"One who will stay under good tree will be shielded with good shade"
Miguel de Servants
How everything began
Several years ago, the idea arose to establish an animal welfare organization. The idea of Zooshans was developed by Ilona and Iena Kvahins who registered the entity in April 2010. Since 2013, the organization has been headed by chairwoman Mrs. Olga Karpova.
In accordance with its statute, ZOOshans acts as a legal person in compliance with laws and regulations. Our activities cover Minsk city and its metropolitan region.
ZOOshans is a self-organizing grass roots organization, based on the principle of volunteerism.
In accordance with the laws of the Republic of Belarus, ZOOshans exclusively pursues charity goals. It neither has profit interests nor commercial goals. In practice this means for example, that cats and dogs are handed over to new adequate owners without charging fees.
Our activities are carried out on the basis of donations of concerned citizens exclusively. We invite everybody who is not indifferent towards the protection of animals´ rights to join our efforts.
Soon, our site will include a "report" section in which we will publish information about the funds received and the purposes they are spent on. Maximum transparency is our goal. So far, most expenditures have gone into medical treatment of strays, abandoned and injured cats and dogs.
Our expenditures in recent years:
| 2010 | 3,422,000 BUR | 342.2 BYN |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 12,066,000 BYR | 1,206.6 BYN |
| 2013 | 16,000,000 BYR | 1,600.0 BYN |
ZOOshans organizes "high five for pets" charity actions, during which handmade souvenirs are put on sale for little money. These funds are used for our the described causes. We also carry out charity auctions and participate in pet-related exhibitions.
ZOOshans proudly looks back at thousands of cats and dogs that have been treated and passed on to responsible owners during the past years. Beyond that we keep striving for:
- Educating people on reducing tensions between people and animals
- Assisting in improving sanitary conditions in animal keeping
- Participating in finalizing the protection of animals law in Belarus
- Informing the public on issues such as homeless animals in the city, volunteer work, what to do if a pet got lost, sheltering pets in need temporarily.
- And a lot more.