One day about six years ago, Sasha Pejčić found four puppies near a busy street where he lives in Nis, Serbia. Fearing that they may come to a violent end at the hands of dog catchers or possibility hit by a car, he took them to a safer location.
A few days passed and he came across another eight puppies. He kept them altogether, bought a couple of dog houses for shelter and fed them everyday. When others noticed what he was doing, they started to bring other puppies that were strays. Before long he had 70 little puppies to feed, and to protect from the harsh life on the Serbian streets.
Sasha has always been rescuing hungry and homeless puppies and dogs abandoned in the woods or on the streets of Nis. He always found the time to feed homeless dogs each day on his way to and from work.
But this time was different.
As his mission grew, Sasha knew he needed a place for them to be safe. He found a piece of property that was once a horseback riding school, and decided to rent it for the dogs he has been “fostering”. He brought them to this cage-free shelter and gave them to love and care these dogs needed. The dogs were able to sleep sheltered from the weather and from harm’s way. In 2008, this became his own animal sanctuary.
Today there are over 400 dogs at the compound. Some came from the local pound, some were left outside the gates who figured Sasha will take care of them. 
Before they came to Sasha Pejčić’s shelter these dogs fended for themselves on the streets or in neglectful homes. Many arrived with broken bones and broken hearts. They are all throw-aways who have never felt the kindness of humans. They have been hungry, chased away for trying to steal food from garbage and they’ve slept out in the cold. But once they arrive at Sasha’s shelter, the dogs soon learn that they are loved and cared for. Their lives were being transformed. They follow Sasha around as he cleans up after them.
However, there is no local help. Sasha can’t do all this by himself.
In the beginning Sasha bought all the dog food out of his own pocket. As the numbers grew, he depended on the local abattoir and bakeries for donations. But this was unsustainable, and eventually they couldn’t keep up with the amount of food needed the growing numbers in the pack.But then a few years ago, a charity asked him to take on the responsibility of looking after the dogs full time. He couldn’t have been happier and left his job. To feed the dogs each day, he required about 220-265 lbs of food. He feeds them a mixture of kibble, leftover meat and donated bakery goods.
Unfortunately, that help came to an abrupt end. Sasha feared for the worst and he reached out to the Harmony Fund, a US based animal rescue charity for help. He was running out of food and money. There were two days last year when the dogs were without food .
The Harmony Fund started an emergency collection to help him raise enough money to buy food. Since then, through the kindness of animal lovers all over the world, The Harmony Fund is now sustaining the shelter.
Mummy thought maybe we should let Novak Djokovic know about this. I think he likes dogs.
May’s comment: The Harmony Fund international animal rescue charity is asking for your help to continue feeding the dogs every day and to pay for the rent. Harmony Fund – Help feed and care for 400 dogs in Serbia