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For Ukraine’s Animals, a Home Is Getting Harder to Find


The first thing you hear after entering the animal sanctuary in Znesinnya Park near the center of Lviv is the dogs. Many of them bark and howl, members of a raucous makeshift orchestra play an opera of discord.

They were war orphans, rescued from bombed cities or left behind by refugees who had to leave their homes and could no longer care for their pets.

Their home is now a huge, formerly abandoned barn, hastily furnished with rows of wooden and metal cages, discarded blankets, and towers of packaged pet food.

Orest Zalypskyi begins Domivka: The home of rescued animals five years ago mainly to care for endangered and injured wildlife: foxes used to train hunting dogs had their claws and teeth removed, a circus monkey was about to die, a winged owl.

But since the Russians invaded last year, Domivka has also become a rescue center for pets — dogs, cats, rabbits, horses, sheep and birds. Before the war, the reserve contained about 200 species of animals. Now, it has more than 500.

“We don’t have room for them,” said Viktoria Stasiv, a volunteer. “It was crazy.” They hastily placed the dog kennel in an old brick and concrete barn that had once been used for garbage.

At another site, about an hour away, are 170 sheep, goats and llamas that the Domivka volunteers are tending on a donation plot. The animals that belonged to a petting zoo in Zaporizhzhia were abandoned.

Mr. Zalypskyi said that in the past year, the group has hosted thousands of animals.

There was a brief period last spring, after the war started, when animal owners and rescuers were allowed to bring animals across borders to other European countries without requirements. usual for things like vaccinations. Masses of volunteers from Germany and Poland came and brought dogs, rabbits and cats with them. Nearly 5,500 pets have been rescued and found new homes outside of Ukraine; Another 1,500 were adopted in the country.

But now, adoption has slowed. Anyone outside Ukraine who wants to free a pet from the misery of the war has to pay around 200 euros and pick it up. Ms. Stasiv said when it comes to dogs, most people want puppies, but most abandoned dogs are older and bigger. Some were injured.

Chip, a sweet-faced hybrid, hails from Kherson, a heavily besieged city 560 miles away, where he went blind in an attack. Bonie, a large black dog with tan paws and muzzle, was stabbed in the back by a steel rod after its spine was broken in a shelling. Lina Brithna, a rehabilitation worker, is helping him walk. The Zubik, a black-and-white hybrid, lost a front leg.

There were several puppies found in a trash can in Lviv. They are kept in a small indoor shelter with other injured animals and new arrivals are quarantined for the first two weeks. They roamed around Miss Brithna as she cleared their cages. The cats watched, occasionally poking their paws through holes in the glass and waiting their turn.

All the dogs are taken for walks three times a day along the snowy grounds – by volunteers, visiting families and sometimes former owners who want to keep their pets but do not know what to do. themselves are refugees and cannot provide housing.

Domivka previously didn’t have a website, but with so many animals in care, the nonprofit is now raising money on Facebook and Instagram. For Christmas, it sold branded calendars featuring longtime residents and war evacuees, including a bald eagle named Galya.

This small shelter in Lviv park is one of a number of national and international organizations, such as U-Hearts . Foundation, UAnimal and International Animal Welfare FundWork to help raise and care for animals during the war.

Mr. Zalypskyi said the shelter needed more staff, barns and food. “Demand is increasing every day as the number of animals increases.”

Yurii Shyvala contributed reporting.

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