What do you do with 236 cats rescued from the Ukraine war? That was the dilemma faced by our partner, Animal Rescue Kharkiv (ARK), which saved the cats from near certain death – and then had to figure out how to provide them with the care they need.
Credit: NFA/Dejan Radic
The answer: Convert a former bomb shelter into the safest cat sanctuary in town, then work like demons to care for all 200+ cats.
236 cats now call this converted bomb shelter home, with just a handful of dedicated volunteers desperately trying to look after their every need.
Almost all of these cats were pets that were abandoned when their owners fled as Russians attacked their homes. All were rescued from the frontline, often at great risk to the rescuer’s life.
A Russian sniper tried to shoot our partner vet while she was operating on an injured cat. She carried on regardless, saving the cat’s life.
Our partner vet, Pavlina Harasym, is one of ARK’s fearless rescuers. Her incredible bravery was captured by a go-pro camera as she entered a bombed building to rescue a seriously injured cat. Climbing through a crumbling building that threatened to collapse around her at any moment, she saved the cat and later its life.
Click here to watch this incredible moment of courage.
Shortly afterward, as she was operating in a makeshift theatre, a Russian sniper tried to shoot her, shattering a window right in front of her as she continued to work on saving the cat’s life.
Each of ARK’s cats was saved at different times and from different occupied cities. There are cats from Bakhmut, now under Russian occupation and almost completely destroyed, and cats from Kherson, rescued after a brutal Russian attack in June 2023.
236 cats take a lot of love and care, and Network for Animals has promised to help as much as we can – but of course, we can only support their valiant efforts with the generosity of animal-lovers like you.
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Donate todayThe only reward the team gets for their dangerous work is a symphony of purring that resonates through the converted bomb shelter – and that is more than enough.
Credit: NFA/Justine Haralambous
But as the war worsens and the cost of supplies skyrockets, we need your help to keep them purring and happy.
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Donate todayARK is doing a phenomenal job. The bomb shelter has been converted into a facsimile of a private home, designed to provide a stimulating space with places for the cats to climb, hide, snuggle and play. They are clearly happy – so happy, in fact, that being in the shelter is like listening to a symphony of purring.
Despite all 236 cats living in a single space, ARK has tried to make it as close to a normal home as possible. This is a strategic decision that will help them get used to a domestic environment, so they have the best chance at finding forever homes.
The plan is already working. The shelter is constantly changing as resident cats are adopted and newly-rescued cats take their place.
Credit: NFA/Justine Haralambous
But sadly, these cats are not yet safe. The war is getting worse, care costs are rising and money is in desperately short supply. Any food they get from donors is shared with other organizations working on the frontline and we simply cannot let their food supplies run dry. After what they have been through, the very least these cats deserve is regular square meals.
After most veterinarians fled the war zone, the 236 cats had few vets to turn to.
Another significant challenge ARK has to overcome is a serious lack of qualified vets. While vets like our partner Pavlina travel to the war zone from outlying areas, there is currently just one vet brave enough to permanently stay this close to the frontline to help the animals: Vytautas Zidonis, a Latvian vet who, when she heard the cats needed help, turned up at the shelter, ready to operate.
Credit: ARK
Salutations Vytautas, and thank you.
While we can’t all do what Vytautas did, each of us can help animals caught up in this dreadful, merciless war by donating generously to Network for Animals, so we can continue to support our partner’s life-saving work.
Every donation makes a life-changing difference to over 200 cats and the heroes who risk their lives to care for them every day. Please donate as generously as you can!
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Donate todayWe have been in Ukraine since the Russians invaded and we are still there when many other organizations have left. We promise to stay until the war is over. Our Executive Director, David Barritt, has just visited the frontline and his report is chilling. He says the plight of animals is getting worse as the Russians advance and more villages are turned to rubble. All our brave volunteers and partners tell us that donations are drying up and people are becoming disheartened.
Credit: ARK
As animal-lovers, we have to rally people to do more to save these abandoned souls – because if we don’t, who will?
Please, if you possibly can, donate generously to Network for Animals today.
For the animals,
Gloria Davies (and Max and Flora!)
CEO and Founder
Network for Animals
P.S. 236 cats rescued from the Ukraine war need help and they’re relying on us to get it. Please don’t turn your back on animals who have no-one else to turn to – donate today.
Banner credit: NFA/Dejan Radic