Themes by tag: animals

Oleksii Surovtsev is a Ukrainian actor. At the beginning of russia’s full-scale invasion, he responded to a request to save a cat in Irpin, Kyiv region, which is where hostilities with the russian occupiers were taking place. After that people began actively asking Oleksii to save their pets (cats, dogs, parrots, chinchillas, guinea pigs). Despite all the risks, Oleksii evacuated the animals. In total, he was able to bring more than 300 pets out of Irpin.

After the Ukrainian Armed Forces liberated Kyiv oblast from the occupiers, he created a shelter for cats called “Bearded Cat Mom.” Later, he also opened a vet clinic for homeless animals.

Now fifty cats live in the shelter, 20 are undergoing treatment.

For reference: on April 2, 2022, Kyiv region was completely liberated from russian occupation. By April 6, 2022, the Defense Forces fully liberated Chernihiv region. On April 11, 2022, the then Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi announced that full control over the state border in Sumy region had been restored.  

• animals
• volunteers
• Kyiv

In Mezhyhirya, Kyiv region, Anteus canine center has been training guide dogs as well as preparing dogs to work in combat zones for more than 10 years. Until 2014, the center had been an elite kennel club located on the grounds of the mansion belonging to fugitive president Viktor Yanukovych.

After the Revolution of Dignity, the Ukrainian military began to turn to the center’s canine experts, as the servicemen needed dogs who could work at the front. In particular, to help clear mines, as well as participate in search and rescue operations. Such requests kept on coming during the full-scale invasion as well. In addition to training four-legged friends to work in combat zones, specialists train guide dogs to care for civilians and soldiers who have lost their sight. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the canine center has raised 5 guide dogs, all of whom received the necessary certification abroad and went on to take care of their owners.

“Let’s See the Victory” charity foundation, which was founded by the veteran of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Vladyslav Yeshchenko, pledged to support the canine center to enable training of more guide dogs. Employees of the center say that it is not easy to maintain such an organization, in particular, without state funding. After all, it takes more than UAH 200,000 to raise and train one dog that can work with the wounded.

• animals
• casualties
• Kyiv

Dog handlers from Denmark, who came to Ukraine to join the Antares search and rescue team, are currently training at the Pavlohrad dog training center in the Dnipro region. The foreign specialists plan to join dog-and-handler teams in its mission. For Antares, it’s the first experience working with foreign dog handlers planning to join the canine search team. Soon, specialists from Poland will also arrive at the dog training and fielding center.

For reference: The Antares Search and Rescue Dog Team was founded in 2008. Until 2014, the team was getting the dogs training in a search profile for missing civilians, who were still alive, and the dogs weren’t trained specifically to find dead bodies, so finding human remains rather than a live person wasn’t their forte. But in 2017, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine began to involve Antares unit SAR dogs and canine handlers sprung into action assisting the search for the dead. Now highly trained search resources are also used by the National Police, the State Emergency Service, and the Security Service of Ukraine. In March 2023, Larysa Borysenko, the head of the professional canine SAR team, was injured due to an explosion triggered by a trip wire during a search in the Kharkiv region. She has already undergone treatment and returned to work.

• animals
• dead
• Dnipro

Oleksii Prytula is a veterinarian from Odesa. During the full-scale invasion, he decided to join the defense of the country. In September 2022, he was seriously injured and lost both legs. Despite this adversity, he returned to work.

The man received prostheses and underwent rehabilitation at the Superhumans Center in Lviv. The veteran’s employer arranged a special workplace for him. So Oleksii can resume his work treating his four-legged patients.

• animals
• casualties
• doctors
• military
• Odesa

The InNikos Canine Assisted Therapy Center has recently opened in Kyiv. A team of therapy dogs, dog handlers, psychologists, and a rehabilitation therapist help people improve their emotional well-being and physical health. The military personnel, families of defenders, IDPs, children who survived the occupation, and in general people affected by the war, are center clients. The Center provides free-of-charge sessions, and group and individual therapy is available. 

The center employs 9 therapy dogs: six have been trained and tested, and three more are in training. The oldest mixed-breed therapy dog (Labrador Retriever + German Shepherd) is 10-year-old Nika. The youngest dog in the center is a 5-month-old Belgian Malinois named Barcelona. She is still undergoing a training program, but she is already involved in classes, mostly with the military and children. 

The organizers plan to launch a similar canine therapy project in 4 more cities.

• animals
• casualties
• psychological support
• Kyiv

A 54-year-old Yevhen Tkachov has been evacuating people from the frontline cities and towns of Donetsk Oblast for more than 9 years. In particular, after February 24, 2022, Yevhen traveled to Bakhmut, Siversk, and Soledar. The man also delivers humanitarian aid to people in hot spots. He also takes care of animals, as he is a veterinary specialist. 

A few years before the full-blown war, he founded a hospice for older adults in Chasiv Yar, Donetsk region. This hospice care was destroyed by the invaders at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Patients had to be placed in the Khmelnytskyi region. The hospice for the elderly seniors is supported by Yevhen’s family, including his son.

• animals
• casualties
• volunteers

The B50 community was formed in the very first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Its future founders gathered near one of the Territorial Defense Forces headquarters, which had a secret address, B50, whence the community’s name followed. Since the Ukrainian forces have liberated the Kyiv region, B50 volunteers were among the first to join the cleanup and debris removal in Bucha, Irpin, Vorzel, and Hostomel. As of April 2022, the B50 community has been dispatching visiting missions to the de-occupied towns and villages of the Kyiv region every week to deal with cleanup activities of homes destroyed by the occupiers. In addition to debris removal, since 2023, the community’s volunteers have been restoring the children’s libraries funds in the frontline and de-occupied territories, reconstructing and decorating children’s bomb shelters, and helping animal shelters affected by the hostile invasion.

For reference: The B50 volunteers community is ready to have conversations with journalists, both online and offline. You can join the community missions every weekend.

• animals
• reconstruction
• volunteers

The resident of the Wild Animal Rescue Center, tigress named Tyhriula is now slowly getting up on her hind legs. Doctors continue to take care of the animal that was injured on November 11, as a result of the occupiers’ rocket attack on Kyiv region. Shellshocked from the explosions, Tyhriula hit the cage, fell down and could not get up. The animal received anti-inflammatory and analgesic therapy. Then experts assumed that she could have injured her hind limbs or spine.

On the same day, the lion living in the same Center was also injured. Other residents of the Wild Animal Rescue Center experienced stress caused by shelling as well.

For reference: In general, since the beginning of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Wildlife Rescue Center has taken in more than 800 animals (lions, bears, tigers, wolves, leopards, wild birds, raccoons, etc.). In particular, the volunteers evacuated the animals from the frontline zones and other dangerous areas. As of November, more than 200 rescued animals were transported to European rehabilitation centers.

• animals
• Kyiv

Anastasiia Kulish is the founder of VetEvak charitable foundation. For almost a year now, their team of volunteering veterinarians has been traveling as close to the front line as possible to rescue animals that stay with their owners near the front. Volunteers set up operating theaters in houses destroyed by the occupiers, treat animals under shelling. And the owners of cats and dogs line up when they find out that volunteers are coming to them. VetEvak also provides owners with medicine and food for their pets free of charge.

Additionally: It is possible to talk with the founder of VetEvak charitable foundation and the team of veterinarians, both online and offline by prior arrangement.

• animals
• volunteers

On November 4-5 in Kyiv, “Sirius” shelter for homeless animals is organizing “AdoptMe Days”: a dozen puppies and cats will be waiting for new families. These are animals that were abandoned on the streets, left at the shelter’s doorstep or rescued from the frontline areas. Anyone can get to know the animals, consult with experts and adopt a four-legged companion. Also, people are welcome to visit the shelter in Kyiv region over these days. Today, more than 3,000 dogs and more than 200 cats live there.

Journalists have the opportunity to cover this topic in Kyiv or visit the shelter in Kyiv region.

For reference: “Sirius” is the largest shelter for homeless animals in Ukraine. It has been working since 2000. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, more than 1,500 animals have been sheltered there. These are, in particular, four-legged animals abandoned by their owners, as well as those brought by volunteers and soldiers from the front-line territories: Kharkiv, Donetsk and Kherson regions. The shelter is located in Kyiv region – therefore, at the beginning of russia’s full-scale invasion, many animals experienced stress due to enemy shelling.

Currently, the shelter, like many others in Ukraine, is full of abandoned pets.

• animals
• Kyiv