As you read this, animals are trapped in the town of Druzhkivka, just eight miles (13 kilometres) from some of the heaviest fighting in Ukraine. Their families have fled for their lives, leaving them behind with no food, no safety and death raining down from the sky.
A town full of animals under constant attack.
Our partner, Animal Rescue Kharkiv (ARK), can rescue them, but we need your help to make that happen.
The Russians have recently intensified drone and missile attacks in the area. Druzhkivka is so close to the fighting that the town has been devastated. Many people have fled, leaving terrified animals behind in empty streets and shattered homes.
With their homes destroyed and their families gone, animals are left to fend for themselves on the frontline, with no food and no safety. Source: ARK
This is not a place anyone would choose to go. But we have to, and to many other towns like it, because the animals need us urgently.
Shortages have caused the costs of rescue missions to shoot up tremendously. It now costs $4,000 (£3,800) every month to send our animal ambulance to the frontlines.
A particularly dangerous rescue mission lies ahead – the animals need your help.
All missions in this region are extremely dangerous. Our vehicles have been destroyed twice, our team has come under fire and we have been targeted by drones and bombs. Yet we continue to go back because so many animals need help. This rescue operation is particularly perilous because the fighting is so intense.
We are rescuing animals like Gita and Zhanna from collapsed buildings.
Gita and Zhanna were rescued by our partner and reunited with their owners after the owners had to flee their house when their town was destroyed in a bomb attack. Source: ARK
Dogs Gita and Zhanna were left behind by their owners after they fled their bombed town, managing to carry only their cat to safety. When they reached safety, they pleaded with ARK to rescue their dogs. A special rescue mission was mounted and the dogs were found curled up on the remains of their owners’ bed, in a ruined home shattered by a bomb attack. Terrified, the dogs ran, leading the team through bombed-out buildings on the verge of collapse. It took hours to catch them, but Gita and Zhanna were happily reunited with their owners and our team survived another rescue mission.
An endless stream of animal refugees.
Like Gita and Zhanna, both these dogs were terrified when our team found them. They had to be sedated to save their lives. One had survived alone for weeks and the other had just escaped a nearby drone strike. Source: ARK/@the_dog_guy_(Instagram)
We have helped rescue thousands of animals in Ukraine since the start of the conflict more than four years ago. And every month, despite the danger, we continue to rescue between 300 and 500 animals from situations just like Gita and Zhanna’s.
Sadly, things are getting worse. Rescue missions are frightening and dangerous. But if we do not help these animals, they will die. This is the stark reality.
While bombs fall and towns empty, our partner keeps going back in, refusing to leave any animal behind. Source: ARK
The animal victims of war urgently need your help.
Your support today could mean the difference between life and death for animals who have already lost everything. There is no one else coming for them. With your help, we will.
