Continuous support and compassion of our donors has provided help for 4,462 animals, which includes 706 evacuations and 1,125 surgeries during the month of February. This brings our animal welfare spending to $737,837, which has reached 87,224 animals since the beginning of the war.
We continue to support preventative veterinary care and shelter improvements to provide more resources to a controlled animal population. This helps avoid needless suffering, prolongs animals’ lives, and creates a healthier animal population overall.
Behind every dollar is a muzzle, a wet nose, a tail or a hoof. Here are some highlights from this month:
Avelen Animal Center – Odesa:
Avelen Animal Center is owned and operated by Veniamin and Olena, a young couple that has been dedicated to saving animals for over five years. Their staff includes other family members and friends that have joined in an effort to provide all types of species a chance to survive, recover, and ultimately thrive. Their residents are rescued from circuses, petting zoos, street photographers, and more.
When they first reached out to us, their rescue had 35 companion animals (dogs and cats), 25 farm animals (lamas, goats, pigs, sheep), 26 wild and exotic animals (raccoons, foxes, monkeys, coatis, meerkats), 52 rodents (guinea pigs, rabbits, porcupines, chinchillas), 69 birds, and 60 reptiles, for a grand total of 267 animals!
As we discussed the best course of action, we learned that more evacuated farm and companion animals from abandoned ranches at the frontlines were headed to Avelen. Despite their troubles, the owners continued to accept animals that didn’t have anywhere to go. To address the growing population, Nova Ukraine funded the materials for constructing 7 stalls for horses and ponies, and 4 large kennels for dogs inside an existing barn on the Center’s property. The work was completed by the owners and their family and friends. At this time, their animal population has grown to 378 animals, over 150 of whom are evacuated animals from active war zones in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions.
This construction project now provides housing for a maximum of 23 animals – 3 horses, 8 ponies, 12 mid-size dogs. These stalls and kennels are large enough to house more than one animal for bonded pairs or small animals, and to provide enough space and safety for those that feel threatened by proximity to others. With continuous adoptions, these structures will help hundreds of animals while they remain in Avelen.
Karasik
Karasik was evacuated from Kherson as part of a mission coordinated and funded by Nova Ukraine on December 31st. Local volunteers told our team that he was hit by a car four years ago and that he had sustained significant damage to his hind limbs. He was unable to use his hind right leg and struggled to put any weight on the left leg. He stayed alive by learning how to hobble and crawl.
Eventually a local animal volunteer took pity on him and brought him to a veterinary clinic, but euthanasia was the only solution proposed. Unable to make that decision, he was released back to the outdoor market where he had been living.
Nova Ukraine arranged for Karasik to arrive at the “Home for Strays” Shelter in Kyiv as part of the last evacuation of 2022. He was immediately taken to the West Health Veterinary Clinic where he got X-ray imaging that revealed the severity of the damage. The veterinarians were unable to recover his right hind leg, but they were able to preserve his left leg. He was then sent to the Step Up Rehabilitation Center in Kyiv for physical therapy and he is now showing incredible results.
Your generous donations gave Karasik a second chance. Your help provided the opportunity for a hurt and lonely dog to become an enthusiastic and loving dog that can now live surrounded by love.
Bonnie
Bonnie found a Ukrainian Armed Forces frontline military position in February. She was heavily pregnant and gave birth to her kittens almost immediately after wandering into the military camp. Soldiers, seeing the tiny screaming kittens, were very concerned for the feline family, and Oleksandr found a way to bring them into Kharkiv, where they were picked up by Animal Rescue Kharkiv.
Bonnie and her kittens are currently safe, fed, warm, and healthy at the Animal Rescue Kharkiv Veterinary Clinic. The care provided to homeless animals at the clinic continues to be possible because of your donations. The kittens will be looking for new families after completing their vaccinations and spay/neuter procedures. They may not have entered the world in the ideal situation, but they will know love and care because of all the people that chose to get involved and donate, coordinate, organize, and provide care for these animals.
We are all vital pieces of this operation. Everything starts with our caring and generous donors, without whom none of this would be possible. You give our Nova Ukraine Animal Welfare team an opportunity to coordinate, strategize, organize, optimize, and distribute aid where it is needed most. And shelter workers, animal caretakers, foster homes, and veterinary workers in Ukraine are able to do the labor. Lastly, kind and compassionate families open their doors to these innocent furry casualties of human conflict. None of these would be possible without every link of this chain. Thank you for your support!
Please indicate “Animal Rescue” in your donation to direct funds towards our animal rescue efforts.