A NEW DONATION TO SAVA’S TO HELP ANIMALS OF UKRAINE
Last week OIPA sent a new donation to its fantastic member league Sava’s Safe Haven, which still operates round the clock at the border of Ukraine providing help and supporting animals and people who are fleeing from war. Many refugees are still trying to save their lives crossing borders, especially people from Izmail, Odessa and areas now under attack.
Alex declared: “It’s a terrible situation here and people start to come again in a very big number!”
Sava’s is actually working at the border with a local team of vets “Anim All Delta” preparing pet passports, making vaccinations, microchips and providing food and supplies to refugees and their pets but also they deliver aid inside Ukraine carrying on some rescue operations when and where possible.
Last week OIPA sent a new donation to its fantastic member league Sava’s Safe Haven, which still operates round the clock at the border of Ukraine providing help and supporting animals and people who are fleeing from war. Many refugees are still trying to save their lives crossing borders, especially people from Izmail, Odessa and areas now under attack.
Alex declared: “It’s a terrible situation here and people start to come again in a very big number!”
Sava’s is actually working at the border with a local team of vets “Anim All Delta” preparing pet passports, making vaccinations, microchips and providing food and supplies to refugees and their pets but also they deliver aid inside Ukraine carrying on some rescue operations when and where possible.
What has been done by Sava’s with our previous donation of 15,000€?
💙 2 Emergency units of quarantine;
💙 Equipment for quarantine such as big crates and blankets
💙 Medications and consultations (vet care, parasite controls for shelter from Odessa and SNAP tests)
💙 Aid direct on border (food, pet carriers, bowls, harnesses)
💙 Humanitarian aid to Ukraine’s seniors that owns animals and shelters (dry food for dogs and cats in Izmail, Odessa and Nykolaev)
Sursă: https://www.oipa.org/international/new-donation-to-savas-for-animals-in-ukraine/
Urgență în Ucraina – Urmăriți actualizările
11 aprilie
Sara Turetta, preşedinta asociaţiei, a revenit la granița cu Ucraina pentru a-i vizita pe voluntarii Save the Dogs – acești oameni minunați care, din dorința de a face bine, fac cu rândul de mai bine de o lună la punctul fix de sprijin și asistență înființat pentru refugiați în Vama Isaccea.
Doar luna trecută am reușit să fim alături de aproape 500 de refugiați ucraineni care și-au adus cu ei și animalele de companie; în aceste imagini sunt doar câteva dintre femeile pe care am avut plăcerea și ocazia să le întâlnim.
Multe dintre ele pur și simplu nu s-au putut abține și au izbucnit în lacrimi atunci când ne-au povestit despre orașele lor, care au fost asediate și distruse ca urmare a acțiunilor trupelor rusești. Aproape 300 de cuști transportoare au fost distribuite refugiaților ajunși aici împreună cu animalele lor, dar și numeroase pături, diverse articole de îmbrăcăminte pentru câini, precum și lese și zgărzi.
Situația din regiunea Odesa se înrăutățește în mod progresiv. Numărul de persoane care părăsesc țara este în permanentă creștere și zeci de autobuze ucrainene pline de copii au trecut granița noastră doar în ultimele două zile.
Pentru a putea face față nevoii tot mai mari de hrană, încercăm din răsputeri să trimitem urgent 15 tone de mâncare pentru câini și pisici la cele 4 adăposturi din Odesa care depind integral de ajutorul nostru, inclusiv pentru a-i susține în eforturile lor pe voluntarii locali activi care hrănesc în continuare miile de suflete nevinovate din aceste centre.
9 martie – Peste 300 de refugiați asistați la graniță
329 de persoane care fug de război cu animalele lor care au primit până în prezent asistență și cele necesare de bază de la echipa noastră prezentă la granița Isaccea.
Personalul Save the Dogs a fost susținut de 9 voluntari care în ultimele săptămâni și-au oferit sprijinul prețios cu ture de câte o săptămână fiecare.
În total sunt 240 de custi de transport pentru animale de companie distribuite la graniță împreună cu lese, boluri, pături și alimente. Alte 37 de custi de transport de animale de companie au fost livrate pe aeroportul Otopeni – București – pentru a permite refugiaților să-și continue călătoria cu avionul cu animalele lor.
Cei 30 de câini pe care i-am salvat dintr-un adăpost deteriorat de război din Odessa se simt bine. Sunt socializați și, după terminarea ciclului de vaccinare, suntem încrezători că vom putea găsi familii pentru adoptia majoritatii (eventual pentru toți). Toți câinii sunt de talie medie/mede-mare și vor fi trimisi in Suedia și Germania prin partenerii noștri din aceste țări, unde acest tip este ușor de adoptat
Din păcate, situația din Ucraina se înrăutățește. Știm că multe adăposturi care au grijă și de câinii și pisicile străzii au nevoie urgentă de hrană. Pentru a face față acestui apel tot mai mare de ajutor, căutăm să închiriem un camion mai mare, astfel încât să putem aduce cât mai multe provizii în zona Odesa, în timp ce la adăpostul nostru din Cernavodă amenajăm o nouă zonă de depozitare cu corturi de depozitare de mari dimensiuni pentru a putea depozita cantitati de alimente mai mari.
Până în prezent, 8,5 tone de hrana au fost trimise către cele 4 adăposturi din Odessa cu care suntem în contact permanent, în timp ce pentru alte 1,6 tone ale unei alte asociații am gestionat transportul și logistica la vamă.
17 martie – 30 de caini din Odesa salvati din razboi
Ieri a fost o zi intensă și plină de suferință. Dar acum că sunt în siguranță, vă vom spune cu sufletul plin de bucurie cum am reușit să evacuăm 30 de câini din refugiul Loving Hearts din Odesa și să-i aducem în siguranță la refugiul nostru din Cernavodă.
11 martie – Primele ajutoare au ajuns in Ucraina
Cu mare ușurare am primit vestea că primul transport de mancare a ajuns la destinația sa din Odesa.
Transportatorul rus a condus voluntar cu riscul de a-si pierde propria viata la Odesa și a ajuns la adăposturile Friends Point și BU Animals cu o încărcătură de 1.500 kg de hrană uscată pentru câini și pisici. Un prim ajutor fundamental pentru a garanta încă câteva zile de autonomie pentru animalele adăpostite în cele două adăposturi și pentru cainii de pe strada, cărora le va fi destinată o parte din hrană.
Prima expediere trimisă marți seara va fi urmată de altele. Ultimul a fost deja trimis ieri seară. Patru adăposturi vor fi destinatarii încărcăturii: BU Animal Center – 60 de câini și 10 pisici, Friends Point – 70 de câini, 8 pisici și 1 cal, Rukavichka – 100 de câini și adăpostul Loving Hearts cu 180 de câini și 20 de pisici.
Lyudmila, managerul refugiului Friends Point, ne-a trimis fotografii cu câteva dintre animalele sale si fotografii cu mâncarea sosită.
10 martie – am lasat custi la aeroportul Otopeni din Bucuresti
În aceste zile la București am aflat de la voluntarii care gestionează punctul de informare și asistență pentru refugiați din aeroport că unii dintre aceștia au ajuns fără cuști sau cu câini și pisici flămânzi. Am fost la cumpărături și am tipărit informații invitând cei care nu pot continua cu animalul lor de companie să ne contacteze. Save the Dogs face rețea cu un grup de încredere de asociații românești și colaborăm în această situație cumplită. Lansăm împreună cu ei o inițiativă pentru a le cere Ryanair, Wizzair și celor care nu acceptă animale în cabină să schimbe urgent regulile, pentru ca refugiații să nu fie nevoiți să se despartă de animalele lor iubite.
Marți, 14 custi de transport au fost livrațe în zona creată pentru a oferi informații și bunuri refugiaților care trebuie să continue cu avionul către destinații sigure.
9 martie – Primul transport de hrana pentru animale pentru Ucraina a plecat
Aseară, primul transport a plecat spre Odesa. Datorită colaborării autorităților române de la punctul de frontieră Isaccea și a transportatorilor care se oferă voluntar să treacă granița, hrana noastră, alături de alte ajutoare umanitare, a plecat și ea.
Suntem cu adevărat ușurați să știm că primul transport de 1,5 tone de hrană pentru animale va ajunge la două adăposturi – Friends Point și BU Animal Shelter – care adăpostesc aproximativ șaptezeci de câini și o duzină de pisici fiecare. Voluntarii adăposturilor își vor ajuta și animalele fara adapost și cu mare generozitate ne-au spus că îl vor împărti și altor adăposturi care știu că sunt pe final cu hrana, unii cu doar o săptămână de autonomie.
8 martie – De astăzi Save the Dogs are o bază permanentă la punctul de frontieră Isaccea
Save the Dogs are acum o prezență permanentă la punctul de graniță Isaccea.
Am încheiat acorduri cu protecția civilă și autoritățile locale pentru a ne înființa punctul de sprijin pentru că din câte am aflat, numărul refugiaților va crește exponențial în zilele următoare.
Trei persoane din echipa noastră vor asigura distribuirea primului ajutor animalelor care fug de război împreună cu proprietarii acestora, în principal cuști de transport, pături, materiale absorbante și hrană.
În plus, suntem în contact cu autoritățile aeroportuare din București unde am dori să depozităm custi de transport pentru câini și pisici de care este mare nevoie pentru a putea să le permitem celor care călătoresc cu animale să își poată continua călătoria.
7 martie – Ajutor direct pentru Ucraina – Primul transport de alimente gata
Pe parcursul celei de-a doua zile la punctul de frontieră din Isaccea, echipa Salvați câinii, pe lângă faptul că a acordat primul ajutor animalelor sosite cu stăpânii lor, a reușit să încheie o înțelegere cu autoritățile locale și să organizeze primul transport de hrană în Ucraina. . Aparatul de ajutor, pe bază complet voluntară și gestionat de autoritățile române, prevede trimiterea de ajutor umanitar în acord cu autoritățile regionale și municipale ucrainene.
Datorită rețelei și sensibilității animalelor unor funcționari vamali, 1.500 kg de alimente sunt gata să plece în sudul Ucrainei. Două sunt realitățile cărora le va fi destinat acest prim ajutor: Adăpostul de animale BU cu doar 15 zile de autonomie pentru cei 60 de câini și 10 pisici ai săi și refugiul Friends Point, o structură mai mare, cu o lună de aprovizionare cu hrană, de care mai este. îngrijirea câinilor fără stăpân, în prezent cele mai puțin protejate animale și cele mai expuse riscului de a muri de foame.
A fost o adevărată cursă contra cronometru pentru a organiza încărcătura de trimis. Mâncarea trebuia să plece astăzi, dar din cauza încetinirii pregătirii ajutorului umanitar, nici mâncarea noastră nu va începe așa cum era planificat.
Cu fiecare zi care trece, posibilitatea de a obține ajutorul nostru este redusă din cauza intensificării luptelor în sud și a extinderii acum sigure a conflictului de la Odesa.
Ne vom informa susținătorii de îndată ce această primă livrare este gata de plecare.
3 martie – Markariv (Ucraina), refugiul Best Friends lovit de o grenadă
Cu profundă tristețe am aflat că adăpostul Best Friends din Markariv – o așezare de lângă Kiev – a fost lovit de o grenadă, provocând daune grave structurii.
Aproape jumătate dintre câini au fost eliberați și eliberați. Hrana este rară, iar adăpostul este într-o zonă în care luptele sunt foarte intense.
Confruntat cu imposibilitatea în momentul de a putea aduce ajutor direct în zonă, Salvați Câinii a ales să aloce acestei structuri primele donații din Fondul de Urgență. Încercăm să luăm legătura cu oamenii care au rămas să aibă grijă de animale pentru a înțelege care sunt nevoile lor, dar conexiunile telefonice sunt foarte dificile.
La momentul atacului, în adăpost se aflau 267 câini, 157 pisici, 2 cai, 1 capră, 2 câini raton, 1 lup, 2 corbi și 1 porumbel.
Gregg Tully, Director General Salvați Câinii România împreună cu personalul pentru pregătirea ajutorului care urmează să fie dus la frontieră
Dificultatea de a trimite ajutoare
Logistica de intrare în Ucraina este în prezent foarte complexă. Ceea ce știm este că materialul umanitar și animal este colectat la punctul de frontieră din nordul României. Când ajungem mâine la granița de sud a Ucrainei, vom încerca să înțelegem cum este gestionat ajutorul și ne vom asigura că produsele de bază pentru animale pot fi livrate direct în Ucraina.
Primul ajutor pe care îl vom aduce
Hrana, cuști pentru a transporta câinii înapoi, cărucioare pentru pisici de donat familiilor aflate în tranzit, medicamente de bază, pături de lână, paltoane de toate mărimile sunt primul ajutor pe care îl vom aduce.
Temperaturile au scăzut dramatic, așa că este vital să ne asigurăm că animalele au tot ce le trebuie pentru a face față situației.
De asemenea, vom distribui broșuri în trei limbi pentru protecția civilă la fața locului și pentru a le oferi familiilor care sosesc cu animale, pentru a comunica disponibilitatea noastră la:
1) să primim temporar sau permanent câinii și pisicile care nu și-au putut continua călătoria în centrul nostru din Cernavodă
2) ajutați-i cu pașapoarte și alte documente pentru a face animalele de companie să călătorească fără probleme
3) spitalizarea animalelor care au patologii și au nevoie de asistență medicală
27 februarie – Mii de oameni fug cu animalele lor în România
Conflictul din Ucraina a declanșat un exod dramatic de oameni care, lipsiți de siguranța lor, înspăimântați de bombardamente, încearcă să se salveze pe ei înșași și sa salveze ceea ce au mai drag , inclusiv animalele lor iubite.
Până acum cel puțin 400.000 de ucraineni au intrat pe teritoriile Uniunii Europene.
57.000 de refugiați au trecut punctele de frontieră cu România unde în nord-estul țării sunt cozi interminabile de circa 15 kilometri.
Save the Dogs urmărește evoluția situației pentru a verifica efectele asupra animalelor și a identifica situațiile in care este nevoie de ajutor.
Președintele Sara Turetta a plecat astăzi în România pentru a înțelege mai bine posibilitățile de a ajuta animalele.
Situația in care este nevoie de ajutor nu este clară, dar Save the Dogs își va face cu siguranță treaba. În următoarele câteva zile vă vom scrie pentru a vă pune la curent cu ce vom face pentru a ajuta animalele.
Taking Street Medicine to the Ukrainian Border
When veterinarian Jon Geller heard Ukrainians were fleeing their country and struggling to bring along their beloved pets, he stuffed his suitcases with medical supplies and headed for a Romanian border crossing to see how he could help.
Leaping Into Action
After years of working in emergency hospitals and running street medicine clinics for homeless people with pets, Geller figured he knew what to pack. But beyond a plan to „do something,” he had no idea what he’d actually do once he got there.
Meet Street Dog Coalition: Acting to Meet the Needs of Pets in the US and now in Ukraine
Back in 2015, Colorado veterinarian Jon Geller recognized that the pets of people experiencing homelessness lacked access to primary veterinary care. He set up the first Street Dog Coalition clinic near a homeless day shelter and provided free veterinary care to 25 dogs and five cats that day. Since then, the Coalition has expanded its clinics to more than fifty cities across the United States.
As with the origin of the Street Dog Coalition, Dr. Geller recognized at the outset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine that citizens fleeing the country with pets would need rabies vaccinations, microchipping, and pet passports or face the prospect of abandoning their pets at the border. Dr. Geller traveled to the southern Ukraine-Romania border, where he spent 12 days providing veterinary services to the pets of Ukrainian refugees. Street Dog Coalition then set up a large blue tent (nicknamed the “Blue Vet Group”) on the Ukrainian border at Isaccea, Romania, that was staffed with volunteer veterinarians. They provided veterinary checks to more than 800 pets over 4 months. As the number of Ukrainians leaving the country declined, the Street Dog Coalition and its volunteers pivoted to provide veterinary supplies and services inside Ukraine.
I had 3 students from the veterinary school in Zagreb, Croatia, who were eager to learn and help. We stayed in a Russian Orthodox Church hostel with a group of Ukraine refugees, and the food was tasty and interesting. Even more amazing was the hearty fare served at the border station by World Central Kitchen, and the cauldrons of stews served by an impromptu Greek café. Sometimes at night, Alex would take us to his house and we would listen to him DJ on his electronic sound system.
The ferry at the Isaccea border station came about every 2 hours with a group of refugees and we would mingle with them to see who had pets. Most of the refugees were women and children, because men younger than 50 years must stay and fight. Because of the busy nature of the work, my Romanian colleagues authorized me to work on their behalf to help process paperwork and pet passports while they worked at their practices. They came multiple times a day to check on things and enjoy the international atmosphere at the border. As the only American, I was very reliant on my multilingual veterinary students and translators to communicate but I enjoyed interacting with the border guards through Google Translate.
This month, the Street Dog Coalition is embarking on its most ambitious project yet and plans to provide veterinary care to animals inside Ukraine. With the help of generous donors, the Coalition purchased a 25’ long mobile unit (a towed trailer) outfitted with all necessary veterinary equipment and supplies. The mobile clinic will travel to Ukraine to treat and sterilize (as needed) 10,000 pets in the next year. The mobile unit is outfitted with a surgery table, a treatment table, cages, surgery lights, anesthesia machines, and more. The trailer will be shipped from Texas to the United Kingdom in mid to late December. Once there, it will be loaded with supplies and driven to smaller Ukrainian towns. Of course, this effort is not without risks. Security for the staff and the mobile clinic will constantly be evaluated to determine where the mobile clinic can safely be deployed.
The Street Dog Coalition is a member of the Ukraine Rescue, Relief & Rebuild (U3R) consortium, a group of non-profits, including WellBeing International, Sloboda Zvierat, Save the Dogs, and Tigers in America. Each partner brings areas of expertise to support the people and animals of Ukraine, whether the assistance targets pets leaving the country or those remaining inside Ukraine. Donations made to WellBeing International’s U3R campaign will not only help the Street Dog Coalition meet its need to cover the operational costs of the mobile clinic, including fuel, medical supplies, and insurance but also support the other consortium partners.
US veterinarians are helping displaced Ukrainian pets. Here’s what they’re seeing
When Colorado veterinarian Jon Geller headed to a Romanian border crossing with Ukraine on March 13, he had two big suitcases filled with veterinary supplies and no idea what to expect.
“I had connected with a couple of the local veterinarians that have little vet clinics not too far from there and I said, ‘Look, if I come over, can we try to figure something out?’ They said, ‘Come on over.’ Luckily, one of them was friends with one of the border police that works at this little border station, which is a ferry station called Isaccea,” he told TODAY. “We were able to set up a government-approved, veterinary licensed veterinary clinic in a large tent that they provided at this border station.”
The border station became a sort of Olympic Village with an array of tents run by volunteers from around the world offering services to Ukrainian refugees fleeing their country in the wake of the Russian invasion, according to Geller.
He worked with the local veterinarians as well as volunteers from a veterinary school in Croatia — multilingual students who proved invaluable as translators — to put in an exam table, refrigerator for vaccines and other supplies. The vet students helped create medical forms translated into Ukrainian.
“Most of the work initially was refugees with their pets coming across on the ferry either in a car or on foot,” he said. “I would say the pets were evenly divided between dogs and cats, and most of them were on the small side. What that meant was those people that were on foot weren’t able to bring their larger dogs across and they did have to leave them behind. Then that turned into the second type of pet we saw, which was rescue teams in Ukraine rounding up these pets that had been abandoned and bringing them over in groups to a shelter in Romania.”
Geller and his fellow volunteers — who over the course of the next two weeks garnered the nickname the Blue Vet Group because they’d work late into the night in their glowing blue tent — also treated Romanian street dogs in need of care. But primarily, they took care of refugee pets to allow them to continue traveling throughout Europe.
There’s a “substantial” European pet passport — according to Geller — that requires proof of rabies vaccination, microchipping and deworming. The team also provided other vaccines and treated pets for lice, ticks, fleas, internal parasites, skin issues and infections.
There’s a “substantial” European pet passport — according to Geller — that requires proof of rabies vaccination, microchipping and deworming. The team also provided other vaccines and treated pets for lice, ticks, fleas, internal parasites, skin issues and infections.
“One of our vet students was translating, and he indicated all he could talk about is his dog. They were just a team of two,” Geller said. “He was trying to travel across Eastern Europe to Western Europe where his wife and family were.”
But the Ukrainian man worked on a Russian fishing boat and had Russian credit cards, which had all been cut off by international sanctions. He had no money and was out of gas. Geller said one of the local pet rescue groups gave him enough cash to drive to Austria, where he ran out of money and gas again. The veterinary students on Geller’s team arranged to get him cash from someone in Germany.
“It took him five days to hook up with his family, but he and his dog made it,” Geller said. “He was so in love with this dog. He just showed us video after video. His dog was great — really friendly.”
Though Geller returned to Fort Collins, Colorado, at the end of March, he plans to return soon to help establish a second tent on the Ukrainian side of the border to help pets quarantined for 21 days after a rabies shot before being allowed into Romania.
His nonprofit, The Street Dog Coalition, which provides free veterinary services to pets of people experiencing homelessness, will continue to run the existing tent through April as part of its “Project Ukraine” initiative with support from Greater Good Charities, SPCA International and donated veterinary supplies from Merck Animal Health, he said.
He’s been impressed by how “tough and stoic” the Ukrainian women are. Most men aged 18-60 are prohibited by their government from leaving Ukraine so they can stay and fight.
“Walking through the cold, bitter wind with their kids, their pets, their luggage and not knowing where they’re going to end up — these ladies were tough,” he said.
Because refugees came in waves whenever a ferry arrived, Geller and his team spent some of their downtime between ferries getting to know the international community of volunteers working for a common cause.
Geller, a 71-year-old who normally doesn’t smoke, drink or eat meat, joked that he “got corrupted” while trying to connect in a positive way while overseas. For starters, people with a little free Greek restaurant got him smoking Greek cigarettes. The Romanian border guards introduced him to Romanian fruit vodka. The nonprofit World Central Kitchen doled out hearty servings of Romanian chicken and pork, which he ate with gusto.
“This guy’s girlfriend was going to give me a Romanian tattoo, but I got out of there just in time,” he quipped.
He’s been deeply impacted by the experience and looks forward to returning to help more pets and people from Ukraine.
“What made the biggest impact on me was this amazing unification of the world for these Ukrainian refugees,” he said. “The positive energy of everybody coming together in a totally noncontroversial way — that feeling just blew me away. When’s the last time we felt that?”
A similar global camaraderie in support of Ukrainian refugees and their pets has been happening at a Polish border crossing at Medyka, according to Gary Weitzman, a veterinarian and president of the San Diego Humane Society in Southern California.
During a phone call from Krakow, Poland, on April 1, Weitzman said Ukrainian women from the nearby town of Lviv crossed the border to help as interpreters in the pop-up veterinary clinic where he spent four days.
“It’s so amazing how many languages they speak,” he told TODAY. “They’re joining different groups to help them as interpreters. … Everybody coming across is coming in need of everything. Our veterinary tent was one of the first five or six places for people to stop.”
Weitzman said most refugees fleeing the violence brought dogs and cats, though he did examine a ferret. One little girl even brought a huge pet snail she’d loved for several years to be checked out at the veterinary tent. (Fortunately, the snail was in good condition.)
“The animals that are still in Ukraine, that’s enough to break your heart to hear about,” he said. “The ones that are coming across are the lucky ones right now.”
Most of the pets have been in fairly good condition aside from stress, dehydration and the cold rain and snow. A Yorkie named Happy arrived wearing a little coat and parka but was still completely soaked.
Cats are often carried in refugees’ coats so the team gets them carriers and food after giving them fluids and warming them up in the tent.
“To be honest, I’m more worried about the people than the animals that are coming through,” he said. “But I think it does help them to be able to stop at a tent that has veterinary care in it, and animal people, and just make sure their babies are OK.”
Not all of the animals are fortunate enough to still be with their families. For instance, a stressed dog wandered into the border crossing area but was initially too traumatized to let anyone approach him. But Weitzman and other volunteers coaxed the hungry dog with treats and once he knew he was safe, “he just melted,” he said.
Volunteers named him Slava, the Ukrainian word for “glory.” Unfortunately, Slava isn’t microchipped, but the team is putting up posters and sharing his story on social media with the hopes that he’ll be reunited with his family.
“I did an exam on him and he seems absolutely healthy,” Weitzman said. “He’s just the sweetest guy. He’s safe and sound and warm and fed, and he’ll probably go off to the U.K. or somewhere in Europe to live if his family doesn’t find him. There are at least half a dozen people that absolutely want to take this dog. He’s definitely one of the lucky ones.”
He said the Polish people he’s encountered are “amazing,” that the team he worked with from the International Fund for Animal Welfare are “among the hardest working people I’ve ever seen,” and the “wonderful” folks at Greater Good Charities, which sponsored his trip, are sending money and supplies “to the right places.”
He’s also impressed with the team from World Central Kitchen, the nonprofit founded by Chef José Andrés in 2010 to feed people affected by humanitarian crises and natural disasters around the world.
“They deserve anything people can get to them because they’re feeding everybody — all of us, all of the refugees,” he said. “They’re just absolutely fantastic people.”
Like Geller, Weitzman is now back in the U.S. but plans to return soon — with other veterinarians from San Diego, and potentially to help on the Ukrainian side of the border. The Air Force veteran said his great-grandparents were Ukrainian, so he’s glad to help out near his ancestral homeland.
“I think the whole world’s heart is breaking over what’s happening,” he said.
He believes veterinarians in private practices in Ukraine and neighboring countries will need financial support as the number of displaced pets continues to grow and the crisis continues.
Veterinarians continue to be critically important to pets evacuated from Ukraine by refugees, nonprofits and individual rescuers who still live inside the country.
Kyiv resident Ilona Kanevska, 51, has run numerous risky rescue missions evacuating dogs and cats from Ukrainian shelters in dangerous areas to Italy that often take days. She said it is important to get them out of the country because there is no more room in animal shelters and many near Kyiv and other cities have been destroyed or occupied by Russian troops.
She and her son and daughter are trying to save as many pets as possible.
“I love so much the animals because they are innocent and devoted without any condition. They are my friends and members of our family. The life is nothing without them, it is not full,” she told TODAY via Facebook Messenger. “Now we look for adoptions for them all over the world.”
So U.S. veterinarians continue to head to the region to help pets and people displaced by the crisis in Ukraine. Marty Becker, the veterinarian who founded Fear Free, which seeks to reduce fear, stress and anxiety for pets in animal hospitals, homes and shelters, arrived in Romania on Wednesday after numerous flight delays and cancellations.
Yesterday he joined colleagues in Isaccea at The Street Dog Coalition’s clinic and felt particularly moved meeting a Ukrainian mother, her two daughters and three pets.
The 5-year-old daughter, Vasilisa, showed him her hamster, Greicy, and perhaps encapsulated why the work of veterinarians with Ukrainian pets is so important.
“I asked Vasilisa about her hamster, and in broken English she told me he was her best friend,” he told TODAY.
This article originally appeared on Yahoo! News: https://news.yahoo.com/us-veterinarians-helping-displaced-ukrainian-213738126.html?guccounter=2&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3BjYWkub3JnLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMySCyL0GKsQ-6fEOJq8x6gg6itgju2nRSzslFURWudtuA8MjyncIGldJw3onXyJ0HQpbp92YFaUYlkQ1vJOs2xddGMhZ-rA11zzJencp8KflpaBZ8K-7NOcttzEQ4VXR2JHel67VTQmfhbz6L3is7XAkDSjxA5Eb-bHmanvCvbg
Notes from the border: The war in Ukraine
I pull my neck scarf tighter as icy wind travels across the Danube River from Ukraine. The stethoscope dangling around my neck is cold against my skin and I can hear the voices of women and children rolling their suitcases up the concrete ramp. They disembark from the opendeck ferry that carried them across the river to Isaccea, Romania. They are some of the millions of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion, traveling with dogs on leashes and cats in carriers.
In our blue tent, where our team is known as the Blue Vet Group, refugees wait with their pets. We examine, vaccinate, deworm, microchip, provide any needed care, and issue European Union pet passports so they can continue their travels westward. Wide-eyed children watch as we peer into their pets’ eyes and mouths and poke their cats and dogs with needles and chips. The tent on the river is a magical place where an international group of volunteers has gathered to help.
It was mostly happenstance that I was lucky enough to find myself in position to help the refugees’ pets. After I learned of the Russian invasion, I knew I had to go there. I Googled veterinarians in several border crossings in Ukraine and found 2 Romanian veterinarians near the village of Isaccea. Fortunately, they spoke a little English and responded to my Facebook request to connect. When they asked me what I would do if I came over, I told them I didn’t know but they responded, “Come on over and we will figure it out.”
Alex, one of the Romanian veterinarians, picked me up at the Bucharest airport, 5 hours from the border, and I stayed at his house until I could get settled at a church hostel nearby. We went to the border station to check things out and met Alex’s neighbor, who oversaw the border station and let us take a large blue tent to use as our clinic. Alex brought down an exam table, a small refrigerator, an IV stand, and a few other things, and we were in business.
I had 3 students from the veterinary school in Zagreb, Croatia, who were eager to learn and help. We stayed in a Russian Orthodox Church hostel with a group of Ukraine refugees, and the food was tasty and interesting. Even more amazing was the hearty fare served at the border station by World Central Kitchen, and the cauldrons of stews served by an impromptu Greek café. Sometimes at night, Alex would take us to his house and we would listen to him DJ on his electronic sound system.
The ferry at the Isaccea border station came about every 2 hours with a group of refugees and we would mingle with them to see who had pets. Most of the refugees were women and children, because men younger than 50 years must stay and fight. Because of the busy nature of the work, my Romanian colleagues authorized me to work on their behalf to help process paperwork and pet passports while they worked at their practices. They came multiple times a day to check on things and enjoy the international atmosphere at the border. As the only American, I was very reliant on my multilingual veterinary students and translators to communicate but I enjoyed interacting with the border guards through Google Translate.
Rabies vaccination was crucial because of high incidence of rabies in Ukraine and many pets were not vaccinated. Also because of the high rabies incidence, importation regulations are tight. In the United States, previous evidence of vaccination is required, along with a valid rabies titer and a 28-day hold at an approved US border station.
After I left the border station in late March 2022, teams of US veterinary personnel came to continue the efforts. In July, the flow of refugees reversed when many were tired of being away from home. This caused the disbandment of our Blue Tent Group after we cared for over 800 pets. Now the focus shifted to within Ukraine where the number of street animals rose exponentially when overwhelmed shelters released pets to the streets and owners had to leave pets behind. Large amounts of pet food were shipped into Ukraine but needed to be redistributed. Several veterinarians from our team ventured into Ukraine, delivering supplies to local veterinarians and zoos. With the help of a zoo veterinarian in California, we brought over a concoction of pain medications including firocoxib and gabapentin for a lame elephant at the Odessa Zoo. One of our veterinarians stayed at a small seaside hotel in Odessa and swam in the Black Sea when the guards headed down the (heavily mined) beach on their patrols.
As the pet crisis in Ukraine worsens, veterinary help is badly needed. The Street Dog Coalition partnered with Gemma Campling, BVMed Sci (HONS), BVM, BVS, MRCVS, MCVSZ, of Worldwide Vets. With the help of donors, including a grant from the American Veterinary Medical Foundation Emergency Relief Fund, a large mobile veterinary clinic was purchased and built in Phoenix, Arizona, hauled to the Port of Galveston, Texas, and shipped to Southampton, England, where Campling is outfitting it and driving it under the English Channel to Ukraine. It will move to different locations behind the front lines with the goal of helping 10,000 pets over the next year. This will include treating injuries, providing preventive care, and performing sterilization surgeries. A rotating team of veterinary volunteers will be invited to join, along with Ukrainian veterinarians and technicians, who will get some additional training so the effort can continue as long as needed.
The veterinary profession has taken this opportunity to engage in the world in a way never seen before, during a wartime crisis that has affected so many pets and humans. Through unbridled collaboration, we can continue our efforts in these unprecedented times.
Jon Geller, DVM, DABVP emeritus, graduated from Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1995. He then practiced as a house call veterinarian or several years before embarking on a 20-year career as an emergency clinician in Colorado. During that time, Geller and his partners started up 4 emergency clinics and he became board-certified as veterinary practitioner in canine and feline medicine in 2010. After seeing a homeless man and his pit bull on a bridge in 2015, he founded The Street Dog Coalition, a nonprofit charity that provides free medical care, and other related services, to pets of owners at risk of, or experiencing homelessness.
Geller was named Veterinarian of the Year by the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association for 2019. In the spirit of unbridled learning, he is currently enrolled as an MPH candidate at the University of Minnesota. He received the ASPCA Henry Bergh Humane Award for 2022, and also is an Instructor in the Colorado School of Public Health teaching a class on ‘Homelessness in America.’
