BREAK THE CHAINS Give Life And Love To Abused Dogs

New fundraiser - https://www.gofundme.com/f/break-the-chains-give-life-love-to-abused-dogs-2


I am Leesa Jones, I am an expat & I am rescuing dogs in Bulgaria.

I am putting out an appeal for anyone who can help me to raise funds for an animal shelter.

My gofundme campaign will RESCUE, REHABILITATE and RE-HOME.

If, like me, you abhor man's cruelty to animals, please read on.

Before I outline my reasons for joining this site, allow me to give you some pertinent background.

My family consists of just four! Me, my sister, dad and mum. My father was brought up in a children’s home. My mother is an only child due to her mum dying in childbirth. There are no grandparents, aunties, cousins etc... 

Often an extended family can help with finances but in my case this is not an available option. What about mum and dad you may wonder? 
In a nut shell they were among the hundreds of thousands of folk in England who 'lost' everything during the early nineties. That one sentence does not portray the trauma and devastation of them loosing their home after 25 years of hard work. As they also ran their own business, they literally had to start from scratch.

I decided to get a house back in the family. I did not know how I would achieve that goal but I was determined to do so. While my parents rebuilt their lives, I worked hard in my vintage clothing store whilst studying for my English degree as a mature student. I acquired during that period a house for renovation with a mortgage and whilst this did not bring in an income it was an investment. My reasonably successful store was inside an emporium which sadly after time, had a compulsory purchase order on it. I moved to another building but began to loose money through lack of custom. When I had a burglary it became impossible for me to carry on and a year later my business folded. During this difficult time I unavoidably went into debt. In order to keep my head above water I sold the house and got a small profit which enabled me to help my parents. 

I could not afford to do this in England but we now have a family home in a Bulgarian village. 

My OAP parents bravely ventured forth! I visit as often as I am able to help them in their old age.

That’s the background for how I came to this point in my life.




Work in Bulgaria is limited and my skills cannot be utilized here. Therefore I need to take another direction in my life. I found out recently that I will require cranial surgery to remove a brain tumour which will be life changing. Without the surgery it is life threatening. 

Animal welfare is paramount in this country, in particular dogs need a great deal of help. When you read on please be aware that not every person here is cruel to dogs. There are exceptions in rare cases. For the purposes of the 'GoFundMe' I am needing to concentrate on the majority not the minority. Dogs are terribly abused and are used as live door bells and alarm systems. Dogs let their owner know when someone calls which is in itself acceptable. Trouble is, Bulgarian dogs are not pets. They are chained up outside permanently. During -20 in the winter or over 40 degrees in the summer they remain at their lonely posts. At best they have bread thrown to them as their only food. If they don’t have shade their eyes can be damaged permanently. As most chains are short, lameness and madness is normal. Unclipped claws can cripple. Untreated tick diseases can maim or kill or cause arthritis. Fleas drive the poor animals insane and most look as if they have serious skin conditions like mange.

It is bad enough that a family pet to us becomes a disposable commodity here and if they do not perform as required, they are shot, abandoned, or simply left to die on their chains. Once dumped on the streets scared, traumatized and often unable to adapt, they are exposed to the diseases that are rife here and without vaccinations they often succumb to terrible deaths. The scars on the faces of some of these pathetic creatures are testament to the brutality they suffer. Other cruelties are too graphic to mention here suffice to say that dogs in this county are treated like vermin. There are few exceptions.

The Bulgarians don’t and wont neuter so abandoned females have litter after litter after litter before they expire with the effort of trying to support pups. In short the dogs need as much help as is humanely possible here. With that in mind, my intention is to buy a cheap property with out-houses and barns that can be converted to house kennels and pens. Enclosures need to be erected, a vehicle must be bought to enable me to rescue abandoned dogs and continuing veterinary support would also need to be funded. The only problem with helping my parents is that my bank balance is depleted! I desperately need funding towards a dog sanctuary. I would try to re-home through organisations already set up to do that and I would be asking for the transport costs from prospective owners. My dream for the future would be to foster and board dogs as well as running a small and basic retreat for mountaineers and hikers. This would afford me my basic living costs. That’s my dream...........

Initial costs would be in the region of £15,000 and I would be happy to keep donors up to-date with progress reports. I would also be happy to offer work-away programs for anyone wishing to help and spend some quality & worthwhile time in a rural location.

The turn around from damaged, shattered, lonely and abused creatures to happy, cared for pets in their forever homes is astounding and very rewarding. You can be a part of that. 


If you can help to give a dog a life it deserves, please consider my appeal.

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