Stories

In Mykolaiv, volunteers keep hundreds of abandoned animals in their own homes and spend almost all of their money on them. A photo report

Authors:: Yuriy Palyvoda, Serhii Pyvovarov
Date:: 8:48 AM EEST, July 22, 2022

Yuriy Palyvoda / Babel

With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, many people left Mykolaiv, leaving their animals at home, or giving them to volunteers. Such animals are kept not only in shelters, since there is not enough space for all of them, but also in their own houses and apartments. The charity organization Nikoanimalvolunteers helps such volunteers with food and finds shelter for new animals. They collect funds for food and deliver it several times a week to volunteers who need it. There are about twenty such people who sheltered animals in Mykolaiv. Often they spend most of their salary or pension on feeding hundreds of cats and dogs. How abandoned animals are cared for in Mykolaiv — see in a photo report by Yuriy Palyvoda for Babel.

Zinaida says that most of the money goes not only to food, but also to medicine for dogs.

Yuriy Palyvoda / Babel

There are many poodles among the dogs. Zinaida once bred them herself, so she knows many owners.

Yuriy Palyvoda / Babel

The dogs were brought to Zinaida by volunteers, or people who left the city gave them to her, or someone just dropped them off.

Yuriy Palyvoda / Babel

Angela works two jobs to feed all the dogs and cats she keeps. There is not enough space for them in the apartment. Therefore, she bought a small land plot with an old house where other animals live. In the photo, Angela is holding a disabled dog, which canʼt move on its own.

Yuriy Palyvoda / Babel

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