Sara Turetta: A Life Devoted to Animals

Who could have predicted that the little girl, born in Italy in 1973 and raised for the happy early years of her childhood between Belgium and the Netherlands, would one day live a life worthy of a novel of courage and determination?

No one could have foreseen it.

Hers appeared to be the story of a young woman destined for the reassuring, coveted path of successful Milan: a classical education, a degree in Modern Literature and Social Communication from the prestigious Università Cattolica, and, thereafter, entry into the temple of international communication, the renowned advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi. It seemed the beginning of a brilliant and stable career at the heart of the city.

Yet behind that desk, and behind a future that already appeared written, lay a destiny no less remarkable but altogether different. That striking young woman, with her golden curls, was the same person who, during adolescence, had already given her time to others through various forms of voluntary work with the elderly and the disabled; the same person who, around the age of twenty, had begun to work actively at a local dog shelter, discovering a profound love for abandoned animals.

Perhaps not even she, the young woman with a future in advertising, could have imagined that she would one day leave it all behind. And yet Sara Turetta was about to change, irrevocably, the lives of thousands of animals and people in Romania, in Italy, and across the world.

The Point of No Return

The turning point came like a blow in 2001. The images relayed by television news bulletins and the international press were unbearable: Romania had launched a mass, merciless cull of the stray dogs of Bucharest. World public opinion was shaken, and so was Sara.

Heeding a call she could no longer ignore, and following in the footsteps of a figure such as Brigitte Bardot, Sara decided to act. She left the security of Milan, temporarily, and flew to Bucharest to bring practical help to the field. It was a confrontation with a raw and painful reality, but rather than deterring her, it gave her a decisive impetus and gradually shaped the woman she is today.

The following year, in 2002, she took the boldest step of all: she resigned from Saatchi & Saatchi. She gave up her advertising career, packed her bags, and moved alone to Cernavodă, a small town in southern Romania, where the mayor, struck by the determination of this young Italian woman, had agreed to halt the killing of strays in exchange for a population-control programme.

There, in a land not her own, far from her family and from the comforts of Milan, Sara settled alone for four years. Four intense, gruelling years, marked by daily struggles, mud, and hope. From 2006 to 2017, her bond with that land became a form of spiritual commuting: she returned to Romania every single month, coordinating operations on the ground and nurturing the growth of the enterprise she had brought into being from nothing.

The Birth of a Marvel: Save the Dogs and Other Animals

Great stories of love and courage are never confined to a single corner of the world. In 2005, what had begun as one young Italian woman's solitary mission became an institution: Sara founded Save the Dogs and Other Animals Italy. The following year, in 2006, drawing on her formation in communication, she achieved a strategic masterstroke, opening an office in Milan dedicated exclusively to fundraising and communication. It marked the managerial turning point in the cause of animal welfare.

The crowning achievement of this remarkable journey came in 2017. At Cernavodă, within the Footprints of Joy centre, where Save the Dogs shelters and cares for hundreds of abandoned animals — dogs, cats, donkeys and horses among them — a substantial veterinary clinic was inaugurated. Today, coordinating a sizeable staff across Italy and Romania, and supported by international partners and by donors who have placed their trust in Sara and her undertakings, the Footprints of Joy centre stands as a genuine model of excellence in the protection of the most vulnerable animals.

Its beating heart is the veterinary clinic, opened in October 2017: designed to the highest European standards, the facility treats some two thousand animals a year and constitutes the sole health provision for a very wide area. Adjoining the clinic is the shelter for abandoned dogs, opened in 2012 and fitted with fifty kennels, conceived above all as a place of calm transit for animals awaiting adoption. Completing this sanctuary complex is the cattery, a small feline haven where Save the Dogs takes in cats abandoned by their owners, or that cannot be released back into managed colonies, protecting them and guiding them, in turn, towards a new home.

A Return to Her Roots, and a Life's Achievements

But a visionary never rests. Drawing on her experience and success in Romania, Sara resolved that the time had come to help her own homeland as well. In 2019, Save the Dogs launched its first major sterilisation project in southern Italy, in Campania: "Non Uno di Troppo, li amiamo, li sterilizziamo" ("Too Many Puppies", in English). In 2021, the initiative was extended to Calabria, to combat the scourge of strays where the need is greatest.

Meanwhile, the world had taken notice. Since 2011, Sara has been invited on three occasions to speak at ICAWC, the prestigious international conference organised by the British organisation Dogs Trust, becoming a respected voice worldwide on stray-animal management and responsible ownership.

The honours have followed one another like chapters in an impressive record: from the Wangari Maathai Award, to the title of Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy, conferred by the Presidency of the Republic in 2012, to the prestigious Clarissa Baldwin Award in London. Broadcasters in two countries, Italy and Romania, have vied for her attention, and in 2025 Romanian national television (TVR) formally named her among its "People of the Year".

In September 2020, Sara felt the moment had come to share this journey — one that, beyond being an extraordinary personal story, has become a genuine model of associative and managerial success. Her autobiography, "I cani, la mia vita" ("Dogs, My Life", Edizioni Sonda), was published in Italy and widely reviewed. The book appeared in Romania in 2022, through Editura Humanitas, and reached Germany in November 2025.

It is as though a perfect circle has closed: that young woman with the golden curls has returned to her Milan. Not as a young professional at the outset of a career, but as a woman who continues to dream on a grand scale, who works each day to protect animals and human beings alike, and to elevate the bond between them. A woman ready to share her extraordinary knowledge and, above all, one who has taught the world the immense value of never looking away.

In Save the Dogs' mission statement, you affirm that human beings have a moral duty to protect animals. What does it mean to safeguard not merely the welfare, but the dignity, of an animal?

There is no love without knowledge. Can we truly say we love a person without knowing them? I do not believe so. The same holds true of animals: to love them, we must know them, understand their needs — which are not our own — and build a form of coexistence that accounts for our requirements as well as theirs, within a relationship founded on reciprocity rather than utility.

Do you consider sterilisation to remain, today, the central and fundamental measure for protecting our animals?

Although there is currently a lively debate on the subject of sterilisation, following the publication of a study pointing to an increased risk of certain illnesses and to its effects on hormonal development, I remain firmly convinced that in an emergency situation, such as that faced by most countries in the world, it is an essential practice. Certainly, in a culturally advanced context one might speak of "abstinence" — not allowing a dog to mate, but leaving it intact — yet how many people are genuinely capable of responsibly managing an unsterilised animal? Very few, unfortunately.

Those of us who, like me, work on the front line know one thing: every day we see thousands of dogs and cats that die, or that endure a wretched existence. We have a duty to reduce these numbers. Should anyone offer a viable alternative to sterilisation for controlling births, we would be glad to consider it.

What does Save the Dogs and Other Animals mean to you today, after all these years? What do you feel when you board a plane to return to Romania, and set foot once again inside the place you built?

Every time I return, I find it hard to believe. Footprints of Joy is a small paradise; it is precisely how I would wish the world to be — an oasis, a place charged with a kind of magic, the fruit of all the love and dedication we have poured into this corner of Romania over the past twenty years.

But then I begin to think of everything that remains to be done, and I return to work with my head down, alongside my team, because we have many projects ahead of us — an education centre, a mobile clinic — and we need only find the resources to bring them to life.

In Romania, you launched the "Vite Connesse" ("Connected Lives") project, which involves inmates at the Poarta Albă prison in activities with animals. Could you explain how this initiative works, and what impact it has had on both people and animals?

Initially, the project comprised two strands: visits by inmates to our centre, involving guided interaction with our animals and work alongside our staff; and a second strand consisting of craft workshops, without animals, held within the prison hospital. Regrettably, the director of the main prison suspended the collaboration for reasons that struck us as unreasonable, halting the inmates' visits, whereas the director of the separate prison hospital continues to open its doors to us. The items produced during the workshops — toys and scratching posts — are sold in our charity shop.

We hope that the director of the main prison will soon reconsider.

Also at Cernavodă, Save the Dogs' work extends beyond dogs and cats: an important part of your activity is dedicated to the welfare of donkeys and horses. What are these animals rescued from, and how do you help them?

Donkeys and horses are still widely used in the countryside for fieldwork and for transporting people and goods. The equine population is in decline, yet it remains considerable by comparison with more developed European countries. These animals, however, are frequently victims of abuse or abandonment, and there is a lack of facilities to take them in. At present, we care for fifty donkeys and twenty-six horses, some with disabilities. They will live out their lives in our sanctuary, free and protected.

Could you tell us how the Milan project "Amici di strada, compagni di vita" ("Street Friends, Life Companions"), dedicated to supporting the dogs of homeless people, came about, and what it involves?

As in all major European cities, Milan is experiencing a rise in poverty, addiction and psychological distress. At present, some eight hundred people live on the streets without a place in the shelters provided by the City Council. Among them are at least eighty who live with an animal — chiefly dogs, though also cats and, in some cases, rabbits — often because these individuals have been evicted from their homes. Our street outreach unit provides them with veterinary care, sterilisation, vaccination and heartworm prevention, as well as food and equipment. Over the past two years, the project has also been extended to low-income families, and demand has been considerable. We are working with the City of Milan to secure places in shelters for those with an animal, and we are optimistic: 2026 could prove to be the turning point.

Why did you feel the need to write your autobiography, "I cani, la mia vita", and what do you hope readers who discover your story will take from it?

Above all, so as not to forget what I have lived through over these twenty-five years: time passes, and memories fade. Secondly, to help other activists working on the same front, offering encouragement and sharing both mistakes and good practice. Finally, because I want donors and supporters of Save the Dogs to understand where it all began, the values that led me to bring this work into being, and why it is worth supporting us.

When you sit at your desk at the Save the Dogs office in Italy and look to your right, at the many prestigious international awards you have received over the years, what do you feel?

My parents taught me never to grow proud, but I certainly think: "you have come a long way."

If someone wished to support Save the Dogs, how might they help?

Our projects, in order to become sustainable and to have a future, need generous and committed donors who can offer their support over time. We provide the fullest transparency and accountability, qualities that remain, unfortunately, rare in the world of animal-welfare associations.

Donations, in various forms, can be made through www.savethedogs.eu, including to the Swiss account we established some years ago. Through Transnational Giving Europe, tax-deductible donations can be made in Switzerland, Germany and Great Britain. We are, naturally, also interested in partnerships with companies, whether through in-kind donations of products used in our various projects, or through wider collaborations, particularly where shared values are involved.

In your view, does the human–animal bond represent a "Noble Alliance"?

Without any doubt. I often say that animals are masters of virtue: they teach us a great deal, if only we have the patience to observe and truly come to know them. Our relationship with animals enriches us as human beings and, in the case of dogs, shows us what it means to feel pure emotion — the kind we felt as children, untouched by the accumulated burdens that shape our relationships in adulthood.

I might add something rather more personal: dogs bring us closer than any other animal to that which is transcendent. But it takes an attentive eye, and no small measure of sensitivity, to perceive it.