RESCUES HAVE SLOWED
The Tragedy Of Ukraine’s Abandoned Pets
Many victims of the war have four feet — but a heroic dog shows how animals still help to fight tyranny
Every war has victims — and heroes — with more than two feet. Vladimir Putin’s assault on Ukraine is no exception.
Heartbreaking stories of its animal casualties have been surfacing since the early days of the invasion: tales of starving cats, much-loved dogs left behind tearfully by fleeing owners, animals killed in the shelling of a zoo. The war has also brought moving reports of four-footed heroism — most notably, by a dog that sniffs out mines so bravely, Ukraine made it the first canine recipient of its Order for Courage.
No one knows how many pets have lost their homes amid the vast exodus since the Russian tanks arrived in 2022, but animal welfare experts put the number at upwards of 100,000. More than six million Ukrainians have fled the country, and at least three million others have been internally displaced. Not all had the means or the opportunity to leave their homes — by car, train, or on foot — with animals, however loved.
Yevgenia Belorusets, a noted Ukrainian writer and artist, doesn’t focus on abandoned pets in her new book, War Diary, a day-by-day journal…
