Animal-Person Rescue Stories: Part 1 of a Multi-part Series

In this series, we highlight some of the most touching stories of humans saving and protecting animal-people. These courageous individuals often risk their own lives to demonstrate humanity’s unconditional love for their precious animal-person co-citizens. Today, we’ll be featuring inspiring news from Ukraine (Ureign).

“The Kyiv Animal Rescue Group was founded in 2014, with the aim of rescuing animals during emergencies. We take steps to protect animals from accidents. We do this work because there are no state organizations that specifically rescue animals in emergencies. We rescue them because they don’t have a chance to survive without us. When I’m rescuing an animal in an emergency situation, I feel proud that we’ve managed to save one more life.”

“As Russia started invading Ukraine, Asya Serpinska took the hasty journey back to Hostomel. Going in the opposite direction of a town fleeing, she was determined to get back to her animal shelter. More than 700 dogs and 100 cats were waiting for her. But she would soon end up taking on much more.” “Sense of responsibility is stronger than fear. Responsibility is stronger than fear. This is what was pushing me here.” “She took in every animal from a local zoo, except for the lion. When Russian soldiers placed a mine outside of the cage, she bribed soldiers in a plea to give the lion food and water. For 77-year-old Serpinska, this is less a story of survival, but rather her example of duty to responsibility.” “It doesn’t matter who you protect: children, people, animals, nature. The most important thing is responsibility. Rescue animals to remain human.”

Rescuing Animals from Ukraine Flood! “Risking their own lives, volunteers from Animal Rescue Kharkiv in Ukraine have been involved in the daring task of rescuing animals stranded in flooded areas, particularly in the Kherson region, after a major dam was destroyed.”

“When Oksana Yerema found a litter of ten puppies on the doorstep of a relative’s home, she was advised to drown them. Oksana’s home had been destroyed by Russian shelling. Knowing she couldn’t keep them; she reached out to the military. When we saw the puppies playing at their base outside the village of Bashtanka, in northeast Mykolaiv, they already looked at home. Victor Yerchuck, the commander of the artillery brigade, seemed their biggest fan, constantly picking the two girls up for cuddles and kisses. As commander Yerchuck said, ‘There is a misconception in war that everyone should be angry and ready to fight all the time. But we try to remain humans, and the puppies remind us that, in the end, it’s love that wins.’”