Inside the Suny Shelter | Saving Nearly 200 Dogs in Bosnia and Herzegovina

An Englishman in the Balkans is a personal podcast about life, travel, culture, and storytelling in Bosnia and Herzegovina, told from the perspective of a British-born creator who has made this country home.

Expect gentle reflections, real places, local voices, field recordings, and stories that go beyond the usual headlines.

Hidden at the end of a quiet track through the farmland and forests of northern Bosnia and Herzegovina is a place that has become a lifeline for nearly 200 dogs.

In this episode of An Englishman in the Balkans, I visit Suny Shelter, a dog sanctuary run by Balkan Dogs, a Finnish volunteer organisation founded in 2015. The shelter provides safety, veterinary care, space and, eventually, the possibility of a permanent home for dogs rescued from the streets, abandoned by their owners or removed from difficult conditions in municipal shelters.

I sit down with Mei Sawanoi, who moved permanently from Finland to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2019. Together with her husband, Dražen, she now lives at the shelter and cares for the dogs every day.

Mei shares the story of how adopting one rescue dog led her towards the Balkans, why she eventually made Bosnia her home, and what daily life is really like when almost 200 dogs depend upon you.

I also speak with Elina, a Finnish volunteer whose own adopted dog first introduced her to Balkan Dogs. She describes the emotional experience of meeting animals she had previously seen arriving at the shelter injured, frightened and severely neglected—only to find them healthy, trusting and ready to begin new lives.

We also hear about the extraordinary journeys Mei and Dražen make every two months, driving rescued dogs for around 30 hours from Bosnia through Europe to Finland, where carefully selected adoptive families are waiting for them.

This is not simply a story about a dog shelter. It is a story about compassion, responsibility, sacrifice and the difference a small group of determined people can make.

In this episode:

The story behind Suny Shelter and Balkan Dogs

Why Mei left Finland and moved permanently to Bosnia

The reality facing abandoned and stray dogs in Bosnia and Herzegovina

How the shelter cares for almost 200 dogs

The importance of vaccination, quarantine and sterilisation

Why Finnish volunteers travel to Bosnia to help

How rescued dogs are transported and re-homed in Finland

The emotional rewards, and pressures, of running a rescue shelter

If this episode moves you, please consider sharing it with someone who cares about animals, rescue work or the lesser-known stories of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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