A small dog with shaggy fur confidently places his paw in the hand of a volunteer. In this refuge in kyiv, animals rescued from the floods in southern Ukraine can find a home.
In total, more than a hundred cats and dogs were brought to this pavilion in the Ukrainian capital’s fairgrounds after being rescued in the Kherson region, where the rupture of the Kakhovka dam poured out waterspouts water in towns and villages.
Some of them have already found a new family, while others are waiting to be reunited with their owners, who were contacted by the volunteers through social media.
The plight of animals trapped by flooding in the South prompted many volunteers to come to the scene to save them and this shelter opened its doors to welcome them.
For Kiev, Russia blew up the structure to hinder the Ukrainian counter-offensive by flooding the region, even if it meant causing an ecological, health and humanitarian crisis.
“In one week, since we started working, we have already collected more than 100 animals”, welcomes the director of the “Patron Pet Center”, Iryna Podvoïska.
“The tragedy being of great magnitude, many animals will need help. We can help them because we have the experience and the space to do so,” she explains.
Solidarity works in any case at full speed: according to her, almost all the animals in the shelter have already been adopted, the volunteers succeeding one another all day long to pick up the dogs.
“Just yesterday, we found a home for 26 animals,” says Ms. Podvoïska.
The center hands over the animals after having vaccinated, sterilized and microchipped them. They sometimes refuse to return them to their former owners if they detect signs of abuse, such as if the dog was kept outside a kennel tied to a chain.
Sandra and Yury, a newlywed couple, bring their first dog, who is already lying on her back to allow Yury to pet her. She also obeys when told to sit down.
The couple, who work as volunteers for children in areas where the fighting is taking place, wanted to travel to Kherson to help with the floods, but were unable to do so in time.
“We said to ourselves that we had to help. This help for Kherson turned out to be in the form of a dog,” Sandra points out.
The two met this female German Shepherd the day before and know nothing of her history.
“She’s so big and so sweet. We work with children and would love for her to be a therapy animal,” Sandra says.
“She is also very active and Yury and I are also full of energy, so we need a dog like that,” she adds.
The couple decided to give her the English name of Gracie, because she is a blessing (“grace”).
Another older couple took in a ginger cat still a little confused and wearing a collar after being sterilized.
The shelter has modern, clean and soundproof enclosures, the lights of which can be turned off to allow the animals to sleep.
Three kittens sleep like this after being rescued together. They probably lived on the streets.
In another enclosure, two dogs are lying against each other. Volunteers have placed food bowls nearby, but one of them refuses to eat.
According to canine behavior specialist Aliaska Varieva, these are the most traumatized animals in the shelter. They arrived together, but do not appear to have experienced contact with human beings.
According to her, “they lived without anyone, they are like wild animals”.
16/06/2023 12:53:24 – Kiev (Ukraine) (AFP) © 2023 AFP