November 2024

What were the defining moments of this November?

It marked 1,000 days since the start of the full-scale invasion — 1,000 difficult days and sleepless nights filled with air raids, missile attacks, and Russian terror destroying everything in its path.

At the same time, these have been 1,000 days of Ukrainian resilience — days when people protect their country, help each other, and continue to save animals despite all challenges, hardships, and dangers.

In November, we:

🚛 Evacuated 274 animals. These included 261 pets, 10 ducks, a parrot, a goat, and a raccoon. We also assisted in evacuating two people from frontline areas.

Treated 29 animals, sterilized 389, and vaccinated over 370 animals.

Distributed 19 280 kilograms of food and 259 treatments for animals in the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv regions.

At the UN Climate Change Conference COP29, together with partners Save Dnipro, Mriya Production, and Ecoaction, we presented an interactive installation demonstrating the horrors of Russia’s environmental crimes and their potential impact on climate change.

96 incredible volunteers from the UAnimals community planted 1,000 saplings and shrubs, cleaned and cared for animals in nine shelters, and hung 20 bird feeders in the Holosiivskyi National Nature Park.
🙂 In total, we spent $158,874.12 in November to help animals.

Here’s a more detailed look at our eventful November:

• UAnimals participated in the largest international climate conference COP29

Together with the Save Dnipro organization, which defends the right to a safe and clean environment, we showcased an interactive installation that vividly illustrated the horrors of Russia’s environmental crimes and their potential impact on climate change. Through this installation, attendees briefly became witnesses to the daily catastrophes in Ukraine.

• Together with the UAnimals volunteer community:

1. 
   We planted 1,000 saplings in Zatyshne, Boryspil district. This was made possible through cooperation with the partner foundation Peli Can Live and the involvement of 15 dedicated volunteers.
2. We organized pre-winter cleanups at nine shelters across Ukraine, with participation from 51 volunteers.
3. We installed 20 bird feeders in the Holosiivskyi National Nature Park with the help of 20 volunteers.
4. Volunteers join not only physical actions but also support online initiatives: sharing vital information, reposting fundraisers, directly participating in fundraisers, and opening auxiliary fundraising accounts.
   
   This month, we launched five online tasks via the community chatbot to spread information on social media, receiving 796 confirmations for help.
5. Seven volunteers opened auxiliary accounts to speed up fundraising for assistance to border guard dogs. These community-driven accounts have repeatedly accelerated the closure of fundraisers and the rescue of animals.
   
   In November, our evacuation team made four trips, and volunteers from the community made four additional trips to rescue animals. Additionally, we evacuated animals thanks to one more trip of the sterilization vehicle.

1. We evacuated 35 pets and a parrot from Pokrovsk, Kostiantynivka, Dachne, Dobropillia, Myrne, and Myrnohrad in the Donetsk region.
2. We evacuated 44 animals — 20 cats, 14 dogs, and 10 ducks — from Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad, Kostiantynivka, Oleksiivka, and Sloviansk in the Donetsk region.
3. We also evacuated 49 cats and dogs from Myrnohrad, Pokrovsk, Serhiivka, Bilytske, Rodynske, Ivanopillia, Shevchenko, Komar, Druzhkivka, Kostiantynivka, and Novotroitske.
4. In another trip, 64 animals were evacuated from Shevchenkove, Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad, Kostiantynivka, Raihorodok, Novodonetske, Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka, Sloviansk, and Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region.

Among those rescued was a wild animal — a raccoon. Volunteer Olena Mykhailenko contacted UAnimals with a request to relocate the animal. The raccoon had bitten the people who were keeping it, and they were no longer interested in keeping it.

The raccoon was taken to Natalia Popova’s Wild Animals Rescue Center.

1. We also transported animals during the evacuation trips. Two dogs were transported from Sumy to Kyiv at the request of a soldier. Two more cats, earlier evacuated from the Donetsk region by the organization Save Animals Ukraine, were transported from Dnipro. One was sent to Kyiv, and the other to a family in the Khmelnytskyi region.
2. The sterilization team evacuated a Stepnohirsk resident, along with 12 dogs, 4 cats, and a goat, to the Dnipropetrovsk region. They also evacuated 4 dogs and 3 cats from Stepnohirsk to Zaporizhzhia.
3. In November, we also funded the transportation of 6 animals from Zaporizhzhia to Chop. These were animals evacuated by our sterilization team from Stepnohirsk.

UAnimals community volunteers also participate in evacuation missions and help rescue animals:

1. Volodymyr Holubiev evacuated 35 cats from Myrnohrad and transported them to the Bezprytulnyi Svit (Homeless World) Rescue, Evacuation, and Rehabilitation Center for Disabled Animals in Bila Tserkva. He also evacuated a resident from Mykilske in the Kherson region along with two dogs and a cat.
2. Mariya Holovina and Andriy Zhdanov evacuated 15 cats from Kramatorsk to the Mokri Nosy (Wet Noses) shelter in Poltava. They also evacuated four dogs from Druzhba in the Sumy region and transported a dog from Sumy to the Kyiv region at a soldier’s request.

UAnimals paid for the fuel for volunteers’ vehicles.

We also helped evacuate 6 dogs from Antonivka to Kyiv. The rescue was made possible by the Tobias and Homeless World organizations. We are delighted that, through joint efforts, we were able to save six lives!

We treated 29 animals, sterilized 389 animals, and vaccinated over 370 animals.

1. We paid all medical bills for a dog named Tato, who was injured by a Russian drone. Tato recovered and found a new family.
2. As part of an urgent fundraiser, we transferred money for the treatment of a dog named Alfa.
3. Within the project Sterilization and Microchipping of 180 Animals in Stationary Clinics, we covered the sterilization of 80 animals in Sumy, Kobleve, Kupiansk, and Shostka. The project is ongoing, so we will manage to sterilize even more animals.
4. We paid for the sterilization of 7 cats evacuated by volunteers from Zaporizhzhia at the request of the military.
5. We covered surgery costs for a cat injured in an explosion in Kupiansk.
6. We paid for the treatment of an evacuated cat cared for by the Feniks NGO.
7. We sterilized a dog that we had evacuated to Tetiana Nelha’s shelter.
8. As part of the Treatment of Animals of Soldiers project:

• We paid for the treatment of a dog named Bulia, who was injured during an attack on a military base in the Odesa region. Bulia underwent surgery and received all necessary care. The dog has now been discharged and is in private temporary care while awaiting a family.
• We covered the treatment of a cat named March, who is still in the clinic receiving treatment.
• We paid for consultations, tests, and check-ups for 4 cats belonging to a soldier.

1. We settled the remaining bills for animals treated during the October Vetmission in the Zaporizhzhia region.
2. During the Vetmission in Marhanets, we helped 385 animals. Specifically:

• Sterilized, microchipped, vaccinated, and treated 300 animals for parasites;
• Vaccinated additional 70 animals;
• Veterinarians provided 15 consultations and performed 4 major surgeries, two of which involved tumor removal.

The assistance to animals during the Vetmission was made possible thanks to the work of veterinarians Nataliya Sokolova, Lolita Polishchuk, Yulia Tkachenko, and animal catcher Roman Bidnenko.

1. We funded the drilling of a well at the Zdrave Zhyttia (Healthy Life) shelter in the Vinnytsia region, amounting to 173,972 UAH.
2. We also provided the Pegasus shelter with 30 dog houses worth 97,000 UAH.
3. Funds were transferred for the construction of 3 enclosures for the temporary care hub for animals in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
4. As part of the 50 Kennels for Shelters project, we purchased and delivered kennels to the Favorite Animals and Happy Cat shelters.
5. As part of the Winter Fundraiser project:

• We purchased firewood and a generator for the Zoofamily shelter;
• We purchased an inverter and funded the construction of a field kitchen at the Druh (Friend) shelter;
• We purchased a solid-fuel boiler for the Hostomel Animal Shelter Socialization and Adoption Center;
• We also purchased a gas boiler, composite gas cylinders, and an EcoFlow charging station for the Shans Animal Protection League NGO;
• We purchased salt licks for animals at the Khortytsia National Reserve;
• Provided firewood and hay for the Forsaken Angel shelter;
• We purchased firewood for the Velyke Sertse Tomy Pastukh (Toma Pastukh’s Big Heart) shelter;
• Funded straw and its delivery to the Healthy Life cow shelter;
• We purchased a generator and convectors for the charitable organization “New World Charity Foundation”;
• We purchased a generator for the Konotop Animal Protection Organization Druzi Tvaryn (Friends of Animals) NGO.

🐶 UAnimals legal team processed 40 reports in the chatbot and provided consultations to people. Most requests came from Kyiv and Ternopil, with the majority of issues related to improper animal care in zoos, cafes, and entertainment venues.

• We submitted 3 statements regarding administrative and criminal offenses:

• Cruelty to animals and failure of parents or guardians to fulfill their duties of child upbringing. A minor girl strangled a cat, recorded it on camera, and uploaded it to social media.

Last year, we had already submitted a statement regarding the actions of this child, as this was not the first case of animal abuse. At that time, an administrative protocol was filed against the parents for failing to fulfill their duties. This time, we have again filed a statement demanding that the parents be held accountable as the girl is still under 16 years old.

• Illegal activities of a “mini-zoo” on the premises of the Kozatska Prystan recreation center in Romny, Sumy region.

Visitors to the zoo shared videos on social media showing neglected and sick wild animals. Witnesses reported that due to inappropriate conditions, all the wild animals in the zoo died except for a raccoon, which later also disappeared. We are demanding verification of the legality of animal ownership and the administrative prosecution of those responsible for the animals’ suffering.

• We filed a statement about the cruel treatment of a dog named Bagheera from Huliaipole. The owners kept the dog on a chain that wore through to the bones of the animal’s neck. They abandoned the dog and evacuated the city. Our mobile veterinary team, which was rescuing animals in Huliaipole, found Bagheera injured. The dog was chained and had horrific wounds.

UAnimals took the animal for treatment and found a volunteer, Nataliya, who agreed to take Bagheera to her home in Zaporizhzhia. Bagheera was transported to her new home, where she will live free of chains.

• UAnimals lawyers also submitted appeals to local authorities:

• We appealed to the Odesa Military Administration to issue an order prohibiting hunting in the Odesa region until martial law in Ukraine is lifted or canceled. The only exception would be the regulation of certain game species in compliance with current Ukrainian legislation.
• An appeal was sent to the inter-factional parliamentary association Humane Country regarding the case in the Lviv region, where the carcasses of two Red Data Book-listed bison were discovered. They were found during a forest inspection near the Skolivski Beskydy National Park in the Vedmezha hunting grounds.

The director of the hunting property stated that the animals were killed in the Boikivshchyna National Nature Park. We addressed the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine and the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office on this matter. The Prosecutor’s Office reported that a pre-trial investigation into poaching has been initiated and is being supervised.

• We filed a motion to review materials from the pre-trial investigation into the killing of two dogs in the Chernivtsi region.
• We submitted an appeal to the Vyhoda Village Council requesting the use of alternative humane methods for rabies prevention and wild animal population control.
• A parliamentary inquiry was sent regarding the fire at a horse farm in the village of Yelyzavetivka, Dnipropetrovsk region, on eve of November 18. According to official data from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in the Dnipropetrovsk region, the fire resulted in the deaths of over 140 domestic animals.

Members of the inter-factional parliamentary association Humane Country sent an appeal to the Chief of the Main Department of the National Police in the Dnipropetrovsk region, requesting that the incident be registered in the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations, the responsible individuals be brought to justice, and the case be taken under personal control.

1. The legal team received responses from the government authorities regarding the previously submitted statements, including the following:

• In the case of a man in Kyiv who killed a cat, a pre-trial investigation has been initiated into the criminal offense, and the information has been entered into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations.
• In the case of the bison in the Lviv region, a pre-trial investigation into poaching has been initiated and is under supervision by the regional prosecutor’s office.
• The police of the Kyiv region responded to the complaint about the improper keeping of horses and the use of underage workers at the Rodeo horse club-restaurant. The police stated that the inspection did not reveal any violations. Preventive discussions were held with the club owners, Ye. Ramazanov and D. Ramazanov, aimed at preventing animal abuse.

According to the police response, the owners were informed of the legal provisions, particularly those related to cruelty to animals. The inspection materials have been added to the case.

• A response was received regarding a complaint about the improper keeping of wild animals in Kremenchuk, where a man was walking a leopard through the city streets.

The response stated that the facts outlined in the complaint “were not confirmed, and the owner provided all supporting documents.”

We submitted an appeal to the State Environmental Inspection requesting that the responsible person be held accountable for violating the rules of keeping wild animals in captivity.

Regarding the court case with the Zaporizhzhia State Circus:

• We prepared a lawsuit, including sections on regulatory provisions, confirmation of the right to appeal to the court, and jurisdiction. The prepared statement has been submitted, and we are awaiting revisions to it.
• Appeals were sent to gather information and form appeals to the court, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the State Consumer Service, and the State Environmental Inspection.
• A response was received from the Ministry of Environmental Protection, which revealed that the circus does not have permits for the special use of endangered animals.

Thank you for staying with us and helping to save animals in November. Every life is precious!