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With a team of changing volunteers, we rescue dogs who wouldn’t have had any chance without us. Abandoned, abused, sick or injured dogs find medical care in our Refuge in which we currently shelter over 120 dogs. Furthermore we take care of many lost and lonely stray dogs on a daily basis.
In our Refuge we’re doing many activities with our furry friends in order to socialize them and keep them emotionally balanced. In our shelter no one gets left behind! We’re also always busy with castrating and vaccinating dogs permanently – since this is the only way to reduce and hopefully stop the suffering of stray dogs. It’s important for us to also help the community of our village when they need us. We provide food, hay and also medical care for pet owners who are asking for help.
To continue our necessary work we need your help. We are working on a non profit basis and aren’t having any NGO or Charity Foundation that supports us. Our existence and the lives of so many dogs depend a 100% on donations from kind people like you.
We need to change the situation of so many strays in this country. We need to be a part of the change that definitely has to come.
Are you with us?
With a team of changing volunteers, we rescue emergencies, socialize all dogs in the refuge and take care of the strays around us.
For many of our friends we are often only allowed to hold their paws in the last minutes and for many we’re an opportunity for a new life.
We manage castration projects and take care of any animal in need that crosses our path. We are to 100% dependent on donations for rescues, veterinary bills and the care of our dogs in the refuge.
I hope we can change the situation for many strays in this country and be a part of the change that has to come.
Are you with us?
Everything began once Leeny started traveling to Morocco. She saw many strays that were suffering under hunger, diseases and the maltreatment done by humans. She tried to help them as good as she could. But she just didn’t have the space, the equipment, the support. It just ended up being a drop on the ocean. Yet Morocco had still fascinated her. So she continued coming back lots and lots of times. She had to accept the deaths of many strays that were killed by the inhumanity of the system in the country. Whenever she came back to Germany – her home country – she just couldn’t help but remember all the sorrow of the beautiful characters she met on her way and that waited for her to come back. Finally she decided to open up a shelter – for injured, sick and also abandoned dogs that needed her help. So she gave up everything in Germany and traveled to Morocco together with her dog Pica (who has also been a stray dog once) and a caravan full of donations. When she arrived she searched for a good location and then called the shelter “Beldi Refuge”. Beldi is a Moroccan word and means “stray”. That’s the story of how it all started.
It all started when I traveled to Morocco for the first time in 2014. The country had fascinated me and kept me under its spell. This was followed by several trips over the years. During my stay I made friends with various street dogs. One of them was Django and his pack. An old stray who was blind, deaf and injured. We became friends and I flew regularly to my pack to feed and treat them. Django was now drawn from the street life and I arranged his rescue to a shelter 3 hours away. This wasn’t easy since its forbidden in Morocco to transport dogs with public transportation. One night before his rescue my entire pack was poisoned in the medina. I was devastated. In February 2019 I decided to come back to Morocco in order to help. To create a place where dogs can experience love, acceptance and health for the first time in their lifes’. And a place where I and also you – where we – can fight for animal rights. In July 2019 I gave up everything in Germany and drove down to Morocco with my dog Pica to the place where it all started. On my way there were many obstacles and troubles.
But finally I made it! In August 2019 I set up an open shelter for injured and orphaned street dogs in the mountains of Morocco. And here we are.
Founder of the Beldi Refuge.
Our team also consists of changing volunteers from all over the world. They support us and make this project work.
And then there is you. Will you also be a member of the team?
Eyleen Kanzler started the whole Beldi Refuge project and is leading towards its goal to help the suffering dogs in morocco.
Pica is always a helping hand for Leeny. He is like the “police” for other dogs in the kennel and will punish every misbehaviour.
Eyleen Kanzler started the whole Beldi Refuge project and is leading towards its goal to help the suffering dogs in morocco.
Get to know the team members of the Beldi Refuge. First and foremost there’s Leeny. She is the founder of the Beldi Refuge. Besides that there is also a nice and local employee who always helps as much as he can. He builds fences,dog houses and does much more. Furthermore there are some other locals that are supporting the Beldi Refuge and the strays in Morocco from there homes. They feed strays, take care of them and sometimes they draw Leeny’s attention to some beldis that are in a really critical situation and need to be rescued.
The team also consists of various temporary volunteers that come for a view weeks in order to help. One volunteer – Nico – has liked the shelter so much that he decided to stay longer. Which is why he is Leeny’s best and first long – time volunteer.
In Germany there are also different supporters that try to help. Some collect item donations and send them to Morocco with a carrier, or donate items or money. Others share posts of the Beldi Refuge and help the shelter to get more attention. More attention makes it easier to help.
And then there is you. Will you also be a member of the team?
We are of the opinion that every animal has the right to live and enjoy its life. It’s absolutely intolerably to kill animals just because they aren’t valued. They deserve love as much as every human does. Which is why we rescue as many dogs as we can. We let them live with us until they find a family. Until then we take care of them as if they were our dogs. We know that if we wouldn’t help them they would already be sick or even dead. That’s why we don’t have a choice but helping.
Here you can see our terrain with the kennels and the house we’re living in. It’s important for us that the dogs aren’t only in the kennel. They spend a lot of time with us in the house so that we can build a connection.
