The start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine has left thousands of animals homeless. Now, animal rescue falls on the shoulders of volunteers who organize shelters, evacuate animals and find new owners. Animals behave like humans: they are afraid, hide, panic, worry and try to escape. Many dogs died not from thirst or hunger but from fear. They became antisocial and frightened. However, the animals did not let their primal instincts take over even without food and water.
Mostly, people seek help themselves and report abandoned animals, or volunteers see the information online and offer help. Before the evacuation, movement representatives coordinate the location and transportation of the animals with local volunteers. If no one is available, the volunteers engage their evacuation teams. The team pre-arranges the evacuation with the military if it is unsafe to stay in a certain city or village due to the hostilities. Two rescue teams evacuate animals from the frontline and de-occupied territories of Kharkiv and Donetsk Oblasts; at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, they also worked in Luhansk Oblast.
People who call the hotline and also the information from the military help to find the animals in need. After collecting information and applications, analyzing data, and building logistics routes, the process of evacuation of animals goes through several stages: the first is the evacuation from the war zone, usually to Kharkiv. The second stage is transporting animals in Ukraine and abroad to new owners, organizations, or shelters for temporary keeping. Between these stages are treatment, rehabilitation, vaccination, chipping, issuing passports if the animal is going abroad, and finding temporary shelters and families for the animals. Some animals stayed in Ukraine, while others were transported across the border and handed over to volunteers from Spain, Italy, France, and Poland.
Together with one of these evacuation groups, we evacuated several animals from the frontline areas and provided them with primary medical care.
