UPDATE on the plight of animals in Ukraine! SITUATION DETERIORATING BY THE HOUR!

We promised you daily updates on our work to feed and save animal victims of the ghastly war in Ukraine.

We are proud to say that, thanks to your donations, we are helping more and more animals every day. But the situation for animals continues to deteriorate. There are negotiations to create humanitarian corridors to allow humans to escape – but most of the people will NOT BE ABLE TO TAKE THEIR PETS! This means there will be tens of thousands more animals abandoned. We implore you to donate today to Network for Animals because this is our promise:

We will not falter!
We will not give up!
WE WILL FIGHT FOR THE LIFE OF EVERY ANIMAL!

Aside from the dogs and cats who we all adore, our supporters are asking about the countless other helpless animals abandoned in this terrible war. NFA fights for ALL animal lives, and we assure you we are helping any precious animal who may need our assistance - like the five-day-old baby goat who was brought in, orphaned, injured and entirely alone in the world. She is now safe, fed and being cared for by teams on the ground.

By the time you read this, the animal ambulance we bought for our partner ADA Foundation on the Polish/Ukraine border should be just about ready for action. We will now have two ambulances taking dog and cat food into Ukraine and bringing back rescued animals. Right now, the first ambulance is on its way to rescue more animals – it left early this morning. We will keep you updated.

Yesterday, our team brought hundreds of newly rescued animals across the border, and all are being cared for. With your continued help, we can save more dogs, cats and other pets every day.

Space is at a premium, so we asked for your help to buy 50 specially designed cages to use both in temporary holding areas, and to allow the animal ambulances to safely carry more animals. You responded quickly and generously. Thanks to you, we can build all 50 - work is starting now.

Updates are pouring in from our partners. Food and animal shelter remain the most CRITICAL and URGENT needs!

Ecoprotection of Starokostyantyniv (EPS) in the Khmelnytskyi region has been able to build 16 new enclosures and has taken in more rescued animals, thanks to your donations and with our help. EPS now has 350 resident rescue dogs and 76 cats. Amazingly, volunteers had to finish the enclosures during lulls in the bombing. We salute such bravery.

Now, we are trying to raise funds to provide more kennels to keep the dogs warm. Each kennel costs $56 (£43). We are not sure how many we need because the number of dogs keeps rising.

More dogs equals more food needed - we simply must raise as much as we can for dog and cat food, for all our existing partners, and the new ones seeking our help every day. Your donation will feed a LOT of hungry dogs rescued from war.

Our most reliable source of pet food is in CRISIS.

Vetmarket Pluriton is a dog food manufacturer in the Donbas area. Its manufacturing plant has broken down and the war means they can’t get it fixed. This is a disaster for animals because Vetmarket was donating food to local shelters and abandoned pets in the area. Vetmarket turned to us to fund such small shelters and, ironically for a pet food company, to buy food to feed the area’s abandoned cats and dogs.

Thanks to your donations, we were able to send $3,000 (£2,280) today, but we urgently need to raise more. So many dogs and cats depend on Vetmarket that this is an emergency within an emergency! Please donate so we can do our best to help the animals waiting hungrily for help!

Many dogs and cats are still locked in apartments when their families fled!
Volunteers are saving as many as they can.

In a heartbreaking development, some people fled so quickly, animals were left behind in locked apartments. Their owners probably thought they would be able to return to free them, but now many areas are under Russian control. When there is a lull in the fighting, volunteers check apartment blocks, freeing any animals they find. It’s deadly dangerous work.

Never have we dealt with this sort of emergency, but with YOUR support, we know we will overcome these hurdles and keep helping the animals who depend on us!

There is just so much need! Today, we received a cry for help from a shelter in Kyiv, a city that is now under constant attack. Kyiv Animal Rescue Group is almost out of food and there is no more to be found. We sent some food this morning, but because the area is so dangerous, we don’t know when or even if it will get to Kyiv.

Food is in extremely short supply everywhere, and as we write this, Nick Warwick, a volunteer from England, is driving a truck and trailer with supplies he found in Dresden, Germany, to meet our team at the border. The minute we get it, that food will be on its way to the animals.

Our team is tired, tearful and saddened by what is happening to animals in the Ukraine war. We have never had to deal with anything as heartrending as this; it is imperative we continue because without the help that your donations make possible, Ukraine will become one big animal graveyard.

In the name of compassion, we can’t let that happen. Please, please donate as much as you can to Network for Animals right now.

The animals of Ukraine need you more than ever!

For the animals,

Brian and Gloria Davies (and Max and Flora!)
Founders
Network for Animals

P.S. Just when we think we’ve seen the worst, we see another sight that absolutely breaks our hearts. But, the silver lining - if it can be called that - is that our help, fueled by your donations, is bringing HOPE in an almost hopeless situation. Please, don’t give up on the animals - because we won’t, EVER! Every life helped, every little life evacuated and saved, is a victory in this time of terrible loss. Every life saved is a win. Please, help us to achieve these little victories that make a BIG difference in the life of helpless animals by continuing to donate right now.

Image Credits: Banner: UA News; Image 3: New York Times; Image 4: AP Photo_Darko Vojinovic; Image 5: © EPA_ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO_TASS; Image 6:New York Times; Image 7: Alessandro Buzzi_Twitter