Hey all (please read Mei's full story, cuteness overload pics at the end!),

Meet Mei, our little doggo adopted from Daily Family Rescue (@daisyfamilyrescue) almost a year ago.

Everyone who has met Mei knows that she is the kindest soul on this planet, always up for a cuddle or a game of fetch and without exception puts a smile on everyone's face. But, while she is an indispensable part of our family now, she had a harsh and unfair start in life and is a tiny dog with a big story...

Mei was found on the street by Daisy Rescue Family, a non-profit dog rescue team that saves injured and abused dogs from Macedonia after which they treat and cure the dogs and place them with (well-vetted) adoption families in Germany. When Mei was found on the streets of Skopje in winter 2021, she was very sick, malnourished, couldn't properly move anymore, and had lost much of her fur. Fortunately, Daisy took her off the streets just in time, as she was infected with two viruses and was losing her strength quickly. Since then, she was examined by vets, treated with the right medication, put on a nutritious diet, and recovered into a healthy, happy dog in under six months (and in October 2021 she joined us in Berlin!)

Daisy is a team of activists that saves 100s of dogs from the Macedonian streets every year; they self-fund all of their activity via donations raised via their own channels such as their Instagram and website. Unsurprisingly, medical care for injuries is expensive, and it is difficult to collect sufficient donations to give the dogs the treatments they need promptly. Macedonian street dogs have no rights at all and are often violently abused and attacked by people. Therefore, it's super important that Daisy can focus their efforts on taking wounded dogs in and are being enabled to treat as many dogs as possible instantly.

To give an impression of basic needs for a rescued dog and how a small donation can already make a difference (more info on injuries & costs further down):

• Blood test 6€

• Mediterranean test 50€

• Deworming cure 10€

• Spot on per month 10€

• Animal shelter per month 60€

• Castration 60€

• DHPPL vaccination 12€

• Rabies vaccination 10€

• Microchip + travel documents 60€

We are eternally grateful to Daisy for saving our precious Mei, and we would love to support them in rescuing as many dogs as possible! Since we are swimming/cycling/running 1/2 Iron Man on the 18th of September, we love to make use of this occasion to raise donations for the Daisy Family Rescue team, and raise awareness for the work that they're doing (and hopefully even bring together one of their dogs with a future owner!). We set ourselves the goal to raise €2500 or more, however any amount will support Daisy to help rescue lives!

We hope you join us in supporting their fantastic and incredibly selfless work, any donation - big or small - is huuuugely appreciated!!

Much love,

Bas & Monique

PS 1 - please sponsor Daisy, a 1/2 Iron Man is really hard!!

PS 2 - who sponsors gets free cuddles from Mei - now you HAVE to donate!

PS 3 - check out Daisy Family Rescue's great work and pups for adoption via;

PS 4 - please see some more amazing 'before and afters' from Daisy (hands up to our brave survivors!):

PS 5 - ALL donations will be going directly to Daisy Family Rescue. We will be paying for the competition fee and travel ourselves, the only charge is a 2% transaction fee for GoFundMe who handles the payment and taxation.

PS 6 - further info on types of injuries and how money is spent to save lives:

''We also often find dogs that have been hit by cars and whose fractures need immediate surgical repair. The cost of such operations is usually about 300€. A cast on the corresponding part of the body costs us 150€ and the stay in the clinic 10€ per night. Especially sick and injured dogs spend at least one month in the veterinary clinic.

Especially dogs that have tested positive for heart worm, leishmaniasis or demodex (advanced) or have survived surgeries often remain in the shelter for many months before they can leave. I.e. for dogs with these conditions we assume about 9 months stay in the shelter. That is at least 540€ per dog, just for the shelter.''

• Dogs with leishmaniasis:

- Advanced blood test 20€

- Milteforan approx. 272€

- Allopurinol 100 pills/ 12€

- Low purine food 7kg/ 75€

• Dogs with heart worm

- extended blood test 20€

- special spot-on monthly 20€

- Injections (3 to 5 needed depending on the dogs weight) 225 - 375€

• Dogs with other Mediterranean diseases

- 28-day antibiotic therapy 20€

PS 7 - if you are a furry friend lover (you're not human if you aren't), please find some extra pics of our precious, healthy little Mei below <3 - enjoyyyyy (and donate) :)!!!

XXXXXX Mei