Save Molly by contributing to her quarantine costs

SUMMARY

Due to no error of her own, Molly was placed in quarantine by the customs authorities upon arrival to Sweden. In order to be released, her family needs to pay the quarantine costs of 71,511 Swedish kr (roughly 7,137 EUR or 8,147 USD).

As her family does not have that amount of money, Molly needs your help! Please read her full story below, and support her by donating and sharing this page.

 

The beginning

In 2016, Molly was abandoned on the streets of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, joining a large population of street dogs. Her "owners" moved away and did not want her anymore. True to her dog's heart, Molly never understood she had been thrown out like a used sock, so she spent most of her days waiting by the gate of her old house. Neighbours fed her scraps and so she lived like that for a few months. Despite her struggles, Molly kept her faith in the human kind, with her tail and smile lighting up whenever she got a little attention from a passerby. This was how I met Molly.

 

Happy days

Back then I managed a small animal rescue organisation in Addis, and luckily a foster home became available shortly after, so I picked Molly up, vaccinated and spayed her, and placed her in foster care. Soon she started showing her quirky personality - she loved her crate and long sun baths. She followed her foster family around and didn't miss an opportunity for some petting. Not long after, Molly finally found the family she always deserved - a Swedish couple with 3 kids who had moved to Addis to pursue their missionary work and who fell in love with sweet Molly from the moment they met her. From that moment onwards, Molly became a happy family pooch, enjoying games, petting, long walks in the beautiful mountains of Ethiopia and - most important of all - a family who loved her dearly.

 

The war
Sadly, the situation in Ethiopia has deteriorated fast in the last couple of months, with the intensification of the civil war in the Tigray region. In the capital, the situation has been increasingly tense, with many embassies evacuating their staff and asking their nationals to refrain from traveling to the country. Due to these security concerns, Molly's family had no option but to return to Sweden.

 

Traveling to Sweden

Even though Molly's family spent a lot of time (and money) preparing Molly's travel to Sweden (importing pets to the EU follows a set of specific rules, including sending a blood sample to a lab in Europe, to confirm that the dog is immune to rabies - which they did), Molly's vet made some mistakes when preparing her documents. Therefore, much to Molly's family's disbelief, the Swedish authorities at the airport had to confiscate Molly since the dates stated in the paperwork did not allow them to confirm that she had gone through all the necessary procedures, and so she officially did not fulfil the conditions for a pet to be imported into the European Union. Therefore the options at that stage were:

1) sending Molly back to Ethiopia

2) placing Molly in a quarantine until she can fulfil the legals requirements for importation

3) putting Molly down

 

The last resort

Sending Molly back was not an option - the war had made life difficult for everyone back in Addis and there was no one there who could have taken her in. Understandably, her family could not even imagine putting Molly down, so quarantine was the only option. However, the quarantine takes place at a facility subcontracted by the authorities, which means it is extremely expensive. Since it will take 4 months for Molly to be able to fulfil the requirements demanded by the authorities (rabies vaccine + wait one month + take blood sample + wait 3 months), the estimated costs are around 71,511 Swedish kr (roughly 7,137 EUR or 8,147 USD), which includes a reception fee, daily fee for 112 days and veterinary costs.

Confronted with this situation, Molly's family reached out to me. They were never wealthy, and a series of difficult events in the past couple of months had made it completely impossible for them to access that amount of money.

 

Molly needs our help!

I could not accept that after all she went through, Molly would end up being put down in Sweden, surrounded by strangers. And so I decided to start this fundraiser. It feels like a large sum of money, but if only 400 people can donate 20 EUR/200 sek /25 usd, we can make sure Molly finally gets her happy happy ending!