Friends of Dogs is a NGO created in Tivat. The main focus of this organization is to help the homeless dogs in the Kotor-Tivat Shelter. Kotor and Tivat are two small cities in Montenegro.

"Through our charity work and educational outreach program, we aim to raise awareness around homeless dogs in Montenegro and improve the conditions of those dogs living in shelters in the area.

Our goals: 
- Rehoming: Socialise and match dogs with good homes 
- Volunteering: Support the shelter by regularly walking, socializing and grooming dogs, as well as raise funds and awareness. 
- Outreach Education: Raise awareness of the plight of homeless dogs, responsible breeding and animal care. 

We have many local and commercial Charity Events which provide much needed funds to improve the lot of local homeless dogs; we welcome your support!"



Currently, with the help of "Network For Animals" (a NGO that helps animals worldwide) they are trying to raise funds necessary to build more kennels for the dogs in the shelter, so they can endure the harsh winter conditions better.

Here is the link to the donation page: https://networkforanimals.org/montenegro-2016/

25$ buys enough food for two dogs for a month.
35$ can sterilize one dog.
50$ buys a share of a cosy new kennel.

If you can donate, please do so, any amount helps!


The law for this Shelter is such that every dog that enters the shelter, if he or she is not adopted after 30 days, they are planned to be euthanized.

It is very good that the director of the Shelter is trying to change this and make it a no kill shelter. There are 204 dogs right now in the shelter.

The official page for the Shelter: http://www.azilkotor.org/
Friends of Dogs: https://www.facebook.com/dogs.montenegro/
Network For Animals: Official Page * Facebook * Twitter * Youtube *

If you want to help the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and not just them but also the other tribes that came to support this action and other people from around the world here are ways to do it:

1. There is a crowdrise page made by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to help support the tribes in Dakota that plan on spending the winter there in order to protect their land and the river. If you can, please donate. Any amount helps!

Official Support for Standing Rock Sioux Tribe against DAPL

These donations will be used to buy:

- Food and meals
- Porta-johns
- Trash Collection
- Hand Washing Stations
- Community Shelters and Tents
- Emergency Management Team
- Firewood and Hauling
- Community Wellness Initiatives

and much more.

2. If you are able to help with material items like:

- Fire starter logs
- Extreme cold weather boots
- Extreme cold weather sleeping bags (to withstand up to -40)
- Extreme cold weather wool socks
- Hand and Foot Warmers Earmuffs and Gloves
- Engine warmers

Please send them to:
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe 
Attention: Donations 
PO Box D 
Building #1 
North Standing Rock Avenue 
Fort Yates, ND 58538 

Also needed are larger items like building materials: cinder blocks, plywood, rebar, 2x4s, firewood, and logs. Please contact: publicrelations@standingrock.org

3.

There are two petitions I would say are the most important ones out there. One is on the Friends of Earth site and the other from the ReZpect Our Water organization:

Tell President Obama: Say NO to the Dakota Access Pipeline!
Stop the Dakota Access Pipeline

4. Check out this article on how Banks and their investment affect the pipeline business:

A Strategy to Stop the Funding Behind the Dakota Access Pipeline

Also ways to contact the banks that fund the Pipeline project:

How to Contact the 17 Banks Funding the Dakota Access Pipeline

5. Tweet, retweet, post on Instagram, Facebook, any and every social media to spread the word. Use #NoDAPL and #WaterIsLife.

6. Follow the official page of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe on Facebook for news and updates and new ways to help:

https://www.facebook.com/Standing-Rock-Sioux-Tribe-402298239798452/

I stand with the Native Americans. Do you?


*Pictures made by Rob Wilson: https://www.facebook.com/RobWilsonFoto/*

Last Friday the Norway government has decided to approve a plan to kill as many as 47 wolves. It is estimated to be about 68 wolves remaining in Norway, concentrated in the south-east of the country. The environmental groups say that this cull would be disastrous for the dwindling members of the species.

This would mean 24 wolves will be shot within the region of the country designated for wolf habitat, while another 13 will be shot in neighboring regions and a further 10 in other areas of the country.

Norway's government justified this decision by saying it is because of the harm the wolves had caused to the sheep flocks. Environmental groups dispute this, saying the real damage is minimal.

“This is mass slaughter. We have not seen anything like this in a hundred years, back when the policy was that all large carnivores were to be eradicated. Shooting 70% of the wolf population is not worthy of a nation claiming to be championing environmental causes. People all over the country, and outside its borders, are now reacting.” - Nina Jensen, chief executive of WWF in Norway.

Nina said that the real number of losses to the farmers are minimal and reminded on the settlements by the Norwegian parliament from 2004 and 2011 that stipulates populations of carnivores must be allowed to co-exist with livestock.

“This decision must be stopped. With this decision, three out of six family groups of wolves might be shot. We are calling on the minister of environment to stop the butchering. Today, Norway should be ashamed.” - Silje Ask Lundberg, chair of Friends of the Earth Norway.

Please sign and share the petition to stop this cull: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/459/200/467/demand-norway-stop-mass-slaughter-of-its-endangered-wolf-population/

Source: Norway plans to cull more than two-thirds of its wolf population

First the cull on Golden Eagles, now a cull on the wolves. I think Norway should find a way to live with their wildlife that doesn't involve guns and killing.

On the 9th of September, a federal judge denied the tribe’s request to halt construction on the 1,170-mile pipeline.

Shortly after the decision has been known, the Obama administration countered by saying it would not authorize construction on a critical stretch of the Dakota Access pipeline. At least, for now. The administration said construction would halt until it can do more environmental assessments. Which means the fight for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is not over. They need to continue so that this decision can be permanent. And we need to continue to support them!

Source: BREAKING NEWS:Obama administration steps In to stop ND pipeline construction

There is an event planed on Tuesday, September 13th. People around the country will take part in a day of action in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe against the Dakota Access Pipeline. They are urging President Obama to instruct the Army Corps of Engineers to revoke the permits for the construction of the pipeline.

If you can, join. The more join, the better.

There is a page for the event on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/336913836658578/

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved the construction of a 1,172-mile Dakota Access Pipeline, or DAPL, which runs through North and South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois and has a capacity to transport more than 500,000 barrels of oil a day.

Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary is an organization which goal is:

• To provide a loving home, good food, high quality vet care, compassion and comfort to senior dogs for the remainder of their lives. 
• To build a ForeverFoster Home network to enable us to place more senior dogs in loving, home settings for the duration of their lives. 
• To provide education on the joys and challenges of caring for aging dogs. 
• To work with other dog rescue groups to promote the adoption of senior dogs.

Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery where a perpetrator profits from the sexual exploitation and/or forced labor of a person by means including force, fraud, coercion, or deceit to engage in commercial sexual activity such as prostitution, exotic dancing, or pornography.

San Diego is one of the top 13 cities in the US for human trafficking, a hub for 3000 - 8,000 victims annually. Most victims are between 11-18 years old and often don't even see themselves as victims, because they've never been shown anything better. 26% of victims are children (under 18), 55% of victims are women and girls, and 68% of victims are in forced labor.

A team of 30 young professionals in San Diego have come together to fight human trafficking. The focus is providing awareness, resources, and aid to victims and survivors of Human Trafficking. They have identified three organizations on the West Coast to support with an emphasis on Awareness, Prevention, Restoration, and Advocacy.

Those three organizations are:

The STARS program at San Diego Youth Services (Surviving Together, Achieving and Reaching for Success) provides a program for teen girls and women between the ages of 12-24 involved with commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking to empower the youth to escape sexual exploitation by developing their inner strengths, building a sense of community and supporting their reintegration into mainstream society. Services include intensive case management, detention outreach, support groups, recreational activities, therapy and community trainings. SDYS STARS has been providing services in the community for over 8 years and over the last year served 91 girls and young women. Donations would be utilized to enhance our therapeutic services and move towards our capacity. The trauma associated with domestic sex trafficking often leads to chronic traumatic stress, low self-esteem and self-worth, and self-harm behaviors. Therapeutic services aim at supporting Survivors as they heal and gain empowerment to regain control over their future through a whole person approach that includes intensive therapy, expressive art, healthy eating, yoga, and self-care activities.

Generate Hope in San Diego provides safe housing and victim services including counseling, medical care, education, therapy, etc. for children between the ages of 8 and 24 who have been victimized. The funds will specifically go toward a new home for minors.

Saving Innocence in Los Angeles partners with local law enforcement to provide crisis response, rescue services, and immediate aftercare to child victims of domestic minor sex trafficking and provides long-term advocacy, case management, and mentoring relationships to survivors of exploitation by promoting worth and restoring innocence.

The goal is to raise at least $250,000 to these organizations that are directly involved in helping victims and survivors. There is no better time than NOW to take action! 

You can choose one of these organizations and donate. The minimum starting amount is 10$. The donation page is here: https://www.crowdrise.com/foundnotbound

I chose Saving Innocence, but any of these organizations is a good choice and helps. To think that this happens to girls and young women in the world is just... I guess whatever word i use would not be enough to describe and even imagine what kind of pain they go through. If you can, please donate and help.

Deadline for this action is August 28th!

Some Statistics about Human Trafficking:

- Sex trafficking is San Diego’s 2nd largest underground economy after drug trafficking. The underground sex economy represents an estimated $810 million in annual revenue. 

- Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego are 3 of the FBI’s 13 highest child sex trafficking areas in the nation.

- Approximately 27-30 million people around the world are in some form of slavery. 

- Each year about 17,500 individuals are brought into the United States and held against their will as victims of human trafficking. Conservative estimates say that 15,000 people are trafficked into the U.S. annually, while others guess the number is as high at 60,000.