The Dziko Project

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The Dziko Project

🐾 The Dziko Project 🐾

We help communities by neutering, vaccinating & treating street animals—ending suffering, stopping rabies, and saving lives 🐕
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The Dziko Project is a grassroots charity working to improve the lives of street dogs and cats in southern Sri Lanka. Every day, we care for abandoned, neglected, and vulnerable animals through sterilisations, vaccinations, parasite treatments, and emergency veterinary care. We also support families who love their pets but cannot afford the costs, helping them keep their animals healthy and safe.

Our mission is to break the cycle of unwanted litters, prevent the spread of deadly diseases, and create kinder, healthier communities for both animals and people. You can be part of the change — donate today: paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=69PFKSH9XS9QL

Follow our work and updates on Instagram:

20/08/2026

Fun fact: Polonnaruwa is one of Sri Lanka’s most sacred ancient cities, built in the 12th century with some seriously impressive Sinhalese architecture.

Slightly more fun fact: there was a dog fast asleep in the ruins of the Royal Palace, curled up in a sunbeam looking very peaceful.

📷 Sharon Rose captured during a little break exploring the central province of Sri Lanka.

16/08/2026

Meet the newest addition to a household that already has the biggest heart in Sri Lanka. 🧡

Sri Lanka has an estimated 3 million street dogs. And yet there are still people out there buying “breed” puppies purely for the way they look. This girl, a big bully breed pup, was headed for abandonment because she wasn’t “pretty enough.” Not the right look. Maybe destined for a breeding chain instead. Either way, a death sentence in slow motion.

Then friends of Dziko stepped in. This family already has 6 rescued cats, every single one desexed and vaccinated through our program, plus another rescued dog who found them the same way this pup did: unwanted, unlucky, and lucky all at once.

We covered her spay and vaccinations. They gave her a home, a family, and a future that has nothing to do with how she looks and everything to do with how she’s loved. 🥰

This is what breaking the cycle looks like. One pup, one family, one less “unwanted” life. 🙌🏽

Thank you for giving her the home and life she deserves. 🩷

If you want to help us keep showing up for the ones nobody else will, a donation goes straight to surgeries like hers 👉🏽 https://donorbox.org/the-dziko-project

11/08/2026

Remember this little face from June? 🐾

We found her covered, and we mean COVERED, in ticks. Hundreds of them, head to tail (see last video 😱). For now we refer to her as Tick Girl (yes, we still need a better name, please comment with suggestions!) and treated her immediately.

Fast forward to now: tick free, thriving, and last week she came in for her spay and vaccinations too. She’s safe, she’s protected, and loving life without hundreds of parasites dragging her down.

This is what your support makes possible. Not just treatment, but a whole new life for a dog.

Welcome to the other side, gorgeous girl. 🐶💛

Tick Girl gets about through the village with many guardians feeding her and we have taken care of her vaccinations and spaying, thanks to your support 🧡

📸 Sharon Rose

Here she is today, when volunteer Andy was scooting past. She’s doing incredible!

🎥 Andy Jones

When we first found her back in June. She was treated with an Easecto, an anti parasite tablet generously donated by Worldwide Veterinary Service - thank you so much, they have been life changing 🐕

🎥 Andy Jones

09/08/2026

Monsoon rains are here 🌧️

Sully would much rather be running around down at the beach, but when the monsoons roll in, nothing beats getting cozy under the covers instead.

We hope the Streeties have found their own cozy dry spots too, tucked away somewhere warm and safe.

📸 Sully was rescued back in 2021 by Sharon Rose and has well and truly forgotten his hard start to life.

08/08/2026

🐈‍⬛ It’s International Cat Day 🐈

Last week we launched Mission Maldives. Our team is heading to Guraidhoo Island, where cats have never had access to any veterinary care or sterilisation programs. No vet clinic. No help for mange, wounds, or the endless cycle of kittens nobody can care for. Just cats, doing their best, with nowhere to turn.

We’re going to change that. Our goal: sterilise 100 cats, treat parasites and skin conditions, and give this island’s cat population real veterinary care for the very first time.

Today, of all days, will you help make it happen? Every donation gets us closer to Guraidhoo and helping change 100 cats lives 👇🏽

https://donorbox.org/cat-sterilisations-maldives

They need you, they need us 🐈

Photo Sara Ortín | Wildlife & Welfare

07/08/2026

🔥 We crunched the numbers and here’s
another incredible month at The Dziko Project 🇱🇰

JULY STATS:
🐾 91 sterilisations
💉 91 rabies vaccinations
🦠 36 DHP/L vaccinations
🪱 14 Parasite treatments
❤️‍🩹 4 other veterinary treatments

A huge thank you to all our donors, volunteers, and our partner vets, none of this would be possible without you.

Your support is saving lives and creating long-term change for Sri Lanka’s street animals ♥️ Thank you from our hearts.

06/08/2026

Happiest of birthdays to our co-founder Sara! 🎂 Wishing you the most special day and year ahead.

Sara’s the reason Mission Maldives exists. Sara saw the state of the cats on Guraidhoo firsthand, no vet care, skin conditions left untreated, and an endless cycle of litters with nowhere to go, and came back determined to change it.

So this year, the best gift you could give Sara is helping our Mission Maldives campaign become real. €5, £5, $5, whatever you can spare goes straight towards getting our vet team out to those cats.

Cheers to Sara, and to giving her something to celebrate even more this year. 🐈‍⬛🐾

Want to send a little birthday surprise to Sara 💝https://donorbox.org/cat-sterilisations-maldives

03/08/2026

Xalat is an elderly woman from the community who has opened her heart and home to six rescued dogs and one rescued cat, all of whom we support ♥️ So far, we have vaccinated every animal, provided parasite treatment to all of them, and sterilized three. This week, we’re hoping to catch the remaining two dogs for sterilization, but they tricky ones and disappear into the bush the moment they see us! 🙃 Their monthly food is generously sponsored by our wonderful volunteer Helen and her husband Eddie, and our team member Ramesh—who is also Xalat’s grandson—visits every single day to make sure they’re all fed.

Let’s hope we manage to catch the two brown dogs this week 🌟

📷 Sharon Rose 🧚🏼

02/08/2026

Rest easy, Steph ✨

Some of you will remember Steph from our earlier posts: the emaciated beach dog who couldn’t stand, running out of time as the rainy season brought in monsoonal tides. Our volunteer Andy took her in when she had nowhere else to go.

For the past month, Andy gave her everything. A safe, dry place to rest and call home. Endless patience. Hand-fed meals, trying every single day to help her get strong again.

Some dogs we reach in time. Some, like Steph, have already been through so much. But she spent her last weeks knowing comfort and love, not fear on a beach.

Thank you, Andy, for that. And thank you to everyone who supported her care. She mattered, and she was loved. 💛 Shine bright Steph ✨

31/07/2026

MISSION MALDIVES 🐈‍⬛🇲🇻 After months of planning, we are finally able to share that, in early 2027, we will be deploying part of our veterinary and animal care team to the island of Guraidhoo, in the Maldives, to sterilize 100 stray cats, treat mange and other medical conditions, provide flea, tick and worm treatment, and deliver any veterinary care they need. With no vet on the island, the cat population grows unchecked, with many cats suffering from mange, parasites, injuries, and other untreated medical conditions. Together, we can humanely control the population, reduce suffering, and give these cats the healthy lives they deserve. This is a mission we have dreamed about for a long time, and after months of work, we have finally received the green light from the Maldivian consulate to make it happen.

To make this mission possible, we need to raise €6,957, and we need your help. Please consider donating: https://donorbox.org/cat-sterilisations-maldives and help us sharing far and wide. Every donation, no matter the size, brings us one step closer 🫶🏽

At The Dziko Project, we are dedicated to changing the reality of animals and make the world a brighter place ♥️🐈‍⬛🇲🇻 And thank you to the Manta Divers and the MANTA EXCURSIONS MALDIVES - Snorkeling, diving & trips family for their help and support into making this mission possible!

Address

87 Pujitha Newasa, Beach Road, Madiha
Matara
81000

Website

https://thedzikoproject.org/

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