Millions of Friends - Asociația Milioane de Prieteni

Our history

The ”Millions of Friends” Association (AMP) was founded in 1997 by Cristina Lapis, a former journalist from Brasov who dedicated her life to serve the animals. Supported by her husband, Roger Lapis, French Honorary Consul, they created one of the first Non-Governmental (NGO) Animal Welfare Organisation in Romania.

We are “Millions of Friends” – the oldest Animal Protection Association in Romania. Over the past two decades, we have saved over 25,000 animals from suffering and death , most of them stray dogs, cats, horses, but also bears, wolves, foxes, deer and birds.

1997

We created the first private shelter in Romania, the Victory Dog Shelter.

2000

We set up the first telephone line for veterinary medical emergencies in Brașov County.

2005

We started the works at the Libearty Sanctuary in Zărnești and we saved the first bears from captivity.

2011

We signed a partnership with the City Hall of Brașov for the co-administration of the Public Shelter from Stupini.

2013

We have started an Education project and we offer animal welfare courses in schools in Brașov County.

2016

We signed a partnership with the City Hall of Zărnești, for the co-administration of the Public Shelter.

Victory Dog Shelter

Established in 1997, Victory is the first private dog shelter in Romania. It is a medium-sized centre offering full service to stray dogs as well as to the community. Every year over 700 dogs are offered for adoption in Romania, Germany, England and France.

The most frequent interventions are neuterings (over 1000 per year) and the treatment of wounded dogs from the streets.

77 outdoor paddocks, 44 quarantine and post-operative boxes, and 4 heated rooms dedicated to mothers with youngsters;
We host simultaneously about 400 dogs;
We created the only telephone line of veterinary medical emergencies for stray animals;
We are making free neuterings for dogs and cats with owners.

COSTS:
25.000 € / month

Specificații:
125 paddocks (boxes)
1 veterinary clinic
1 “nursery” for babies
3 walking areas

The situation of Stupini public shelter, 2011The end of cruelty and euthanasia

Between 2000 and 2011, more than 35,000 dogs were killed

In 2011, we signed a partnership with Brașov City Hall for the co-administration of the Public Canine Shelter, in Stupini.

Veterinary services have been improved;
The paddocks have been upgraded;
The number of neuterings and adoptions increased visibly;
Dozens of dogs are picked up monthly by AMP and are housed at Victory until adopters are found for them;
We provide the necessary nutrition, drugs, employees and volunteers;
The average number of dogs hosted at Stupini Public Shelter is between 200 and 250.

In the Stupini Public Shelter, AMP led a pilot volunteer project to test children’s ability to care for and walk dogs. World Animal Day was celebrated with a contest called “The First House for Puppies”, which was attended by many volunteers.

In 2016, AMP and Zărnești City Hall signed a partnership for the co-administration of the Zărnești Public Shelter:

The dogs with owners from Zărnești are taken from home by the Zărnești public service, brought to the AMP veterinary office where they are neutered, microchipped and entered in RECS (Register of Dogs with Owners) and then returned to their families. Everything is FREE;
The stray dogs in the Public Shelter are taken over, treated and given for adoption by AMP.

Adoptions

The “Millions of Friends” Association encourages responsible adoption on the basis of a contract stating the optimal conditions required. The dog will only be able to be adopted after an AMP representative checks the place of adoption.

Neutering of dogs with owners

With the support of our partners abroad, we managed to perpetuate the free sterilization campaign of dogs and cats with owners, in Brasov and Zarnesti.

BONUS: the dogs are microchipped and entered in the RECS (Register of Dogs with Owner).

Although it is a considerable financial effort, neutering is the only way to reduce the number of stray animals on the streets.

Neutering advantages

Fewer dogs and fewer cats on the streets. Most stray animals are, in fact, the pups of the stray, thrown into the street;
The animal will have a longer life;
The risk of cancer is greatly reduced;
Neutered dogs are less aggressive;
Behavioral and hygiene issues during the copulation period are avoided;
No unwanted animals are born anymore.

Libearty SanctuaryFreedom for bears. The world’s largest brown bear sanctuary.

It is the biggest bear-welfare project in Europe.

It received the distinction of “the most ethical sanctuary in the world,” from National Geographic Traveller.

It has been awarded by TripAdvisor with a “Certificate of Excellence”.

The Libearty Sanctuary is the result of a partnership signed between WAP (World Animal Protection) charity organization, the Millions of Friends Association (AMP) in Brasov and the City Hall of Zărneşti.

Over 130 bears have been saved from captivity, from miserable conditions, from small and dirty cages, from hunting, from human exploitation. Every year we have new requests to help other bears behind bars.

We offered them 69 hectares of oak forest, swimming pools to wade into the water, food according to the diets studied by the veterinarians and the necessary medical care, but, especially, FREEDOM!

The sanctuary is provided with:

6 large enclosures dedicated to long-term bear care;
5 enclosures for bears with special needs;
2 accommodation areas;
2 pens for care of wolves;
1 pen for deer;
12 large pools with spring water;
5 weirs.

Created in memory of the Maya bear, the Libearty Sanctuary is the home for over 100 brown bears saved from miserable living conditions, being mistreated in captivity.

The project is a success and, on average, we are making 8 rescue missions every year.

Royal teddy-bearsThe beginning of the teddy-bear museum

The biggest plush bears in the world, 4 m tall, arrived from London in the Libearty sanctuary. The giants were donated by the Kensington Palace after they were received by Prince George and Kate Middleton, at the birth of Princess Charlotte. The royal teddy-bears have opened the collection of a museum dedicated to the most beloved toy.

Ever since, the shelves of the museum have been enriched with hundreds of plush bears from all over the world. The friends from the childhood of celebrities such as Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood character starring in the Harry Potter series), Brigitte Bardot or Hella Brice, the wife of the late actor Pierre Brice (Winnetou character). Other well-known toy bears like Mr. Bean`s or Paddington, the guardian bear from the famous Harrods store, Smokey Bear, the American mascot that protects the forests from fire and many others, have become an attraction for children and adults visiting the museum.

Ambassadors of England, Germany and Israel have also departed from their favorite toys by giving them freedom alongside the other bears.

A visit to the museum is a unique encounter with the innocence of the childhood years, when the little ones love bears and do not want to see them behind bars.

Hope Farm

The educational farm is located inside the Libearty Bear Sanctuary in Zarnesti and the animals benefit of 7000 sq m of land (a place completely separated from the bear’s enclosures).

Opened at the end of 2019, Hope Farm is home for over 40 domestic animals rescued in the last years by The Millions of Friends Association. The horses were rescued from the slaughter house and are no longer whipped, the donkeys are no longer wondering on fields searching for food and the pigs, chicken and turkeys can lay enjoying the sun instead of laying on a plate!

Hope Farm is an educational farm where children who didn’t have the joy to grow at the countryside at their grandparents, can see how the domestic animals they saw in books or at TV live and are taken care of. This way they can understand exactly where from comes the meat at their meals.

Visiting Hope Farm people also learn a lot of things about each species.

Education saves lives

“Education is the most powerful weapon that can change the world”

Nelson Mandela

In 2013, the Millions of Friends Association together with the Braşov County School Inspectorate and the Braşov City Hall started a comprehensive educational project consisting in optional lessons concerning the animal welfare.

The course is called “Welfare and Animal Protection” and has 17 lessons including also extra-curricular activities – visits to the sanctuary, zoos, farms, etc.

More than 2,500 students attended the courses supported by AMP team members during 2013 – 2019.

They all received for free a schoolbook conceived by the members of the Millions of Friends Association, a manual that received the SANCO expert opinion from the European Commission.

We want to:

Implementation in each school in Brașov and later in Romania of the education project carried out by the Millions of Friends Association;
Carrying out training courses for teachers who want to get involved in this project;
Empowering schoolchildren, from an early age, with all forms of life on earth. The result is a better interaction with the animals, as well as a decrease in cases of cruelty to animals, but also abandonment;
Changing the community’s attitude towards animals and the environment.

Over 60% of children own a pet !

Change the future, invest in education!

3,5% of the income tax

We saved over 25,000 animals in over two decades of activity! Can YOU help us to save more?

We have created the world’s largest Brown Bear Sanctuary! Can you help us to continue taking care of the bears saved from miserable and tiny cages?

The government allows every employed or retired person to direct 3,5% of the income tax to our NGO.

It is up to you to help us WITHOUT ANY EXPENSES.

We ask for your help! Can you do this for us? It only takes a few minutes!
*complete the 230 form online on www.millionsofffriends.org.

20% from profit

Conditions:
“Taxpayers (…) shall deduct from the profit tax they owe‚ the related amounts, if the total of these expenses cumulatively fulfill the following conditions:

Is within 0.5% from the rate of turnover;
It does not exceed more than 20% of the owing profit tax”.

Campaign for companies that are registred with profit tax.

Benefits:

For the business, there is no extra expense;
It’s a simple procedure and it is not time consuming;
Your company will prove that it is involved in community issues.

If you redirect to AMP you have the guarantee that your money really changes the world: that of the animals.

Virtual adoptions

You can also help for the maintenance of the bears in the Libearty Sanctuary or the dogs in the Victory Shelter. It’s very simple to become a virtual parent!

REGULAR ADOPTION
The monthly minimum amount for a simple adoption is 5 euro/month (60 euro/year), but you can donate more! Regardless of the adopted animal, upon completion of the donation for one year, we send you an online adoption certificate. You can print it and put it on your desk. So the chosen one will become a member of your family!

EXCLUSIVE ADOPTION
This is an adoption dedicated exclusively to the Libearty bears. You can become a unique adopter if you donate 700 euros/month, the monthly cost per bear.

Did you know that:

5 euro per month means the cost of a honey jar for a bear?
In the sanctuary ”we” eat more than two tons of food/day?
The annual cost of maintaining a bear in our sanctuary is 7,000 euros?
The annual cost of maintenance, medication and care for the animals in our Victory Shelter is at least 25,000 euros a month?
We care and treat about 750 dogs every day: 400 at Victory and 350 at Stupini and Zărneşti Public Shelters?
We make over 1,000 free neuterings per year, and the cost for these is nearly 50,000 euros?

Celebrities

There are many celebrities who love the animals, and some of them have visited us over the years. Celebrities such as Natalie Imbruglia, Jaqueline Bisset, Peter Maffay, Alesha Dixon, Asher Keddie, Leona Lewis and Pierre Brice, Adnan Maral, Evanna Lynch and Peter Egan are just some of those who contributed to the rescue of those animals which AMP look after and they also raised funds for them. Pierre Brice, the actor, is the godfather of Gina and Sofia, and Andrew Noble, the British Ambassador, is the adoptive parent of Hansel. The sanctuary also received the visit of Princess Ileana`s children, the daughter of Queen Maria and King Ferdinand I of Romania, Queen Mary’s successors.

Awareness

With over 100 news and media articles each year, AMP has become the animal welfare NGO with the highest visibility in Romania. Most of the national media are following the animal rescue actions of the Sanctuary staff.

To increase awareness, we develop and run campaigns, events and actions throughout the year.