During the Communist regime of Nicolai Ceausescu, farmers were forced to move from their villages to Communist bloc housing in the city and to work in factories. He did not allow cats and dogs in public housing, so many were abandoned. Though Communism fell in 1989, the number of homeless cats and dogs living in cities and towns has reached crisis level.

Stray dogs and cats wander the streets of Romania, searching for food and shelter. Cars hit many of them. They all risk poisoning, illness and starvation. Those animals placed in shelters are fed scraps, if they are lucky.

Romania underwent a short-lived period of economic stability in the 1960s and 1970s during the early part of Nicolae Ceausescu's regime. In 1981, Ceausescu instituted an austerity program that resulted in severe shortages of food, electricity and consumer goods. In 1989, after antigovernment violence broke out, Ceausescu fled, but was captured, deposed and executed along with his wife. A 2006 presidential commission report estimated that under Communist rule (1945-1989) as many as 2 million people were killed or persecuted in Romania.

The economy continued to lag under the 1990 presidential election of Ion Iliescu, a former Communist party official. Price increases and food shortages led to civil unrest, and the closing of mines set off large-scale strikes and demonstrations by miners. In the 2000 elections, Iliescu again won the presidency. It was during his presidency that stray dogs and cats of Romania began to multiply in great numbers.

Before Communism, Romanians enjoyed a good relationship with their animals. Seen more as workers than pets, they shared their lives with many families in rural villages and were well cared for and never hungry. Dogs herded sheep and cattle, and cats hunted their food.

During the Communist era, family planning was not allowed. Romanians took desperate measures to prevent the births of more children. Some had to abandon their newborn babies who ended up in government run orphanages. Most families from rural villages were forced to move to cities, housed in crowded Communist bloc apartments, some with other families. Ordered by Ceausescu to leave their dogs and cats on the city streets, no animals were allowed in the small apartments.

Like Romania's children, many pets also became orphans during Iliescu's regime. The number of dogs and cats that were left to roam the streets, breed, starve and fend for themselves spiraled out of control. Romanian people and their animals shared a legacy of betrayal, hardship and abandonment.

The stray dog and cat population has snowballed into a storm of controversy. The brutal dictatorship of Ceausescu long gone, many animals are neglected, abused, or killed and tossed away like garbage. Wages remain low and Romanians still struggle to make ends meet. As the economy grows the culture changes. The animals' cries for help are beginning to be heard.