Now, in 2025, we unfortunately live with a Romanian Government, and EU regime, which lack the political will to get to grips with the surplus dog problem. A massive dog production and export industry has developed in Romania, from which many irresponsible people and even officials earn a good living at the animals' expense. Instead of enabling practical, motivated animal welfare NGOs to solve the dog problem through Neuter & Return (also called TNVR, Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate and Return) the current Government allows municipalities to Catch & Kill, a cruel, expensive and hopelessly inefficient policy. The most reproductively successful dogs are those with owners, keepers and feeders, for example factory, petrol station and farm dogs. Feral dogs produce puppies every 6 months, but most of these soon die.

Catch & Kill fails - with massive waste of tax-payers' money - because it is aimed at the wrong target. Public education coupled with door-to-door canvassing and free neutering (and vaccination) is the only medium term way to solve the surplus dog problem in countries like Romania and Turkey.

The alternative is to waste hundreds of millions of Euros over several human generations until, as in Western Europe, the level of human responsibility towards dogs reaches a level where fewer unwanted puppies are born than responsible families wishing to adopt them.

In fact this is a human and irresponsible government problem, not a dog problem.

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT

SOS Dogs was established in 2003 when the Noah's Ark foundation from Oradea approached Robert Smith, the director of the FPCC foundation, with the hope of addressing the stray dog problem in the city through a humane solution. The initiative was founded on the principle of managing urban stray animals in a civilized manner that meets European standards.

When SOS Dogs was founded in 2003, Oradea and its surroundings were overrun by stray dogs searching for food and by the carcasses of dead animals. In the early years, animal welfare organizations such as the British Dogs Trust, Battersea Dogs Home, and the American North Shore Animal League provided essential support. In January 2008, with the passing of the Animal Protection Law No. 205, the euthanasia of healthy animals was banned. FPCC's neutering and return programme turned Oradea into a model for the whole of Romania, as the humane methods successfully curbed the reproduction of stray dogs. Between 2004 and 2011 FPCC’s Neuter & Return programme reduced the number of street dogs in Oradea from about 5000 to only 350 (neutered dogs) according to a survey by the Community Police in 2011.

Today FPCC serves as the primary financial supporter of the initiative, and every donation is crucial to continuing our work. Thanks to these concerted efforts, the original problems—such as animal carcasses and a high number of stray dogs—have largely been eliminated from Oradea.

MISSION AND METHODS

The mission of SOS Dogs is to manage the stray dog population on the streets of Oradea by adhering to European standards and the recommendations set out in the “Guidelines for Dog Population Management” adopted by the WHO in Geneva in 1990. Research by experts and veterinarians has demonstrated that the only effective solution is the sterilization of dogs and their return to their original environments—except in cases of aggressive, incurably ill animals and dogs younger than six months. Additionally, the animals are available for adoption if the new owner commits to their ongoing care.