We—Andrea and Mike—have been traveling around the world in our expedition van since 2018, and in Georgia we met Irina and Frits, who lovingly care for hundreds of dogs that have been abandoned or “discarded.”
We had a dog of our own until recently, and during our travels we’ve often fed stray dogs, taken them to the vet, and so on. That’s why we’ve already supported Frits and Irina financially several times, but since there’s a shortage of everything there, they also need your support. We know that for the Groenevelds, helping these animals and finding them new homes is a labor of love.
During our several-month journey through Georgia, we met Frits and Irina and learned how dogs are tortured, drowned, hanged, strangled, burned alive, deliberately chased by cars, or shot for fun. Locals buy dogs, but as soon as the animal is no longer cute and requires a little more attention and training, it is abandoned.
For the Groenevelds, helping animals and finding them new homes is a labor of love.
Frits and Irina lovingly care for these dogs, feeding and grooming them and providing them with the necessary medical care. As soon as the animals are healthy again, they are placed with adoptive families internationally, and Irina and Frits make sure that all the paperwork is in order for the adoption.
Frits and Irina
Irina and Frits are teachers at TopClassTutors.ORG International and the Albert Einstein International School, and have spent their entire lives working in education around the world.
Their story began when they traveled in their old RV to a teaching location in Georgia. At the time, they were traveling with their ten dogs—all of whom had various disabilities and injuries—that they had adopted from an animal shelter in Ukraine. They lived with their dogs near the beach, and more and more dogs joined them. As people began abandoning more and more dogs in their area (thinking that they loved dogs), the authorities gave them a piece of land they could use temporarily. Hundreds of abandoned dogs live on the fenced-in property, and about 50 dogs come by every day to eat. They not only cook for their “own” dogs but also feed the stray dogs between Kobuleti and Batumi.
Frits and Irina live on the property with the dogs and use an apartment where they treat the new dogs suffering from severe infections and fractures. To cover the costs—in addition to the time-consuming work of caring for and nursing the dogs—they continue to work as teachers and even sold their house in Amsterdam in 2016. But the growing number of dogs, combined with long workdays (up to 20 hours), is taking a toll not only on their finances but also on their health.
People began abandoning more and more dogs in their neighborhoods.
Support Is Urgently Needed
Since there is a shortage of everything on site (running water, electricity, food, dog houses, medical care, etc.), they also need your support in the form of…
- Donations via GoFundMe
- a dog adoption
- a volunteer assignment on-site, which is perfect for overlanders or self-sufficient travelers who can support Frits and Irina for 2–4 weeks: WhatsApp +995 593 526 000