Welcome to Museum of Dog

The Museum

Visiting a good museum is like discovering a forgotten treasure. Each exhibit has been rescued from loss or damage by inspired people, most of them anonymous. Governments preserve official history, and wealthy philanthropists preserve some expensive works of art, but the most interesting historical items and artifacts, that tell us the most about times past, were saved by ordinary people who saw the overlooked value in something that others might have discarded, and took care of it – very much as ROLDA sees the overlooked value in street dogs, and saves them.

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In the town of Galati there are about 300,000 people and as many as 10,000 street dogs. The Museum of Nature Science, the History Museum, and the Museum of Arts remind us of some of the special people who once were part of our community. Imposing old buildings preserve fragments of their legacy. But the dogs have contributed a legacy too, and there is no museum for them.

From an early age, we collect memories. Each of us creates a personal museum of what we most treasure that we have seen and done. A toy or a doll, or a funny drawing saved between the pages of an old book which we kept from childhood, bring back to life our memories––and many of those memories are made vivid by recollections of the animals who shared the times we remember.

For centuries dogs and humans have shared a special bond. Carvings, statues, inscriptions, paintings, drawings, and writings describing dogs have been found among the ruins of almost every ancient civilization; evidence has been discovered that our ancestors shared their lives with dogs for thousands of years even before the first civilizations started.

Today, paradoxically, a multi-billion-dollar international industry has been built around the pampered dogs of developed nations, while homeless dogs suffer in the less affluent nations. But even street dogs are often someone’s special and loyal friend. Sometimes such a dog becomes a community hero or someone’s guardian angel, saving a child, or an old person. Dogs who are brought into families, treated well, and trained do even more for us.

People easily remember cartoons, books, and movies that have dogs as characters, helping children to learn to read and to understand how to live in the adult world. But there is much more to the contribution of dogs to human culture and civilization than the deeds of famous dogs, both real and fictitious.

How you can describe a common dog? Each has the special gift of putting a smile on your face when no one else can. Each dog has a funny way of behaving so that you will forgive him for anything he did that was a nuisance. Dogs understand our emotions and respect how we feel like no one else.

There is a special place in the back of your mind where you save the memories of every dog you ever had.

Probably almost everything that could be said, written or interpreted about dogs has already been said, written, or interpreted.

But why not give dogs the place they have earned in our human community?!

This is how the idea for the ROLDA Museum of Dogs began. I discovered that there are a number of museums about dogs in the U.S., and possibly in Europe, but there are none in Romania. There is nowhere for people to go to learn to appreciate dogs, and everything that dogs humbly do to help make civilization possible.

Over the last 20 years Romania has often been a nation that disregards the values that helped us to survive decades under Communism and fascism. No sane person in Romania wants to go back to those times, or anything like them, but the present times do not seem to be developing people with the qualities of character that often emerged when life was harder and hope was harder to keep alive. We do not have a large number of role models who make our nation proud––and often find ways to insult and forget the people who could be role models.

In these conditions and from the same society, how can dogs become valued and respected, without an educational institution to teach about the importance of dogs?

Romanians are in dire need of education about respecting life in all forms, and about respecting the environment because of conscience, not just from fear of getting a fine from the police. We need to teach children not to abuse animals, and to teach parents to not allow abusive behavior –– and to set a good example of kindness themselves. We need to teach people to refrain from wearing fur, even if they can afford furs made from the pelts on wild animals and not just from illegally skinned dogs and cats. We need to teach the public about the importance of vaccinating pets to prevent illness, and a dog left starving on a chain will not protect property any better as he becomes malnourished, freezes, and dies.

The ROLDA Museum of Dogs will educate visitors about the roles of dogs, both in ancient and contemporary times. We are preparing to exhibit objects donated from all over the world by private collectors, animal lovers, and antique boutiques. Behind each object, there will be at least two stories: why someone made it, and why someone else bought it or kept it or sold it or preserved it. Our Museum of Dogs will begin on our web site. Join us for a dog-trip back in time to rediscover each of these items’ story!
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