I just read a story off Fox news that when summed up basically is about Hilary Swank trying to help save the dogs in Romania by pairing them up with orphans to help heal the children. Or at least neutering them. If you want to read the full article it's at the bottom of this post.

Okay, that sounds really great - give the poor orphans a dog - violins playing and happily ever after.

Except, I have been to Romania and I have seen the dogs and the orphans. This is such a great example of how we as a first world country are so naive. The dogs in Romania are gross - as in diseases, bleeding, scabby, limping messes. I love animals and I never went within 10 feet of a dog there and wouldn't have dared.

John said there were dogs all over the Philippines but I was shocked when we got there because people actually have dogs, as in they feed them and allow them into their homes. I don't remember seeing 1 dog that belonged to a Romanian. They are too gross. They are not pets there, they are more like big cockroaches. I never saw a veterinarian. They hardly have the medication and vaccinations they need for the orphans let alone the equipment, money, and medicine to get the dogs in any shape to allow kids near them. For heavens sake when I was there they fed 40 kids with 1 spoon - no rinsing in between. Also the kids don't have diapers. Diapers or dogs? Which do you think the kids really need?

On top of that workers still have a disdain for dogs. People there don't love dogs like pets. I bet they think Americans are disgusting for touching dogs. In our orphanage they wouldn't let us play with the kids on the ground because they were afraid the "current" (a draft) was going to get the kids sick. How many workers would really allow them to roll around on the ground with a dog, when to them dogs are like rats and cockroaches!

I get so sick celebrities going in to save the day and do something good for humanity without ever taking the time to understand the reality others live in. In naivety at its worse!

I get so frustrated because it causes a judgment that is not fair. It makes us judge Romania in a negative way unfairly. We live in a first world country, one of the most "advanced societies" and yet we try to judge the way people with other means, government, traditions, values, and infrastructures as equals.

My advice to a celebrity in search of a cause - go live and serve the people for a month to find a cause. Don't find a cause and then go visit for a week to promote it!

BUCHAREST, Romania –  Thousands of Romanian street dogs have found a friend in Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank.
Swank, who won for her portrayal of a waitress-turned-boxer in "Million Dollar Baby," visited Bucharest last week and showed a different kind of skill: fighting for animal rights.
Swank, who says travel has been her best education, rarely leaves home without Kai, a devoted Jack Russell stray she rescued in Los Angeles.

In the Romanian capital on Friday, she visited projects set up by the animal welfare foundation Vier Pfoten that encourage interaction between stray dogs and institutionalized people.
Bucharest has 35,000 strays and their fate has sparked a fierce debate here. Some believe they should be put down, others advocate putting the dogs in shelters, while others want strays to be sterilized.
Swank spoke to The Associated Press about her devotion to animals, her belief in sterilization and the ways street dogs can help disadvantaged people.

'I believe that is so healing to these kids who don't trust people anymore," she said. "The unconditional love of an animal is very healing and teaches them about not just unconditional love but about a relationship, about responsibility, about anger management."

Swank said she is starting a U.S. charity called Hilaroo to bring needy children and animals together. The charity combines her name and that of her late dog, Karoo.

"I've seen firsthand how it changes the path of the soul, for the animal and for the child," she said.
Visiting a retirement home, she talked about one special dog that changed the life of an elderly woman.

"There was a woman didn't get out of bed, and after a few weeks of the dog coming to visit she's up walking," she said. "The dog literally got her out of bed."
Last week, the 37-year-old actress was in Paris for the Salvatore Ferragamo Cruise Collection 2013 show.

Next month, Swank begins work on "Martha and Mary," an HBO movie with Brenda Blethyn about two women trying to eradicate malaria. Directed by Phillip Noyce, it will be shot in North Carolina and South Africa.

Before leaving Bucharest, she urged people to neuter unwanted dogs and cats rather than kill them.
"I believe in a `'No-Kill" policy," she said. "Hopefully (we are) getting to a place where we have "No-Kill" universally and just a more caring attitude in general to all animals."