Today is the three-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. On that day, pandemonium struck. People fled with a few belongings, often, only what they could carry – and typically their pets. Despite leaving their homes, perhaps for good, and having to absolutely prioritise – countless people chose to include their cats and dogs.
Now here is something I didn’t know. In her book ‘The Great Cat and Dog Massacre’, Hilda Kean explains that (on the University of Chicago Press promo-page about the book), in 1939, before any attacks on Britain:
“fear of imminent Nazi bombing and the desire to do something to prepare for war led Britons to sew blackout curtains, dig up flower beds for vegetable patches, send their children away to the countryside—and kill the family pet”.
Whaaa?!
In theory this was to spare “them the suffering of a bombing raid”. The contrast with Ukraine, in 2022, while actually under attack, and where minutes counted, is rather striking. Having grown up saturated with Dunkirk/Blitz/Battle of Britain heroism, this did get my attention. Here’s Colin Dickey (2017) in his review of ‘The Great Cat and Dog Massacre‘ in the Los Angeles Review of Books:
“in early September 1939, the citizens of London set about killing their pets. During the first four days of World War II, over 400,000 dogs and cats — some 26 percent of London’s pets — were slaughtered, a number six times greater than the number of civilian deaths in the UK from bombing during the entire war. It was a calm and orderly massacre. One animal shelter had a line stretching half a mile long with people waiting to turn their animals over to be euthanized.”
It seems to have been (Dickey, 2017):
“a mass action that arose, apparently spontaneously, by a populace terrified by the new reality of war.’’
I think it’s impossible to be judgmental about this action, it was a totally different time. But it does seem like the British ‘stiff upper lip’ response to a war about to come their way – was to stiff over 400,000 cats and dogs.
Fast-forward to Ukraine today. Lviv seems to be more a dog-city than a cat-one. There is no end to people walking their dogs, or immaculately-dressed women walking down the street, cradling their little pooch. I’ve only ever seen one cat on a Lviv footpath – and what struck me was that despite the crowds walking within inches of it, it never flinched, just sat there. It trusted people, which said a lot to me. But there is the Lviv Cat Cafe! You can pop in for a latte, tea, and a small meal, and there are cats everywhere. Trying to get in your bag, and wandering over your laptop….
On the other hand, in Odesa, cats seem to be common on the streets. In that respect, Odesa reminds me of Istanbul, on the other side of the Black Sea (although not quite in the same league – the number of street cats in Istanbul would take some beating!). Perhaps this is because they are both port cities, where cats have traditionally been used to keep the mice and rat numbers down. Because of the moderating effect of the Black Sea, the climate in Odesa is a little more moderate than Lviv, and perhaps more street-cat friendly. It’s a dog-city as well, though.
During the havoc of that 2022 full-scale invasion, clearly some pets got left behind. The evacuation happened too fast, or perhaps animals traumatised by the havoc and sounds of war, had already fled and hid. Some of them are out there now, trying to survive in ruined cities.
Several organisations have been founded in/extended to Ukraine to specifically to help pets caught up in this brutal invasion. Here are some:
UAnimals A Ukrainian animal rights organization advocating for humane treatment and protection of animals. They’ve been instrumental in evacuating animals from combat zones and providing necessary aid
Paws of War An international organization actively involved in rescuing and sheltering pets affected by the conflict in Ukraine. They’ve set up feeding stations and provide shelter for numerous animals.
Help Animals in Ukraine A comprehensive platform listing various Ukrainian animal rescue organizations, shelters, and initiatives. It offers information on how to support or adopt animals in need.
Back in safer areas, like Lviv, volunteers are always in demand to visit the shelters and take dogs for walkies (they often come back scratched and bleeding from dogs desperate for some attention. Some truly heroic volunteers even travel hundreds of kilometers to dangerous front-line cities to pick up pets who have lost their owners, and bring them refuges.
And then there is the special phenomenon of pets on the front line of the war. It’s something that soldiers have probably always done – look after animals that put their trust in them. A little bit of humanity in the hell.
Here’s a quote (sent to me a few days ago, via a Ukrainian friend who grew up with him) from a soldier in the ‘BAK Strike Group’ – they are operating FPV drones in the Kharkiv region:
“From time to time, a cat comes to our position, asking for food and warmth, it has a broken eye, and wheezes very loudly when it sits, as if something is preventing it from breathing. She is contused and very scared. She disappears as suddenly as she appears.”
There has even been research published about pets in Ukraine at this time. Kateryna et al. (2023), in their paper, ‘The role of pets in preserving the emotional and spiritual wellbeing of Ukrainian residents during Russian hostilities’, wrote that:
“In Ukraine, pets are considered family members, so many families refused to leave their homeland because they could not leave their cats and dogs alone.”
They added that:
“Most importantly, pets have helped soldiers reconnect with their humanity in the midst of a necessarily inhumane act of warfare….. There is no mass abandonment or killing of animals in Ukraine during the war.”
This is a culture of compassion and resilience.
How to help?
So, how to help? You could, of course, donate to any of the animal welfare organisations listed above. They’d be grateful for anything you could spare. Or – you could help at the root of the problem – help the fighters on the front. Here is are some links where you could directly help those guys in the ‘BAK Strike Group’.
They are specifically trying to buy portable ‘power stations’ (the EcoFlow DELTA 2) and goggles to fly FPV drones (Skyzone sky 04). FPV drones are the tools used to defeat enemy targets in combat zone. Often their maximum range in standard assemblies does not allow them to cover long distances. The unit’s constant needs are met by volunteers, those who are not indifferent and those who regularly help and donate.
The money will go towards these devices.
🔗 Link to a monobank.ua account
https://send.monobank.ua/jar/86CJwwg9rs
💳A Bank card number
4441 1111 2056 4640
Donate to the BAK Strike Group via PayPal
References
Kateryna, M., Trofmov, A., Zelenin, V., Andrushchenko, T., and Karamushka, L. 2023. The role of pets in preserving the emotional and spiritual wellbeing of Ukrainian residents during Russian hostilities. Journal of Religion and Health, 62: 500–509.
Kean, H. 2017. ‘The Great Cat and Dog Massacre: The Real Story of World War Two’s Unknown Tragedy.’ The University of Chicago Press.
