Dr. Marina was born and raised in Ukraine. She now practices in the U.S.A and remains in touch with her parents who are active volunteers in Dnipro, Ukraine. Dr. Marina has heard, firsthand, of volunteers' heroic attempts to save pets left behind when their owners fled the war.
“Social media is effective and sharing stories of fleeing families reunited with their animals,” said Dr. Marina. “There are
wonderful photos of pets and families reunited and others with their new happy families. They contacted heroic shelter staff in combat zones and asked them to search for pets via a photo and area location. Rescuers are evacuating animals under unimaginable conditions with direct fire and delivering them to safety in Dnipro. Dnipro is still relatively safe, but shelters there are stretched beyond their limits, so some animals are being sent to other countries.
Brave Ukrainian
citizens drive their cars into danger zones and evacuate animals to shelters. Then other brave souls, including a group of Czech Republic volunteers, navigate the craziness of wartime border crossings coordinating a multi-national effort to find these animals new loving families in Europe. The dedicated staff also coordinate pet food deliveries in Ukraine. There are unbelievable stories of courage, devotion, and pure goodness of heart when it comes to current animal rescue work. A network of
people formed partnerships with those in Europe, shipping animals for rehoming to France, Poland, and the Czech Republic. I was thrilled when the volunteers reported that 11 cats had safely arrived in the Czech Republic and were receiving medical care,” said Dr. Marina. “As the world raised money for Ukrainian military and humanitarian causes, animal shelters received little financial support, struggling to buy food, supplies, medications, and pay veterinary bills. Many shelters have little, or
no, food and their needs grow bigger each day.”
One domesticated cat, Ginger, arrived at a shelter with life threatening injures. Pets like her cannot survive or adapt or the streets, especially in war conditions. She had emergency surgery, was on oxygen for four days and stunned staff by surviving insurmountable odds because of the extent of her injuries.
Ginger and her story were posted on the shelter’s website ending with a description of her as
“beautiful and incredibly affectionate.”
Teresa, in the Czech Republic, applied to adopt Ginger because the cat reminded her of the loving bond she had developed with another child as they both cared for, while saving a ginger cat’s life.
In the meantime, two mercy missions to Ukrainian shelters delivered pet food, supplies and returned with homeless animals. The second trip is underway, and Ginger is on her way to Teresa who is excited to get her new kitty
and offer it a second chance of safety, love and a home. (We will share her story in a future article.)
