(Non)secret agents of animal protection: what UAnimals volunteers do

If you meet them “on a volunteer assignment” and want to say hello, they probably won’t shake your hand. Not because they’re unfriendly — quite the opposite, their hands are usually full with firewood, boards, tools or leashes for walking dogs. And their faces show both tiredness and satisfaction. It’s a mix of feelings after work that fills them up.

My conversation partners are from the UAnimals volunteer community. Here’s how it works: people from any city or village in Ukraine register in a Telegram bot that offers various tasks in the field of animal protection. Volunteers choose which of them they are interested in and agree to participate. You can distribute animal food to those in need, help in shelters, clean up parks or plant seedlings. Curator Anastasiia Kovalchuk helps with the details. Currently, there are over 1500 volunteers in the community, spread across all regions of Ukraine.

An actress? A designer? A mechanic? A top manager? Even the prime minister or the first lady! Anyone who shares UAnimals’ values of humane treatment of animals can join the community. I talked to volunteers from four regions. Let’s get to know:

• Liza from Zaporizhzhia, working in advertising and marketing;
• Nataliia from Mykolaiv, branch manager of an energy company;
• Vika from Bohodukhiv in Kharkiv region, a secretary in a medical institution;
• Mariia from Kyiv, a stylist and makeup artist;
• Anzhelika from Kyiv, a photo editor;
• Ivan from Kyiv, a top manager in a technical company;
• Anhelina from Mykolaiv and Kyiv, studying journalism and acting in theatre.

“We asked for something to do ourselves”: about the tasks in the UAnimals volunteer community

Vika with her friend Yuliia, a veterinarian

Vika: I travelled with humanitarian aid across the Kharkiv region — distributing food for cats and dogs. I was in Zolochiv, Chornohlazivka and then in my town, Bohodukhiv. In Zolochiv, a local volunteer Nastia Nechaieva helped me organise everything. We had 200 kilograms of food. At first, I thought I would have to spend the whole day walking around and offering it to people in their yards. But when Nastia called people from the market, and when we saw this crowd, we were shocked. People with many animals approached — seven dogs and nine cats each. It took us 20 minutes to distribute all of this!

Liza with her friend volunteering

Liza: I also distributed food several times. Back then, it was relatively calm towards Komyshuvakha, so I drove there by car. I visited villages such as Shchaslyve, Kushchove, Novoivanivka, Yasna Poliana, Hryhorivka and Zhovtenke. They sent me 100 kilograms of food per trip. My friend Daria and I distributed it all, weighing and packing it ourselves, one kilo per dog or cat. And we went together, as it was more convenient: one of us would pick up the food, while the other one would talk to the locals.

On our first trip, we were worried, especially when passing through checkpoints: we had to explain in detail why and where we were going, and all our answers were recorded. Then we got used to it a bit. The last two trips were to Hryhorivka and Zhovtenke, where there are difficulties with food, and people find it hard to go to the city. We were driving down the streets, if we saw a person, we called out and asked. Every family that has stayed there has many animals: from three dogs and sometimes to ten cats. People take care of the animals of their neighbours, who have left, and also pick up and feed the stray ones. Moreover, many animals were brought there from Orikhiv. So the food was gone very quickly.

Nataliia and her dog Dana

Nataliia: Well, what can I say: I handed out food under the rockets and drove off! I started driving in the summer and still regularly go to the frontline villages: Prybuzke, Lyman, Dmytrivka. I went to Ochakiv and also to the village of Kutsurub: there is a constant artillery shelling there, as the russians are just 5 kilometres away, on the Kinburn Spit. They even reach there with tanks.

When I went for the first time, I just handed out food to people on the streets. But then I got to know a military volunteer. It was she who already showed me where the pensioners lived, and we brought food directly to their homes.

Those villages that were right on the front line are destroyed — every house is shattered. During the fights, there was nobody there, and now people are returning, rebuilding whatever they can… It’s emotionally tough to see the ruins and hear tragic stories, but if not us, then who?

Ivan is a top manager on weekdays and a volunteer on weekends

Ivan: We take on every task. With Mariia, Anhelina and Anzhelika, we often meet for clean-ups, repairs or walking dogs in shelters. On our last trip, we visited Rifugio shelter. They gave us a tour and told us how the animals lived and how they were fed. It was more of a relaxed visit to feed the animals and pet them. But we asked for something to do ourselves because we’re volunteers. So we moved some firewood a little, dragged some boards, fed goats and horses — everyone brought some treats.

Personally, it’s not so important for me what exactly to do in the shelter, the main thing is that we’re getting involved in the process. Once, I went to the shelter to help with cleaning. I was 15 minutes late, and everyone was already busy cleaning, so they just let me walk the dogs. And this is very important work! When there are 300 dogs in the shelter and they are walked only once every three days, they really need it. I’m up for any task: feeding, pouring water for stray animals. In our community, we don’t pick and choose: “I’ll do this, I won’t do that.”

Liza: There are many directions in animal protection. You can financially support shelters. You can walk animals in shelters. In Zaporizhzhia, there’s a vet clinic that temporarily houses stray animals. So, for example, you can go there and walk the dogs. An important direction is to teach children how to communicate with animals, to explain that they are also living beings who feel. And the easiest way is to take a bag of food and feed stray animals. Anyone can do that.

“Filling up when giving love”: why volunteer?

Mariia: It motivates and uplifts the mood, especially when you manage to do something at the shelter. Usually, there’s a pleasant atmosphere, and interesting people gather there. It’s more about satisfaction.

Anhelina: Satisfaction from being needed.

Anzhelika: I even selfishly enjoy the fact that on weekends, you can go to the shelter — actually to nature, where there’s some physical work. I get a kick out of it. I especially love walking dogs because I can’t have my own one yet.

Ivan: For me, it’s also a kind of relaxation. I had a vacation a week ago. I spent three days of it in shelters. In Zoopatrul, Patron and Rifugio. I look at my photos — and after volunteering, my eyes always shine. No matter how hard it may seem, it always gives energy.

Ivan at Rifugio

Anhelina: When you go on a volunteer assignment, you have a goal. When you achieve it, you come back home like, “Wow…”. You fill up. You fill up when you touch happy animals, when you help animals that have suffered from war or people, and when you give love. And it doesn’t matter whether you give this love to people or animals.

Once I took photos of Ryzhyk at the shelter. He’s probably the most photogenic cat in the world. He was really like a supermodel: lifting his paws, turning his face to the camera, making different expressions… I posted everything on Instagram, and after a while, I saw that someone liked his photos, and now he has a home. It’s at moments like these that you understand what it’s all for.

“Guys, be quiet, you’ll wake up the bat”: most memorable moments

Vika: My husband and I rescued animals from Kharkiv when there was heavy shelling. Sometimes from Oleksiivka, sometimes from Saltivka… We had guinea pigs and parrots. And when people were ready to take in the animals, we took them to Krasnyi Kut, Merefa, even to Krasnohrad… I was ready to go anywhere so that the animals could have a family. When I remember all this, tears come to my eyes.

I was surprised by the fact that people were ready to take in animals. It never happened that puppies stayed with us for more than two months. In 2022, since the start of the full-scale war, about 300 animals were given away.

Mariia: I have a vivid memory from my childhood: when I was around 13 years old, I pulled puppies out of a trash bin. My mom and I heard something whimpering, so we went to see. It turned out blind puppies were lying in that bin, and they weren’t easy to reach. So I had to climb in there. I’m still proud that I wasn’t afraid. We took them home, raised them, and our neighbour gave them away later.

Anzhelika: When I was little, my mom and I found a pigeon with a wounded wing and nursed it back to health. When we saw that it wanted to be free, we took it back to where we found it. And it flew away. I cried for three days because I got so attached to it.

Ivan: I remember my birthday a few years ago. It was December 28th. I go out onto the balcony, and I hear something like crackling. I lift the blanket — and there’s a bat. They were supposed to be asleep already. It somehow got onto the balcony, fell onto the blanket and woke up. I called the organisation that dealt with bats, and they told me: take it in a box, cover it with a net, put it in the fridge — and it will fall asleep there. So I did. The window washers came to clean my windows, they were banging. I told them, “Guys, be quiet, you’ll wake up the bat.” And these big guys, “Show us!” And there it was, sleeping in the box with only its paw sticking out. So the bat lived in my fridge until spring.

Anhelina: I remember Sara, a yard dog who lives at Patron. I used to walk her. Sara has no front legs, but she tries to walk. She’s a dog with such strong willpower, with a thirst for life. She trusts people, makes contact and keeps on living. Sara gives me strength, motivation and inspiration.

Inhabitant of the fridge

Sereda, Piatnytsia, Marharyn, and others: who live with volunteers at home

Liza: Right now, I have a cat in foster care. And there’s Luna, a dog. Four years ago, I found 11 puppies near an abandoned house. My friends and I treated and sterilized them. I kept Luna for myself.

Nataliia: Cats Barsik, Snizhok, Niusha, Tolstyi, Sonia. I also have a dog. Someone found her in a dumpster and was trying to find her a home. The puppy was scared and wouldn’t come to anyone. It turned out she had been bitten by a dog. In the clinic, they said, another day or two, and this puppy would have died. So now, I have a dog Dana, and they are friends with the cat Tolstyi.

Vika: In the Kharkiv group, there was a video of five puppies found in the central market. There was a little black one among them. I looked at him and thought: that’s it, he’s mine. Now he’s my dog Lumi. People don’t even believe he’s not purebred. He grew up so beautiful, it’s like a bonus for my volunteering.

I also have Zhulia, who gave birth to 10 puppies: the little ones were given away, and I took the dog. And moreover, two cats — Markusha and Bonia, both of them were found.

Zhulia is gentle, but very timid. She only bonded with me. And Lumi is very sociable, full of energy and emotions. He’s like a copy of me!

I rescued Bonia from the dumpster. And Markusha, whom my child found in a box near the pond — he’s just the cat of my dreams. Black mask, black ears, and beige himself. No one believes he’s a rescue.

Anzhelika: I have three cats: Sereda, Piatnytsia and Marharyn. The former ones are female and male cats from the same shelter with a year’s difference. The female cat wasn’t very sociable. When she got used to us, we went back to the shelter and got her. And we took the latter male cat last year. Piatnytsia [ed.: ‘Friday’ in Ukrainian] and Sereda [ed.: ‘Wednesday’ in Ukrainian] are named after the days we got them from the shelter. And Marharyn [ed.: from ‘Margarine’] is a boy, we associated him with something soft and chubby.

Ivan: I have one cat, Filia. She’s purebred — and she stands out. And with such a character, that one is enough for me!

“You should help people instead”: about other people’s attitude to animal volunteering

Ivan: I’m often asked: why do you do this, spend time and resources? Not everyone understands how instead of lying down on Saturday, you can get up and go to work.

Anzhelika: My friends support me in volunteering: I collected things for insulating enclosures, and my friends practically collected everything I needed.

Liza: People used to say, “Oh, you should help people instead.” Those who say that don’t help people either. It’s just idle talk. 

Nevertheless, people are mostly inspired when they see someone caring. Once I found kittens, posted them on Instagram, and my friends took them. Although they used to say “no animals.”

Nataliia: My husband supports me in animal volunteering, sometimes he went with me to distribute food. Of course, he wasn’t very happy that I kept bringing cats home one after another, but he got used to it. My daughter is an adult. When I had to feed the little kittens, we did it as a family: my daughter came, and my mother came too. It was like with little children. My family is with me in this, I’m not alone.

Who said ‘no animals’? The feathered patrol flies out to convince: no rescued animals are ever enough! That’s why UAnimals always have rescue projects — please support them.

Ivan: When new people come to shelters, it’s a responsibility. If you come, it’s important to know how to handle animals or at least listen to those around you. During dog walks, people sometimes go just wherever they want. When they meet other dogs, they start fighting. Or the dog runs away, and they don’t know what to do. Volunteering is cool, but you have to have common sense and responsibility. Of course, I invite everyone and try to get them involved, but it’s not just for fun or karma points. Once you come to a shelter, you have to be responsible for your actions.

“One post — and five people have already done something”: why talk about volunteering

Ivan: I invited a friend to the shelter in Makariv, and she asked me to make a post about it. She said: the more you show people how they can help, the more people might start doing it. You might not even know about it, but someone might think about it, someone might feed, someone might donate… I made this post just for her. And afterwards, three of my friends asked to join my next volunteering session, and two asked for the details on where to donate. One post — and five people have already done something. And those are just the ones I know. I used to think that good deeds, as they say, are done in silence. But now I’ve changed my mind: you need to tell, post and involve other people.

Anhelina: That’s how it was for me with Patron. I went there to help clean up. And I was so inspired by this shelter that I launched my collection for them. I raised funds and bought what was needed at that moment: medicines, cleaning supplies… When I came there, the owner took photos of me with those bags and posted it. She believed it was worth it. Please, show that you are volunteering. In this way, you inspire other people.

Mariia: None of my friends were involved in animal volunteering. But when I started posting stories from shelters, my friends started writing, “Oh, cool, let’s go together.” Not everyone imagines what needs to be done, and how it goes. Maybe they couldn’t dare because they didn’t know what exactly would happen there. And if a familiar person has already done it, it’s easier. Many of my friends wanted to join. When you volunteer, it’s important to talk about it.