The Story Behind the Šabac Shelter
From Crisis to Hope
Before 2020
The municipal shelter in Šabac was a last stop, not a safe haven.
Dogs were crammed into overcrowded pens with minimal food and no medical care. Disease spread unchecked. Healthy dogs were euthanised to make space for new arrivals. The city’s public hygiene service, Zoohigijena Šabac, ran the facility – but with no budget for animal welfare, conditions were dire.
Volunteers had no access. The public didn’t know what happened behind the gates. For the dogs inside, there was no way out.
Today
The same shelter. A completely different reality.
Volunteers arrive every morning to feed, walk, and care for every dog. A playground area lets the dogs run and socialise. Vaccinations, health checks, and spaying are standard. Regular adoption events – „Pet Happenings“ – take place in Šabac’s Veliki Park, where families come to meet the dogs in person.
Not a single dog has been euthanised since the volunteers took over. The shelter went from a place of death to a place where dogs get second chances – and where the community comes together to give them homes.
What the Volunteers Achieved
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2020
Vesna Teodorović founds „Pravo na život“ (Right to Life) and wins unrestricted access to the municipal shelter for volunteers.
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2020
Euthanasia at the shelter stops completely – including for dogs classified as „aggressive.“ A new shelter leadership is put in place.
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2021
The city overturns the ban on feeding stray dogs, replacing a 2016 ordinance that criminalised compassion. The two-dog limit per household is also lifted.
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2023
On 18 December, Šabac abolishes New Year’s fireworks city-wide – on a motion by „Pravo na život,“ supported by the Ministry of Agriculture. First „Pet Happenings“ in Veliki Park: 23 dogs adopted in six weeks.
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2024
Šabac allocates 3 million dinars for a mass sterilisation programme – roughly 400 procedures. Vesna speaks at a conference on animal protection law at the University of Belgrade’s Faculty of Law. The city installs dog shelters in public parks.
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2025
Partnership with Strays e.V. (Berlin) for international support. This website launches to connect the shelter with families looking to adopt – locally and beyond.
Vesna Teodorović
Vesna runs a clothing store with her husband in Šabac. She spends her mornings at the shop – and her afternoons at the shelter, feeding dogs, coordinating vet visits, organising adoption events, and visiting schools to teach children about animal welfare.
She didn’t start as an activist. She started as someone who couldn’t look away. When she saw how dogs were treated at the municipal shelter, she decided to act. She founded „Pravo na život,“ recruited volunteers, and took on the city administration – and won.
Beyond the shelter, Vesna campaigns for systemic change. At a conference at the University of Belgrade’s Faculty of Law, she called for animals to be legally recognised as sentient beings – not property. She reported over 4,000 unregistered breeders in Serbia who pay no taxes, and demanded a national database of animal abusers and stricter penalties for cruelty.
On top of her shelter work, Vesna cares for roughly 70 dogs and 10 cats on her own private property – animals she couldn’t leave behind.
The way a society treats its animals is a mirror of that society.
A hungry dog searches for food and follows people carrying bags. That’s not aggression – that’s hunger.
Strays e.V. – Our Partner in Germany
Strays e.V. is a registered non-profit based in Berlin. Their philosophy: don’t just rescue animals – improve the conditions where they live. Build shelters. Fund sterilisation. Support local volunteers. Create lasting change.
After years of projects in Croatia and Bosnia, Strays e.V. partnered with Vesna and „Pravo na život“ to support the Šabac shelter. They raise funds internationally, help with logistics, and built this website to give the shelter a voice beyond Šabac – reaching people who want to donate, sponsor a dog, or support the work from abroad.
Strays e.V. is recognised as a charitable organisation by the German tax authorities (Finanzamt Köln-Süd). All donations are tax-deductible in Germany.
Based in
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Bank: IBAN DE70 4306 0967 1316 4725 00
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PayPal: Teamwork@strays.de
Meet the Dogs They Fight for Every Day
Vesna and her volunteers transformed the shelter. Now help them complete the mission – give these dogs the homes they deserve.
Šabac Shelter Dogs
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Strays e.V.
IBAN: DE70 4306 0967 1316 4725 00
BIC: GENODEM1GLS
PayPal: Teamwork@strays.de
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