from a closing Romanian shelter in 2001, Speranta Shelter has grown from a family-run rescue into one of the country’s largest legally registered dog shelters, with an on-site veterinary hospital, recovery rooms and mobile clinic serving villages across the region.
Thirty years on from that founding moment, Speranta provides permanent care for around 500 dogs and has carried out more than 100,000 sterilisations of stray dogs across Romania.
It’s 30th anniversary, which it celebrates in October, coincides with a significant moment for UK practitioners. Since Defra’s introduction of mandatory Brucella canis testing for every dog entering the UK, vets have increasingly had to manage the clinical and biosecurity implications of an unfamiliar, potentially zoonotic pathogen in imported rescue populations.
Speranta has carried out in-clinic Brucella canis testing in Bucharest for some time and its lead vet, Anca Tomescu, believes there is scope for closer knowledge-sharing between Romanian and UK practice.
She said: “We wholeheartedly welcome the Defra regulations on Brucella canis testing in the UK. It is imperative that when dogs are introduced to a new country, robust health checks are carried out and vets have accurate information about disease prevalence in source populations.
“We test on-site here in Bucharest as standard and we would welcome the chance to share our protocols and case data with UK colleagues managing imported patients.”
Sterilisation remains the clinical backbone of Speranta’s model. Alongside its Bucharest clinic, the shelter runs a mobile veterinary unit that delivers high-volume spay-neuter surgeries in communities where routine veterinary access if limited, targeting the free-roaming population directly, rather than relying on shelter intake alone.
More than 100,000 procedures carried out through this programme have generated a substantial body of field data on the impact of sustained, population-level sterilisation on street dog numbers over time – evidence Anca believes is directly relevant to UK debate on responsible sourcing and welfare standards for imported dogs.
“While UK shelters are full, simply moving dogs from one overburdened system to another isn’t the long-term answer,” said Anca, who has led Speranta since taking over from her mother.
“The systemic, evidence-based solution is addressing population growth at its source, through sterilisation and education. That is a preventative medicine problem as much as a welfare one and it’s an area where I think Romanian and UK vets have a lot to learn from each other.”
Speranta operates a no-euthanasia policy, with its skilled veterinary team providing lifelong clinical care, from complex surgery and diagnostics to physiotherapy and behavioural rehabilitation, for dogs who would otherwise be considered unlikely to be rehomed, including elderly, disabled and severely traumatised animals.
It also runs a dedicated ‘sponsor a dog’ programme, in which supporters sponsor an individual dog, covering its food, veterinary care and enrichment while it remains safe in its familiar sanctuary home in Bucharest.
Anca and her wider team have collectively sterilised more than 100,000 animals across their careers, including outreach veterinary work overseas.
“Many of the dogs who come through our doors have endured significant trauma or are large breeds who thrive best in a secure, clinically managed environment rather than a rehoming pipeline abroad,” added Anca.
“Our focus is on rescue, rehabilitation and, where the welfare case supports it, rehoming within Romania – backed by robust veterinary care at every stage.”
For more information about Speranta Shelter and its clinical programmes, visit www.sperantashelter.org.
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