As the 12th day of war looms, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have already fled the country to join Poland and the European Union. Nevertheless, many of them have chosen to stay, like the veterinarians who collect and care for animals abandoned by exiles.
Leonid and Valentina Stoynov are a couple of Ukrainian veterinarians, originally from Odessa, in the south of the country. Since Russia declared war on Ukraine, no less than one and a half million Ukrainians have fled the country, often unable to take their pets with them. A tragedy for this couple, who decided to stay on site to collect and take care of these animals.
“We will stay in Odessa as long as we can. We are not going anywhere and we will do our job,” the vets wrote on their Instagram page.
Dogs, cats, turtles, parrots, reptiles and even a hedgehog… This couple’s clinic has turned into a real shelter for abandoned animals. “It is a semi-basement with one meter high walls. The front windows are completely barricaded”, explained the veterinarians, who also installed a video surveillance system to protect the clinic.
Poland accepts animals without documents
Although Leonid and Valentina continue to accept pets, they advise Ukrainians to take their four-legged friends with them whenever possible. Indeed, the couple will not be able to accommodate everyone: “Poland accepts animals without documents. If you go there, don’t be afraid to come with your pet,” they advised.
Indeed, Poland, a country which currently hosts the majority of Ukrainian refugees, now lets animals enter without vaccination, chip, tattoo or blood test. However, a quarantine is applied to the animals of owners who then plan to travel to another country. A similar decision was taken in Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, as well as in Moldova, a country bordering Ukraine but not a member of the EU. However, owners must complete specific forms concerning their animals.
On social networks, many groups have been created to provide assistance to Ukrainian pet owners. Swedes, Italians, French or Spaniards open their homes to shelter the animals and their masters, while Poles, Hungarians, Romanians or even Danes offer to pick up Ukrainians and their animals at the border. Initiatives from all sides are also getting organized to send animal feed to Ukraine.