By Mikaela STONE

The last thing Romik Hacopian expected from his 2019 visit to the Etchmiadzin Cathedral in Armenia was to discover a new life calling: taking care of the city’s many stray animals. 

On Nov. 1, Hacopian’s Etchmiadzin Rescue Group (ERG) Animal Shelter will celebrate its second anniversary. Hacopian is an animal lover who owns two cats and regularly dogsits for his friends but he reported that many people in Armenia do not feel so warmly toward the “dirty” strays. When he saw activist Seda Melkonyan feeding the dogs outside the cathedral, Hacopian was relieved to find a like-minded person. However, living on the equivalent of 300 U.S. dollars a month, Melkonyan faced a shortage of funds that prevented her from reaching as many animals as she wished. As a friendship between the two grew, Hacopian began to send her what he could afford from his job as a nursing home coordinator.

When Melkonyan took in eight puppies off the street, she soon realized that she did not have enough space to support the growing dogs. This gave Hacopian the idea to start an animal shelter. With financial help from his friends at home, he founded the ERG Animal Shelter and installed Melkonyan as director – a task she was well suited for. 

According to Hacopian, “[Melkonyan] is a dog whisperer. She loves dogs. She is like [Cesar Millan] … she has a calming effect on them.” 

Melkonyan is joined at the shelter by her friend and fellow activist Anoush, a fellow volunteer.

As the only animal shelter in Etchmiadzin, the organization quickly grew from taking care of 20 dogs to 85 dogs. The strays they cannot afford to take in they feed. “This should be the government’s responsibility … but what can you do?” Hacopian asked. When he reached out to the Armenian government for assistance, not only was he refused but the government also charged him for going outside the city’s zoning laws, which had earmarked his land for agriculture. Undeterred, Hacopian once again called on his friends to help him fund two new projects: a house for both cats and injured dogs and what Hacopian calls a “Domig house,” a place for refugee Raya and her family to live. The family fled ethnic cleansing by Azerbaijan in 2023. The Armenian Assembly of America reports 120,000 people displaced from their homes while HETQ (an online newspaper published in Yerevan) investigative journalists report 223 deaths. Raya and her family, animal lovers themselves, watch over the ERG Animal Shelter when Melkonyan is not present. 

Currently, Hacopian can afford to send enough money for each animal to receive one meal a day. For the majority of these animals, the ERG Animal Shelter is their forever home. When the shelter opened its doors to adoptions, potential owners were happy to take a puppy home for their child to play with. However, when the dog grew the interest of the families waned. After learning that some of the puppies had been played with too roughly by children unused to dog care, Hacopian decided against allowing adoptions. Without that avenue of income, Hacopian and his friends in America have taken to canvassing and selling chocolates in Montrose for their non-profit. He is currently working to raise funds for a fence around the property so that the dogs can run free without the risk of entering the roads. Safety for the dogs is a high priority for him – he even has cameras to look in on the dogs. He reports the dogs seem very happy and enjoy playing with one another. 

“I do not like to say I am proud of myself, but I am happy,” Hacopian said. Instead he praises Melkonyan without whom the shelter would not exist. 

“As long as [the shelter animals] have Seda [Melkonyan], they will be safe,” he said. 

For more information or to make a tax deductible donation to the Etchmiadzin Rescue Group Animal Shelter, visit https://etchmiadzinrescuegroup.org/. Volunteers are being sought to sell chocolate and raise donations in Montrose.