Beautiful donkey Puica was found abandoned in a field about 37 miles from Bucharest, Romania. She was unable to stand, lying alone on the ground and left in pain. A kind member of the public reported her to our partner organization, ARCA, asking for help.

The team was able to rush to the scene and assess the situation. They give onsite x-rays, which revealed the poor donkey had a fractured hind leg! The leg was splinted and bandaged for transport and she was given pain medication.

Over the following days, the donkey, now named Puica, was provided with a proper diet, a quiet space to rest, and plenty of TLC. Her x-rays were sent to several equine orthopedic specialists in the country and abroad, to find the best realistic solution to her injury. The best option? Surgery to properly support the fracture with an orthopedic plate to immobilize the leg and a protective cast for it to heal.

Surgery was a success! Now, sweet Puica is under intensive recovery. She is in the best of hands with our specialized team and will receive everything she needs to heal.

FOUR PAWS works together with ARCA (Animal Rescue and Care Association) in Romania to help horses in different ways:

We provided working horses with veterinary care, dental treatments, and farrier (hoof care), and talked to the owners about appropriate living conditions.

In cooperation with the Romanian authorities, we are committed to help horses with our birth control program.

In November 2019, the heartbreaking news broke that a cargo ship carrying over 14,000 sheep overturned. The crew was safely evacuated, but thousands of sheep died. Our partner ARCA was able to go on board the vessel to save as many sheep as possible. Read the story of sheep trapped inside a capsized ship.

Donkey Puica and ram Nhan are enjoying each other’s company.

Puica and Nhan were both rescued from different situations: Beautiful donkey Puica was found abandoned in a field about 37 miles from Bucharest, where fortunately our local partner ARCA was able to rescue her just in time.

Last year a cargo ship transporting 14,000 sheep, including Nhan, capsized. Luckily, we managed to save 180 incredibly lucky sheep, together with ARCA, from the wreckage. Since then both rescued animals had to undergo surgery.

Now they are recovering in each other's company. As you can see, they are enjoying their new natural and safe environment and are looking better day by day! We are so happy for them.

After the successful treatment of her leg last year, Puica started losing hair all over her body. At first our vet team assumed that parasites were the cause, but after some time her hairless patches didn't improve. So we decided to consult with a dermatologist, who prescribed a special treatment for Puica for her condition. After a week of treatment, the hairless patches started growing back, and the scratching stopped! We are so grateful that the treatment is finally working and Puica is doing better day by day.