Meet the People Saving and Caring for Stray Animals in Ukraine

“Marilyn came to us almost by accident. We drove to the village where our dogs were, and someone asked: where do stray dogs come from? We explain: people chuck them out, and then the dogs reproduce. There was a bus stop to the left, and she was at that stop. We pointed out that any day now that dog will give birth. She was thrown out. We stopped to pick her up. After a few hours, she did give birth, and not on the street,” says volunteer Ihor Saiko.

According to the international online platform animal-id, there are about 50,000 stray animals on the streets of Ukraine. But the count wasn’t done for all of Ukraine’s cities, so the number may be much higher. In addition to volunteers and shelter staff, stray animals in cities are handled by public utility companies that catch, vaccinate, sterilize and treat the animals. Hromadske learned how such businesses work in Kyiv and Lviv, which people still help stray animals and how their numbers on the streets can be reduced.

“Compared to Europe, the situation in Lviv is awful. But in comparison with Ukraine as a whole – it is great”

Maya has been living in a family for a year. She was caught on the street by employees of the Lviv Communal Service (LCS) "Lev", which handles stray animals in the city, and they found her a family.

Yulia, Maya’s owner, says that at first she had reservations about taking a stray animal home. But employees of the company said the dog had all the necessary vaccinations done and was even sterilized. That’s when her doubts vanished.

“When I went there (to “Lev”), I liked the team that works there. Those people care about animals even more than some hospitals care for people,” says Yulia. According to her, "Lev" has an individual approach to every animal.

"Sometimes we come with Maya, so they all run out, they remember her, start talking to her. She used to be called Tornado. She was no slouch for sure, she was always barking and howling. They looked after her and remember her as a very active fidget,” Yulia tells us.

Yulia with her son and dog Maya in Lviv, March 11, 2020 Photo: Valentina Rodzevska / hromadske

“Lev”'s work is an example to other cities in Ukraine, as the number of stray dogs has been reduced to around 400 in 2018 (from 700 to 800 in 2016-2017). And in 2019, the company conducted the world's first cat count – there were 5,992 of them in Lviv. This year the city allocated UAH 5.4 million ($198,000) to work with stray animals.

LCS "Lev" works under the TNR program ("trap-neuter-return"), but the enterprise, according to its head Oksana Koshak, has also decided to focus on animal adoption.

From the moment the animal is captured, when that person takes a photo of the animal, it appears on our website. That's when the adoption process begins," explains Koshak.

In 2019, "Lev" found a home for 96% of the stray animals. Only 14 dogs returned to the streets, where they are too observed and taken care of.

“We have significantly reduced the number of dogs on the streets of our city. The percentage of sterilization used to be 7%, now it is 50%. In these three years, we have found a home for almost 2,000 dogs. If we hadn't found them a home, it wouldn't have been 400 dogs on the street,” says Koshak.

If the animal returns to the street, it is looked after by a carer who cooperates with the enterprise. This person must enter into an agreement with the company to obtain the status of a carer or volunteer. Then the animal comes under their care.

"They sometimes even care too much for them, they feed them, so when we catch a dog, it is already like a little piggy on tiny paws, which is already hard to adopt, because it is loved and fattened by those who protect it,” says the head of “Lev”.

According to Koshak, the company now has about 250 dog carers and 300 cat carers.

“All the animals that pass through us are in our database, and all the volunteers, carers are also in our database. If we release a dog or cat, it always goes to a carer. We always keep in touch with them, because a year later we catch them again," says Koshak.

When an animal gets to LCS “Lev”, it is vaccinated and treated for fleas, ticks and parasitic worms, then put under a 10-day quarantine. If all is well and it’s healthy, it goes to the hospital for sterilization and spends another day in a postoperative ward.

LCS has a card system in place – every employee is aware of what stage each animal is at.

"”P’ means the animal is up for adoption. ‘K’ – that the dog trainer should pay attention to this dog, that they need to work with it. The red letter "S" indicates that the dog will go for sterilization, it can not be fed today," says the head of the LCS "Lev" clinic Andriy Pinchuk.

Head of the LCS "Lev" clinic Andriy Pinchuk, Lviv, March 11, 2020 Photo: Valentina Rodzevska / hromadske

After sterilization, the animal is placed in an enclosure for 10 days whilst employees try to find a home for it.

The stray cats are only kept there for five days. They are brought by city residents and carers for sterilization. Employees of the enterprise also put cats up for adoption. The idea of having a  ​​shelter at "Lev" was abandoned on principle, because, according to the head of the enterprise, it does not solve the problem.

“Unfortunately, a shelter is not effective at this stage in any part of our country. It is doomed either to poor existence as it will be overcrowded or animals will be euthanized to create new places,” Koshak explains.

She believes working with children can be a solution to the problem. After all, if you instill the humane treatment of animals as a value from childhood, the situation will change. Therefore, the company regularly conducts such lessons in schools. Together with the “Lev” staff, Cher, a visiting dog, regularly visits children. She also first came to the LCS as a stray dog, but, according to the administrator of LCS "Lev" Iryna Shevchenko, there are plans to find her a family.

“A dog trainer is working with her. For a dog that visits schools, it is important to be calm. We hope that in the future, children who grow up will understand that a dog is not a toy, if your family adopts it, it is your responsibility for years,” says Shevchenko.

Iryna Shevchenko and her visiting dog Cher, Lviv, March 11, 2020. Photo: Valentina Rodzevska / hromadske

Despite the fact that “Lev” is constantly catching and sterilizing dogs and cats, their numbers are decreasing in the streets very slowly – people continue to throw animals out.

There is only one major functioning animal shelter in Lviv – “Myloserdia” (‘Mercy’). It is home to 300 dogs. Employees try to find homes for the animals, but new ones keep coming.

“The most recent one was three weeks ago – the dog was tied to a tree with a note stating its name and age. We sent her to LCS “Lev” where she was sterilized. Then she will return to us and we will put her up for adoption," says the head of the shelter Nataliya Kuznietsova.

Head of the dog shelter “Myloserdia” ​​Nataliya Kuznietsova with dogs, Lviv, March 12, 2020. Photo: Valentina Rodzevska / hromadske

Aside from LCS "Leo" and the shelter, there are other volunteers who also care for stray animals in Lviv. Ihor Sayko is one of them. For several years he has been picking up animals from the street, finding them homes, and paying for their temporary foster homes. Sayko has managed to find homes for more than 60 dogs that have served in the army or the police.

“I once went to the LCS to see one dog. There I met Oksana Koshak, and beside her there was a man, as I now remember, with his fear in his eyes. In Ukraine, it is customary that when a dog turns eight years old in the army or in the police, it must be written off. This man had to take 23 dogs from the military unit, and he was searching where they could be taken in Lviv. Of course, there is no demand for 23 old military dogs. I told him to leave them be, I would take them all,” recalled the volunteer.

To reduce the number of stray animals, Ukraine needs to adopt the experience of Europe, says Sayko. After all, there are programs for sterilization, vaccination and registration of animals.

“I visit Europe, interact with volunteers, visit their shelters. In comparison with Europe, the situation with stray animals in Lviv is awful. But at the same time, if you compare Lviv with Ukraine as a whole, then the situation here can be seen as great,” Sayko explains.

Volunteer Ihor Sayko with his dog Marilyn, Lviv, March 12, 2020. Photo: Valentina Rodzevska / hromadske

If public services were working properly, shelters and volunteers would not be needed.

In Kyiv, as well as in Lviv, there is a public utility company that deals with the problems of homeless animals. The Kyiv Communal Service also catches, sterilizes and releases animals.

"We catch animals daily, starting from 8 a.m.; if a dog bites someone that is – some urgent applications are received within a day,” says acting head of the Kyiv City Veterinary Hospital Natalya Mazur.

According to her, about 2,000 dogs and 4,000 cats have been sterilized in the city. However, the number of unvaccinated animals is unknown. The company is planning to start monitoring the animals after the quarantine, introduced in Ukraine due to the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. In 2019, employees of the enterprise managed to find homes for more than 1,000 animals. The city has allocated UAH 25.4 million ($940,700) to work with stray animals this year.

Mazur says the enterprise is well-equipped, including to provide veterinary care to stray animals.

“I think that Kyiv is pretty exemplary. This is a million-plus city, compared to Lviv, we have more dogs and more problems here. There is more traffic, dogs get run over more often and need help more often,” Mazur explains.

Yulia Stavinska, head of public animal rights project Adopt.ua, says that there could have been many more animals in the city, if not for the efforts of volunteers and other caring people. They sterilize stray animals at their own expense and try to find homes for them themselves.

"We regularly receive complaints about this service ("Zoo Help", KCS’s catching service – ed.) from people seeking emergency care or to help with trapping and sterilizing stray animals, and have been denied for various reasons. Most often they are told that there is no transport,” says Stavinska.

There are four large shelters in the capital, one of which is municipal. It is home to 450 dogs and 50 cats. According to Mazur, animals that have bitten someone and cannot stay on the street are put in the shelter because they can be dangerous for humans.

"Animals with traumas, such as a dog without a paw, also come to the shelter. Such animals require constant veterinary supervision. We move them to a shelter, but in any case we try to put them up for adoption,” says Mazur.

The largest shelter in Kyiv (and Ukraine) is “Sirius”, where about 2,500 animals live. The head of "Sirius", Oleksandra Mezinova, says that almost every day new abandoned animals appear at the gate. Last year, the shelter found a home for 800 animals. But at the same time, about 900 "new" ones arrived.

Head of the “Sirius” shelter Oleksandra Mezinova with dogs, Kyiv region, March 15, 2020. Photo: Valentina Rodzevska / hromadske

Tosha the dog has been living in the shelter for a year. His owners brought him after the dog was hit by a car and his hind legs gave out.

“Our sponsor purchased a wheelchair for him. This is his second wheelchair, the first one, unfortunately, broke. He’s a real race car driver. He rides around the entire place really fast, so they don’t last long,” says Mezinova.

She believes that if the Kyiv Communal Service carried out sufficient educational activities for the population, the number of dog hunters and stray animals would decrease.

At the same time, Mazur says that the KCS annually carries out social advertising in the city, and activities for children are held in schools.

“Together with our partners, we deliver “bioethics” lessons approved by the Department of Education in schools. We take part in zoo-fests where we talk about ourselves and popularize chipping and registration of domestic animals to avoid them getting lost. We are in dialogue with the police because people die, and we then pick up their animals,” Mazur says.

The “Sirius” head says the situation is changing over time, but there is no overarching outcome.

“If they were doing their job properly, there wouldn’t be such a large shelter as this. There wouldn’t be other shelters. There wouldn’t be a need for volunteers who are literally stretching their resources, who are all in debt, and are still taking care of the animals,” Mezinova notes.

Dogs at the “Sirius” shelter in the Kyiv region, March 15, 2020. Photo: Valentina Rodzevska / hromadske

Many volunteers visit “Sirius” on weekends. They help employees: feed animals, play with them.

The main task of volunteers is to get animals to socialize. Olya is one of these volunteers. She has been coming to Sirius for five years.

“I was asked to bring two puppies to the shelter. And now I've been coming here for five straight years. In addition to them, I started visiting others I saw making eyes at me... Of course, I want to help all of them, I want them all to be adopted,” says the volunteer.

Olya says that she eschews state organizations when it comes to animals, as she has already had a negative experience with the KCS.

"We found one madwoman who literally stocked up on dogs in her bedsit. She kept large dogs chained to a radiator. No one was even aware of their existence until one of the – obviously intact –  dogs gave birth to many puppies, who were in turn devoured by other adult dogs. This squeaking and clamor led to visits by a local police officer, who came from time to time, sometimes in vain. Then we turned to KCS, but all they did was leave a telegram in the door,” the girl says.

Dogs at the “Sirius” shelter in the Kyiv region, March 15, 2020. Photo: Valentina Rodzevska / hromadske

According to the volunteers, it is possible to solve the problem of homeless animals with the help of well-organized communal services, as well as a responsible attitude among people, timely registration, and the sterilization of animals.

“It is fundamental that a law on the compulsory chipping of pets is adopted – only this way will it be possible to identify those who find themselves on the street. And only in this case will the owners be held accountable,” says Stavinska.

READ ALSO: Seeing Through Touch: Behind the Kyiv Zoo Project for the Blind

/  Story by Valentina Rodzevska and Ksyusha Savoskina

/Translated by Hromadske International 

With support of Russian Language News Exchange