A woman in a uniform gets out of a car. “You are early,” she says to me. She’s got soft features but looks confident and even strict. Meet Pilla Osborn, a dog behaviorist and the chief administrator at an animal shelter in the city of Tartu, Estonia. 

You can’t hear barking in the parking lot, as it would be in Ukraine. You can’t really tell that there are dogs’ enclosures behind the fence. The entrance is a clean glass door. To get inside, one has to call the administrator first. Usually, Pilla comes and brings a guest inside the shelter. 

Don’t you think that it’s easy to get an animal if you come to adopt! First, you have to pass Pilla’s test. 

Pilla Osborn told UAnimals media about the life of Estonian shelters, whether they rely on charitable donations, and how cat Tikku found a new family. She also explained why it’s not always easy to take good photos with friendly cats and what you need to do to adopt an animal from an Estonian shelter.

Stray animals in Estonia: 3 animal catchers for half of a country 

Is there a problem with stray animals in Estonia? 

Not so much with dogs. Most dogs have their people. Right now, basically, all the dogs in our shelter came from their owners, who gave them to us. But there is a problem with cats. We are doing a lot of spaying here, and we promote spaying and neutering. But we don’t see any dropping of levels that way. Somehow there are still cats wandering in the fields, countryside, bringing tons of young ones. All these animals end up here.

Who brings cats to the shelter? 

People are calling us when there is a situation. These cats are not friendly. If they get feral for a couple of generations, people usually can’t catch them. This is an animal catcher’s job. 

We use the traps for that. We haven’t used an animal capture gun for 7 years for sure. The gun works with dogs. You can’t use it with cats. Besides, we need to have a veterinarian. You have to guess the dog’s weight to know how much medication to put in that gun. The animal is far away from you. How much does it weigh? You can approximate, but you can’t know for sure. So it’s a life-and-death situation. Maybe you hit the animal in the wrong place. Maybe you put in too much of that medication. Because of that, we don’t use it at all. We do have one gun here, though.

What happens after you receive a call? 

We want to know everything from the person who called us: When they saw the animal, how often, and where the animal usually goes. That is so we can plan out catching ways or time. 

So animal catchers go on long trips to cover several places at once?

Yes, exactly. We have a schedule for that. Earlier calls get responded to earlier, and so on. The catchers work every day, and not just in Tartu. Every county needs to deal with the problem of stray animals, so they need to hire some shelter to do the work for them. Our shelter is prominent in Tartu County, but we are hired by half of the counties in Estonia. We have 3 catchers.

3 catchers for half of Estonia?

Exactly! We plan a lot. Even if the animal catcher is in a faraway county, we need to cover Tartu city first. We must respond to Tartu city calls in one hour because we have a contract with the city. 

Shelters in Estonia: How Do They Work?  

What happens to a cat when it comes to the shelter?

First, we have to see if the animal has a microchip. If so, we can call the owner immediately. They can come to pick the cat up. In Estonia, we can’t have any animals walking outside by themselves. If that is the case, we need to talk with the owner. That would be the best situation. 

If there’s no chip, we take pictures. We put it up on our webpage, and for the first 14 days, we need to wait for the previous owner to notice that animal on our webpage. By law, we need to keep the animal here for 14 days. 

A cat lives in a cage. Cats need to feel that no other cat can come into their territory. But the territory is small. It’s just that cage.

After 14 days, the cortisol levels are dropping. Cats get used to a cage life and surroundings, so they are not acting in defensive aggression. 

We have different rooms for cats. At first, they are in a quarantine room. If the cat doesn’t have a microchip, a veterinarian comes here and does the procedures: vaccinations, dewormer, and flea medication. After 14 days, if the cat is friendly and happy, it goes to get spaying/neutering in the clinic. 

The clinic needs to make sure that the cat doesn’t have FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus), which is like HIV for people. For that, they are taking blood. 

If the animal has FIV, this means euthanasia. Lots of stray cats in Estonia have that. Cats get it through bites in catfights. We don’t have any cure for that. On average a cat lives 6 to 7 years after that bite. It’s contagious to other cats. When the disease progresses, organs shut down one by one. With the blood test, you can say if it has it, but you can’t say how long it has had it. Before everything goes bad, we think it’s humane to do euthanasia.

If the cat doesn’t have the disease, we come and collect it. Then the animal is waiting for adoption. 

Dogs that had an owner, do not need all the veterinary procedures. The only thing is that we still have to wait 14 days, and then the dog can live in a shelter in a kennel until possible adoption. We have volunteers coming to walk the dogs. There’s volunteer schooling once a month.

How many animals are there in the shelter now?

Right now, we have 33 dogs, and the cats … exactly 100. So that’s 133 animals.

Is your shelter considered to be small or big in Estonia? 

I have no idea about other shelters. We are very transparent, but I know shelters that don’t even let you in. It’s hard to get the information. 

Who owns the shelter? 

Tartu City does. This is a municipal shelter.

Are there private shelters in Estonia?

There are some private shelters popping up here and there. People are trying to do the same thing we do in their living rooms. It’s not really in the law, what is a shelter and what isn’t. So any activist can start saving animals, hoping for donations. 

Was this place designed as a shelter?

Yes, it was. We have worked here since 2006. This building that we are in right now is a year old. Before that, we had a 4 square meters office here, which wasn’t built as a shelter. The city actually built that house.

Does a vet or a nurse work here?  

We have contracts with 2 veterinarians. One comes once a day. An animal caretaker from the shelter helps instead of a nurse. 

Do you receive donations?

We do need donations. The city does not pay for spaying and neutering. Donations are very important for veterinary care. My paycheck is from the government. The city needs to provide money for each animal for 14 days, and then we are all alone. This is when donations come in.

Who usually donates?

Ordinary people, who see our work and the passion that we are doing it with. 

Do you organize any fundraising campaigns? 

No, we feel really bad about it because everybody else is gathering money, mostly these independent pop-ups. They are also exploiting animals that are really sick. For example, an animal needs a heart transplant. It has to pull human strings. We believe that people are getting tired of all those “help me” things. So we try not to do that at all. We want to provide the best life for animals here, the best service to the community. We try to get specialists who want to learn more. So people see it all and donate with free will. And we try to make tomorrow a better day than yesterday was.

A Look Inside: Unneighbourly Dogs and Individualistic Cats

To get to the courtyard, we pass the staff room. The girls are having lunch, and next to them, there is a big red dog. They decided to give him some individual attention. He comes and licks me.

Each dog has a kennel in the yard. Pilla explains the nuances of choosing how to fit the dogs next to each other.

 “They live separately but the communication is still intense. So we have to see who fits next to whom.”

I know that time is of the essence here, so I move quickly. At one point, I start running with a camera to take a picture of a dog.

“Never, never run in a shelter!” Pilla stops me sternly.

Next, we go to the cat house. There are two rooms: one with larger cages and another with smaller cages. The one with the smaller cages houses cats following surgery. The other features a larger two-story residence.  

“Each cage is divided into two floors. Upstairs is the space for living and resting, and downstairs is the kitchen and the toilet in the other corner. Although the cage is relatively small, the cat feels safe, because no other cat will enter the territory. Only one cage is cleaned at a time. The cat is out for a little walk through the room. Usually, the cats jump on the windowsill and watch what the dogs are doing outside.”

Each cage has a card with a name and different markings. “On a diet” is written on one.

“Each card has a number on it. It’s an animal’s serial number. It indicates when the animal came to the shelter. We also often write ‘reserved’ here. It means that someone has already decided to take the animal home.”

I try to take pictures of the residents of the shelter in Tartu, but the cats turn away.

“The camera is like a big eye looking at them. So they can be uncomfortable. Friendly cats, shy cats would turn around and hide, but aggressive cats would stare at it and kind of attack it. So there are usually better pictures with aggressive cats.”

Next to the room with the cages, there is also a separate room with a cat den and photos of tigers on the walls. One or two cats who have been in the shelter the longest live here. The previous resident has just moved out, so now the next one is moving in, the one on a diet.

The kittens have a separate house. At the entrance, there is a sanitizer for both feet and hands. However, the kittens are not touched so that they do not catch diseases. On the wall, there is a board with kittens’ names and flags pinned to it. The kitty with the blue flag is sick, and the one with the yellow flag needs medication.

“I am a professional in dogs’ behavior,” Pilla says, “but I am an enthusiast in cat psychology. I am excited about them, and I even take work home! We have lots of kittens, and they are feral. I take kittens home to socialize them so they have individual attention, and I can turn them friendly so that they can find homes better. But I don’t get paid for that at all.”

How does your family react?

I have a dog and a cat. And I have a husband. My husband thought that he had not liked cats at all when we got married. That was 9 years ago. And now he is asking me, “Hey, which one are you bringing home tomorrow?” He is working from home. So I need to train him to train the kittens.

Tikku is leaving for a new home 

As we talk, an elderly couple comes to the office with a pet carrier. A big furry cat sits inside. 

Pilla makes some notes.

“This cat’s name is Tikku. He has been living with us for the longest time, since my birthday on November 26. He lived in a separate room.”

There were 2 outside cats in a summer home, Tikku and Takku. Both were brought here. People took them into an apartment. There they had a female cat. Catfights started happening because the people didn’t do the introduction perfectly. Fighting over the female cat, Takku got beaten up by Tikku, who’s a really big cat. The people didn’t want to deal with the fights. Today Tikku goes to a new home. The couple takes him. They have had cats before. It’s not their first visit here. If you want an animal, you have to come here multiple times to get to know each other.

Is that a rule?

Yes. From an animal’s point of view, it’s important. They haven’t been in your place, so it would be best if they knew you ahead. In that way they have a comfort person already. That is animal psychology that we are learning a lot about.

How does it work if someone wants to adopt an animal?

They come on visiting hours and tell us what cat or dog they are interested in. I’m walking with every person so I can read their energy and the animal’s energy and say if it is a good or a bad idea. I want to know everything about them. We can ask if they want an outside cat. Then we can say, “I’m sorry, we don’t give cats outside. It works the other way: We are taking cats from the streets.” I ask if they have other animals at home. There are some cats who don’t tolerate any other animals. They think they are the only cat on Earth. Maybe that cat is not right for you then. Do you have little kids at home? What is your daily schedule? How much time can you have with this animal? How can you help this animal to socialize better? When we put up dogs for adoption, sometimes there are several candidates. We even decide who will take the dog. It’s a lot of paperwork. But with cats, there’s nothing like that. Many people don’t want to deal with problems and just bring them back.                  

Does it happen that people return animals?

Exactly, for whatever reason. Taking an animal is not a fairytale. You need to go to the dog school. You need to be financially in a good place. You need to think about 15 years of the dog’s life being with you, not just take this puppy at random. Or giving animals as gifts. We don’t approve of it here.

When you handed Tikku over, you crossed something out on a piece of paper over there, on the wall. It looks like a detective board! 

We do an advertisement on our webpage. We put pictures there, and Tikku’s picture had been there for the longest time. Since they have been there for so long, we promote them to get to new homes. We know more about them, and we make little stories about them. Maybe people can see something that pulls at their heartstrings and think, “This cat is for me.” I’m crossing over whoever goes home.

It seems to me that everyone is crossed out, right?

Not yet, but most of the cats are! 

I’m lying with my back against the wall, covered by a slab of concrete and surrounded by dry weeds, vehicle tires, bricks, and chunks of concrete. I spot a little, agile dog darting past me through a crevice. Then she rushes to the slab and barks loudly right in my face. She is adorable, of course, but her large teeth flash before my eyes, and her bark is deafening. This goes on for several long minutes until Olha, the dog’s handler, approaches and throws her a ball. Then I crawled out from beneath the simulated rubble at the State Emergency Service training facility.

Ninja, a five-year-old dog, looks for humans who are still alive underneath debris. And her biggest source of inspiration is this dazzling red ball. Ninja wants to “hunt” it down beyond anything else.

Search and rescue (SAR) dogs are present in all law enforcement agencies in Ukraine: the National Guard and the Armed Forces, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Emergency Service. Additionally, there are units with entirely different tasks within these structures. While some dogs look for bombs, others serve as police escorts. Dogs trained in search and rescue are able to locate survivors in the debris or in nature. In the article, we are going to concentrate on them specifically.

Where do SAR dogs live?

I first met Ninja in an indoor enclosure at the training ground known as the canine unit. However, she does not live there. Ninja lives at home with an emergency service worker and a dog trainer, Olha Bibikova, along with her mother and two other dogs. One of them is called Kliukva, who was also a SAR dog. The other is Kuzya from Sloviansk, who is paralyzed in her hind legs.

Ninja works at the training ground of the Mobile Rescue Center in the Kyiv region. All the dogs there belong to dog handlers and live with them.

“Dog handlers, like rescuers, work one shift every three days. When an emergency occurs, we go deal with the aftermath. We are on duty from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. When we go home, the dogs go with us,” says Olha.

Meanwhile, most dogs in the State Emergency Service belong to the state. They do not live with people, but in canine centers. “We have a fenced-in space here with about 50 enclosures,” says Vladyslav Pukhalskyi, a major of the Civil Protection Service and a veterinarian of the Interregional Center of Rapid Reaction State Service Emergency of Ukraine in Romny is a city in the Sumy region.Romny. There are three canine units there: emergency rescue, sapper, and dogs training group, where Vladyslav works.

The dogs are brought from this center to help in other regions, mainly to smaller permanent deployment points. There, they also have semi-permanent enclosures. “The enclosures can be transported by a crane. There are also kennels, covered on top to keep the water out,” says Vladyslav.

When an emergency situation happens and the order to leave is given, the dog is placed in a box (a small cage) and transported to work in a special vehicle along with people. 

In the field 

Work and rest spells

“Something is burning here, it’s hot over there, there’s smoke and dust, and everyone is working around… It’s a tense situation. It’s not the same as training,” Vladyslav recalls his trip to the Dnipro region.

SAR dogs from the State Emergency Service are now constantly working at the places of russian shelling. From the regional center, they go to the Kharkiv, Sumy, and Dnipro regions. From the mobile center, they go mostly to the Kyiv region, but there may be other cities and even regions.

According to rescuers, the dog handler does not let the dog go where it is too dangerous, and the animal could, for example, collapse. The dog does not work for hours on end, assures Vladyslav. “The dog works for about 20 minutes, and that’s it. He searches the area and comes back, and people need to clear the rubble in that spot. They don’t even wait 20 minutes; that’s the maximum. Then the dog needs to be given water and put back in the carrier. We then judge the situation to determine if the dog is needed again.”

Although dogs work in short periods, they can be near the rubble all day or even longer. “There have been times when dogs have been at the search site for 24 hours,” says the veterinarian. When dogs are on site for many days, they live in vehicles, special kennels, and are able to walk around. The dog is not restricted to the kennel all the time.

In Antakya

Even during the full-scale invasion, Ninja managed to work not only on the rubble in Ukraine, but also abroad. On February 6, 2023, a powerful earthquake struck Turkey, and a team of Ukrainian rescuers went to the city of Antakya to help.

“It was devastating. You walk down the street and everything is destroyed,” recalls Olga. At first, Ukrainian teams searched the destroyed buildings, then cleared the rubble. They worked for nine days. Each shift lasted six hours, followed by six hours of rest, and then they went back to work.

“One building was being dismantled by an excavator. It was a multistorey building that had simply collapsed. In international classification, this is called a pancake collapse. And then someone heard a suspicious sound. There were a lot of people there, and they called us. Ninja started searching and marked the spot with her voice. Turkish rescuers pulled a 30-year-old woman out of there,” says Olha. The woman was immediately placed on a stretcher and taken to an ambulance. She was conscious, but her condition was marked as critical. That year, the Ukrainian Kennel Union awarded Ninja the The Medal for Lifesaving is a medal of Ukraine presented for saving human life, acts of charity, humanistic and other activities in public health, and accident prevention. Source: Wikipedia.Medal for Lifesaving.

A puppy with a strong food motivation has a better chance of becoming a SAR dog. Play motivation is also important: a toy motivates the dog to perform a task.

Building skills in reverse

“All dog skills are taught from the end goal,” explains Olha. “What do we want to achieve? We want the dog to find a person and mark them with the voice. The person takes a motivational object — something the dog wants, such as a toy or food — and shows it to the dog. If the dog barks, the toy or some food is given. Then the person hides gradually. If it is a forest, then behind a tree, and if it is rubble, then behind some kind of shelter. The dog quickly understands that he needs to sniff. This is natural for a dog; this animal lives by its nose.”

Dogs are taught to search for dead people and, for example, drugs using a sample. Besides that, the process is similar. The difference is that a search and rescue dog must receive encouragement from the person he has found, not from its handler. That is why dogs must be friendly to people.

Dogs that have undergone training to become SAR dogs take exams together with their handlers. There are three stages of certification. The first one is an eligibility exam. The dog must find one person in a rubble pile or in the forest and pass an obedience and agility test. Then comes the so-called Class A exam—the dog must find two people within a certain time. The next stage is Class B—the dog must find three people. The search area increases for each class.

Is training beneficial or harmful?

“When we take a predator animal, whose senses and entire physique are designed for active movement and hunting, and place it in a very comfortable apartment with a soft bed, such an animal has nowhere to apply its physical abilities and intelligence,” says dog behavior expert Ria Smulska. She cares for six street dogs and works with pet dogs. According to her, a dog cannot be forced to search using cruel methods. The animal works at a distance, without a leash or an electric collar. So the dog chooses whether to cooperate with humans and obey commands.

“For dogs, such training is a joy. They can use their noses to demonstrate species-specific behavior. They work in tandem with their favorite person. No handler who has trained a dog will treat it as expendable. The dog is your partner, whom you have raised and cherished. Training is very energy-intensive for the handler too,” says Ria.

Puppies are trained every day. The older the dog, the less often he needs to be trained, says Olya Bibikova. “The dog should miss the search. If you train for an hour every day, the dog will barely drag itself there. Oh no, not again, it’s taking so long, I’m bored… Ninja searches once a week. It’s part of the hunting instinct. When she finds a person and they throw a ball for her, it’s as if she has found and caught her prey.”

How SAR dogs receive medical help

“Eva just had an appointment. I treated her skin,” says veterinarian Vladyslav. “I have 34 dogs under my care.”

Previously, there were three employees in the department. Now he is the only one, but they plan to expand the staff. Vladyslav regularly examines the dogs, gives them vaccinations and treats them. However, the health of search dogs is not only his responsibility, but of dog handlers. “The dog handlers see that something is wrong with a dog, then they bring the animal to me. In diagnosing a disease, it is not only the clinical picture that is important, but also the medical history. How the dog behaves, whether he is active or more passive, whether he has been jumping or whining. You need to gather as much information as possible.”

Before starting their job, dog handlers undergo training in SAR dog handling. They also learn about veterinary care. “I explain to them how to examine dogs, how to remove ticks, how to take the temperature, and what to inject if necessary. They can also always call and ask questions,” says Vladyslav. Veterinarians equip dog handlers with first aid kits so that they can help the dogs in an emergency. According to Vladyslav, the most common cases are scratches or bee stings. Even more common are digestive disorders. “We go to a different place, where the water is different. Dogs react strongly to water. They start to have problems.”

Search and rescue dogs must be healthy, even from a pragmatic point of view. They cannot be obese, have problems with their musculoskeletal system, or suffer from pain. Otherwise, the dog will not be able to work.

After working on the rubble, dogs sometimes come back with cuts, says Vladyslav. More serious injuries, he says, are rare. “Last year, there was a case where a dog was injured after searching the rubble. A medic stitched her up.”

There have been no cases of dogs dying at the center in the entire history of canine calculations, according to the center. The center has existed in its current form since 2018. The State Emergency Service did not disclose information about fatalities after the start of the full-scale invasion. However, dogs have died in other structures; for example, since 2022, at least 25 dogs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have died. These were not search and rescue animals, but mostly guard dogs who died because of russian shelling. 

In place of a dog

Why dogs?

Microscopic robots assist with surgical procedures, drones replace intelligence troops, and artificial intelligence engages in philosophical discussions. Why, then, in such a technological society, are dogs brought in to help?

Rescue missions do not arrive at the rubble empty-handed. They have special microphones and cameras, including infrared ones. These technologies help find victims who can be seen, heard, or whose infrared signature can be detected. If this is not possible, then only canine teams can help.

Dogs can quickly locate victims by smell. Technology cannot replace a dog’s nose, which has evolved over millions of years. At least not yet. 

Right platform needed

“Hello! That’s Spot!”

In numerous videos, scientists show a funny yellow “dog”. They say you just want to pet him. No matter how cool he may seem, he has no emotions or thoughts. Spot is a robot from Boston Dynamics, designed primarily for data collection.

For something to work on rubble instead of a dog, that something needs to be able to move as dynamically as an animal or a human. Spot is a dynamic platform capable of moving through space. Unlike wheeled or tracked drones, it moves better over awkward piles of earth or debris because it mimics the movement of a dog.

The Hong Kong-developed Unitree Go2 is actively sold on the Ukrainian market. It is also demonstrated at various technical innovation exhibitions in Ukraine.

There are many other robot dogs. Some are already being used by the Ukrainian army, but not for search and rescue, rather for certain logistical tasks.

Robots do not get tired or feel pain. Perhaps they will replace dogs in rubble if they are equipped with a so-called electronic nose. 

All you need is a nose 

Most likely, in addition to dog paws, Spot will also have an electronic nose, says Dr Nik Denler, developer of one such “nose.”

An electronic nose is a sensor. It analyzes what we and animals perceive as smell. These are volatile substances emitted by objects. These molecules hit the sensor, and the computer converts the data into a signal, in our case, whether there is a person under the rubble.

Electronic noses will also be used in other areas. They will detect the presence of diseases in plants and the smell of forest fires. Such devices are already being used to determine air quality, including in Ukraine. However, when it comes to searching for people after disasters in real-life conditions, electronic noses have not yet replaced live dogs.

In experiments only

The “nose” developed by British scientist Nik Denler was able to recognize the smells of bananas, cheese, pineapple, and eucalyptus, even when they changed 60 times per minute.

He developed the device, the size of a bank card, together with colleagues from the University of Hertfordshire. Although the goal of the development was to replace police dogs with robots, at the moment this experiment has only confirmed that the technology can analyze smells in general.

In 2018, at the University of Innsbruck, five men and four women entered a special airtight chamber made of stainless steel and glass one at a time. Beforehand, the chamber was cleaned of odors, and a special fan stirred the air. The volunteers entered wearing only underwear and no makeup, and they had not eaten anything for eight hours beforehand to simulate being trapped under rubble. For the first hour, the person breathed through a mask, and for the second hour, without it. During this time, the latest device measured volatiles — first those released through the skin, then those released through the skin and breath.

The electronic nose managed the task and was able to indicate the presence of people.

This device is one of the most famous odor sensors designed to search for people under rubble. It was developed by ETH Zurich.

There is also a French development, the Sniffer sensor, for searching for people, which has already been integrated into a robot named Smurf. This device moves on wheels, so Smurf cannot move as freely as a dog.

Sniffer and Smurf were tested together during the CURSOR project (a European scientific initiative to develop various rescue devices). This pair could detect the presence of a person at a distance of about two meters. They only worked in training conditions.

When an emergency happens, dogs are needed immediately. They are a valuable part of rescue teams, who have been extensively trained and live in special conditions. They are not stationed in every remote location where an earthquake, avalanche, or explosion could occur. They must be transported to the site, sometimes even by plane or helicopter. Therefore, devices could potentially become an even more accessible solution than dogs. 

At the same time, many people are concerned about another conflict: A dog can never give informed consent to dangerous work. No matter how well dogs are cared for, they are still exposed to risk in one way or another. Technology could eliminate this issue.

Replacing dogs with robots is an area of intense scrutiny and interest for scientists. So an electronic nose is a broad and dynamic field of research. However, so far, no Spot moves as skillfully as Ninja, and electronic sensors have not surpassed her sensitive wet nose.

Bison, deer, foxes, and hares bathe, hunt, and play in his photos, living their wild lives. However, it wasn’t these animals that brought Viacheslav Mishchenko global recognition, but snails. A photograph of a snail earned him awards in two categories at the prestigious International Photography Awards in 2014, and a book featuring his snail photography was published in Japan. Japanese publishers hailed him as a brilliant Ukrainian photographer.

Viacheslav Mishchenko lives in Berdychiv, Ukraine. By day, he is a dental technician at a military hospital. Often, on the same day, he is also a wildlife photographer.

Coming home from the hospital, slightly breathless and busy, Viacheslav eagerly tells us about his passion — photography.

Immersion in the Microcosm: How Mushroom Picking Can Change a Life

— Where was your latest photoshoot?

— Yesterday, I went to the forest with my grandchildren. We found some mushrooms — honey fungus and oyster mushrooms. Oyster mushrooms are unusual, and I wanted to photograph them… and I found some! I love foraging. My father got me “hooked” on it. He was an avid mushroom picker who made me a small basket and took me along to gather mushrooms.

That’s what got me into macro photography. While mushroom-picking with my father, I’d see bugs, spiders, and snails moving about… It was so interesting for me as a child! This love for the micro-world has stayed with me ever since.

My overall love for nature also came from my father. He was a mathematician by training, but in Berdychiv, he took courses and began teaching drawing, crafts, and drafting at school. He also worked as a freelance school photographer, so I witnessed the magic of photography as a child. He bought me my first small camera, a Smena, when I was ten years old — that’s when my long journey in photography began.

Then came the era of digital photography, but I didn’t have a camera. Instead, I painted. It was a joy for me! I became the head of the Vernisazh Union of Independent Artists and Folk Craftsmen and led it for 11 years (2002–2013).

One day, a friend sent me a camera — a Fujifilm — simply as a gift. That’s when it all clicked! I began taking a lot of photos, especially macro shots. I’d go to the forest and spend hours photographing.

On Land

— How do you find wild animals to photograph?

— Whether I’m photographing a deer or a snail, I first study the area where the animal is likely to be.

Most of the time, I set up A blind is a shelter used by hunters or nature photographers. blinds made of branches or camouflage netting. Sometimes, I pitch a tent and cover it with something. Occasionally, I shoot from my car or hide in a cornfield.

For example, let me tell you how I tracked black storks. I photographed them in Bystryk, a village near Berdychiv. It’s very convenient for me to go there because I live on the edge of the city. I brew some coffee, get in the car, and by the time I reach the location, I’ve finished my coffee. There are many lakes here, each home to its own birds. Over the past 15 years, I’ve come to know their nests and feeding spots.

Black storks are very rare. They build their nests far from people. Before migrating, they feed at lakes in Bystryk to gain some strength. In the summer, I saw them in the fields. I knew they’d stay for 10–12 days before leaving, but I couldn’t find the lake where they were feeding.

Storks like to visit lakes at dawn and sunset, and then, they can spend the rest of the day in the fields. I drove around the lakes for several days until I finally found them.

One evening, I prepared a spot where I could lie down. I brought a mat and camouflage netting. It’s the kind our soldiers use to cover tanks. I added a few branches on top so I could see the birds, but they couldn’t see me. Even the slightest movement makes them flee. If they spot you, one screeches, and they’re gone.

The next morning, I left at 5 a.m., parked my car far away so they wouldn’t hear it, and made my way to the blind. Ideally, you arrive before dawn, while it’s still dark. I waited in the forest, wondering—will they come, or won’t they?

— Have you encountered any other rare animals besides storks?

— There’s the largest butterfly in Europe — the great peacock moth (Saturnia pyri). Its wingspan is 15 centimeters. I’ve photographed it. There have also been bison. I made a special trip to Brody in the Lviv region to photograph them. Next year, I’m planning to head to the Belarusian border to photograph capercaillie, which are also rare.

— How did you photograph the fox cubs?

— It was early May. I saw the vixen once, then a second time… Sometimes she’d be carrying fish, other times she had a mouthful of mice. If she’s carrying food, it means she has cubs. So I started looking for the den. You need sandy soil and a kind of slope. And I found it! She had made her den so well that you wouldn’t notice it unless you were looking carefully. But it was very close to the village… Nearby, there was a cornfield, which is a perfect hiding spot for a fox. Corn is good for hunting birds that land there. 

I arrived when she wasn’t around and spotted the cubs first. They were curious about me and started coming out of the den. If the vixen hadn’t returned, they would have approached me and cuddled up to me.

But she caught my scent, yelped, and the cubs hid in the den! They didn’t come out again until she returned and yelped once more. I spent three hours sitting there with my camera, but it was all in vain.

However, I outsmarted her. She went out hunting, and I started bringing chicken wings to the den. The cubs would come out just a little, and I photographed them.

On the Water and in the Water

— Do you often have to go into the water to take photos?

— Yes, because many birds live on the water. There’s the great crested grebe — a very photogenic bird. Their courtship rituals are fascinating. Then there are bee-eaters and kingfishers, which are so colorful! Just this November, I saw a kingfisher at a pond, even though it was cold, and they usually aren’t around by then. There are also swans here — two pairs with their young. They fight for dominance on the lake: the stronger one chases off the weaker. There’s also the night heron, or kwak, named after its call: “Kwak! Kwak!” I’ve photographed water voles, muskrats, ducks, coots, and herons — both red, white, and gray.

— I heard you have a heron friend?

— Yes, I’ve been photographing her for many years. She lets me get very close. I’ve named her Marfa.

Marfa always arrives at the same spot first, as if to say, “This is mine, and I’m not letting anyone else in!” If I get too close, Marfa scolds me too. One eye keeps an eye on the fish, the other watches me. She sets a certain boundary, and if you cross it, she flies off, returns, and just yells at you. Then you take two or three steps back and sit in a blind, chest-deep in water.

— Isn’t it cold and wet?

— That’s what waders are for! I put on my waders, get in up to my chest, and move through the water. Above me, I have a little shelter shaped like an upside-down “U.” I made myself out of foam, plywood, and aluminum poles from an old cot. On top, there’s a canvas cover. Birds are afraid of humans, but if something non-threatening moves through the water, they’re wary at first, but they get used to it.

It’s morning, it’s foggy, and you’re in your waders, chest-deep in water, waiting for about an hour for them to arrive. The camera is mounted on a tripod. You are holding it like a machine gun.

Once, I fell in. I was photographing frogs in Polovetske, a village in the Zhytomyr region. It was their mating season, and I wanted to get as close to the water as possible to make the shots more impressive. Well, I fell into the water! Thankfully, my equipment wasn’t damaged, but I got soaked. I even got a funny photo out of it, which I titled A Male Dilemma: the frogs are mating, and the male is watching a mosquito with one eye. You can almost see him thinking, “Should I keep mating or grab a snack?”

Armed with Knowledge and Lenses

— What do you need to carry when you go on a trip?

— A bunch of lenses, tripods. You can’t do without them; they’re your tools.

— Have you ever weighed all of that?

— I don’t want to scare myself! I have three standard lenses: one with a long focal length, a macro lens, and a landscape lens. I don’t use ghillie suits much. I bring a mat, sometimes a cushion for the camera. When I prepare a blind, I want it to be comfortable because you might need to sit there for 3–4 hours. Birds can fly off and come back, and you have to wait. When I was photographing black storks, a car passed by — they flew away but returned later. Sometimes they get scared of me too. They got close to me. A stork came within six meters of me. It was too close to fit in my lens. The moment I moved, all the storks took off.

— Are there any animals that seem to want to be photographed?

— There aren’t. If you’re photographing a snail, it doesn’t care where it’s crawling. Though snails also have character. In good weather, they sleep, in damp weather, they crawl — early in the morning or late in the evening when the dew is heavy. But even then, it’s not always guaranteed you’ll catch them out.

— How do you entice a snail to pose?

— That’s a secret. I share those nuances during workshops. These are discoveries I’ve made through work, dreams, and curiosity.

— Have you learned anything about animals that you didn’t know before?

— Everything was new to me. I’ve photographed bugs whose names I didn’t even know at first.

I’m not a biologist! I didn’t know all the birds either. But when you photograph something for the first time, you get curious about what it is.

Whether it’s a ladybug or a praying mantis, it’s good to read up on them. It helps with photography. The same goes for mammals — deer, foxes.

— Do you have favorite locations?

— Over 15 years, I’ve explored various places. I know where to go for dragonflies, snails, grebes, or where a heron is waiting for me. It makes photographing easier.

Last fall, I went to Dzembronya. I wanted to photograph a bird that lives only by mountain rivers (the white-throated dipper, Cinclus cinclus). I took plenty of shots, but not the ones I wanted. You walk along the mountain river searching… but it’s fruitless. That’s what happens when the area is unfamiliar.

— What makes a photo stand out?

— The first thing that draws attention to a photo is the story. When there’s some action happening. It’s not just a snail — it’s a snail reaching for a droplet of water, or with a spiderweb in the background, or with an insect or a frog. And if the shot also has beautiful light and a captivating color palette, then you get a masterpiece.

— Do you follow any principles when photographing wild animals?

— The main thing is not to harm or disturb the animals. Nature is so fragile, it needs to be protected.

I’m against any kind of hunting. These animals — they’re miracles created by nature.

By the way, hunting is banned during martial law. And there are more wild animals now! I’ve never seen so many as I do now. In Bystryk, I’ve seen roe deer, even though there’s no large forest there. But I think that once the war ends, they’ll all be killed.

— Have you encountered poachers?

— It happened in Brody. We saw a car in the forest. I took a picture of the license plate and gave it to the forester. They investigated it, but I don’t know the final result.

Life Full of Adventures

— What are the most interesting moments you’ve witnessed?

— So many! This year, I captured a fox trying to hunt a hare. That area was also frequented by marsh harriers, particularly young birds. The harriers hunt and then land in the fields to eat. But foxes can smell food from half a kilometer away, so this one liked to drive the harriers off and take their meal.

A marsh harrier, a fox, and a hare — all in one photo. It’s incredibly rare for everything to align like that: the weather, the presence of these birds and animals in the same spot, and me being there! In 15 years, it’s the first time I’ve gotten such lucky shots.

There are plenty of failures too. My dream is to photograph a capercaillie and a crane. I’ve already made two trips near the Belarusian border to capture the capercaillie but haven’t succeeded yet. In spring, during their mating season, I traveled over 200 kilometers, spent two days there, and came back empty-handed.

— Don’t you feel like saying, “Forget it!” and giving up?

— Haha, that’s what makes it fun. It’s wonderful to have a dream.

I have so many photos of the white heron Marfa — a million of them! Yet every time she comes, I dream of capturing a shot I haven’t taken before. The fog, the splash of her wings…

— Which animal was the hardest to photograph?

— Deer in June in Bilokorovychi (Korosten District, Zhytomyr region). That shoot was tough. The area is swampy, and there were so many horseflies and mosquitoes, and they were huge! I thought they’d eat me alive. I brought repellent, but you can’t use too much because deer can smell it from afar. And if the wind blows their way… So you just lie there in the swamp, not moving.

Last spring, I had a similar experience photographing buzzards. There were lots of mosquitoes, and it was very hot. Inside the tent, I was sweating buckets!!!

Then the bird comes closer — five or ten meters away. Mosquitoes are sitting on your fingers, on your nose. But you can’t move. You just endure for the sake of a successful shot! Afterwards, you’re so bitten up it’s hard to look at yourself in the mirror.

— Do your colleagues and patients at the hospital know you’re a photographer?

— Most people at the hospital know. Although, earlier, I was better known abroad than in Ukraine.

In 2014, my photo of a snail won the International Photography Awards in the “Wildlife” and “Discovery of the Year” categories. That same year, a book featuring my snail photos was published in Japan. Japanese author Hisui Kotaro wrote Haiku is a genre of Japanese poetry.haiku to accompany each of my images.

“This warm photo book reminds those of us who rush and bustle daily of the importance of pausing for a moment and feeling gratitude for every day,” reads the book’s description.

In 2015, I attended the International Nature Festival in Namur, Belgium. Filmmakers, amateur naturalists, foresters, and photographers from various countries gather there. That year, King Philippe of Belgium also attended the festival!

— Don’t people ask, “How can you be both a dental technician and an artist?”

— They say, “How do you find the time? Here you are photographing animals and insects, and here you’re off to work.” Almost every day, I leave at 5 a.m. to catch the sunrise. By 7 a.m., I’m back home, because at 7:45 I head to the hospital.

I really dig it! When the sun rises, everything awakens, birds sing… Once, a herd was passing by… Mornings are great. I’ve been living this way for many years.

— Do you still paint?

— Painting is in another life now. But I’ll return to it because I’ve taken so many beautiful landscape photos of the Zhytomyr region, Dzembronya. It’s the highest-altitude village! There’s an enchanting forest there. I visited it in the fog — it was magical! I’m setting aside photos that I want to turn into paintings. There are so many amazing places, and I want to immortalize them on canvas.

Natalka is sitting on the porch of a village clubhouse in Novoosynove, Kharkiv region. The roar of the frontline echoes in the background. Smoke rises on the horizon.

“What are you doing now?” I ask.

“Preparing a solution. There’s a dog feeling unwell over there. We’ll give it an IV.”

A massive dark dog is sleeping in a cage under a birch tree. An IV is set up and hung from the tree’s lower branch. Nearby, cages hold animals awaiting surgery in the UAnimals veterinary vehicle.

We speak with Natalka during a UAnimals veterinary mission in the Kharkiv region, near Kupiansk, where veterinarians have long been absent. Here, Natalka and her team sterilize animals and provide medical assistance.

— The locals in Novoosynove seem to recognize you. This isn’t your first visit, is it?

— We were here in the summer, and people have gotten somewhat used to us. Back then, this place was much livelier: stores were open, and there were more residents. But since then, the situation has worsened. Fewer people remain, and the atmosphere has grown more somber. The store that used to operate now serves as a temporary shelter for animals.

— When you chose this profession, did you imagine your life would look like this?

— No, not at all! No veterinarian envisions their life this way!

My mother is a doctor, and I also considered a medical career. However, I didn’t want to work with people and chose veterinary medicine instead. Turns out, veterinarians often work more with people than with animals. There was a time when I doubted my life choices. I left university in my third year. Later, I returned with a clear purpose and have been dedicated to this profession ever since.

Nowadays, everyone does what they can. Through the Accessible Sterilization project, we can sterilize stray animals and vaccinate them against rabies. That’s what we do. The project’s goal is to make sterilization and rabies vaccination accessible for stray animals and pets belonging to low-income families. We also want people who take care of street animals to have the opportunity to sterilize them.

A long time ago, around 15 years ago, I began visiting animal shelters. At the time, I was working at a clinic and was invited to help at the Hostomel shelter. The conditions there were, to put it mildly, poor. I saw animals giving birth within the shelter because they weren’t sterilized. Many puppies and kittens had illnesses and died. That’s when I had the idea to make animal sterilization more accessible.

— Why sterilize stray or street animals?

— Many animals are born uncontrollably.

Why do we encounter cruelty toward animals? I believe the main problem is that there are too many of them. People commit various acts that degrade human dignity — like drowning kittens or puppies. Additionally, kittens, puppies, and mature animals get sick when there is no one to take care of them. It is an endless cycle of suffering.

There are no laws regulating animal reproduction. Often, people refuse to sterilize their pets. Usually, it’s an immature attitude. They claim to feel sorry for the animal but then go on to kill kittens or puppies. This is the cruelty we strive to curb.

— What does your work look like?

— My colleagues — Yuliya Tkachenko and Lolita Polishchuk — and I have a stationary office in Kyiv where we perform surgeries on animals a few times a month.

However, most of our work is done on our trips. We operate in frontline towns as well as in the Kyiv region. We perform surgeries in Novi Petrivtsi, north of Kyiv, and Ivankiv, near Chornobyl. There, we rent spaces and sterilize cats and dogs brought in by low-income residents. We invite people via various social media groups. We also assist the Sirius shelter, which is struggling financially and lacks a veterinarian.

— Do you remember your first field mission?

— We started operating in villages before the full-scale war. However, I distinctly recall one trip already during the invasion. We traveled north of Kyiv to Kukhari, a village by the Teteriv River. Our army was holding back the advance on Kyiv there. Tanks passed through the village, and a major battle took place. The village was completely destroyed — only chimneys remained standing. It looked like a scene from a World War II film. It was deeply disturbing. We worked in a clubhouse that a caretaker was trying to rebuild, even though his own house had also been destroyed.

When we arrived, it seemed like no one lived there anymore. The reception was scheduled for 10 a.m., and suddenly, people began appearing from all directions.

Despite their destroyed homes and shattered lives, they came to sterilize their animals!

Our first mission to a frontline area was to Lyman after its liberation. It was winter, and we worked in an abandoned veterinary clinic. Seeing it was heartbreaking because it had been someone’s business. [During the occupation], Russian forces used the clinic — they vandalized everything inside.

The city was in ruins. We watched as our military vehicles and soldiers moved toward the front line… but we didn’t see them returning. The rumbling was constant. The sky glowed orange. It felt as if there were some big millstones where the frontline was, grinding people.

— How do people usually react to your work when you visit them?

— Soldiers care a lot about the fate of animals. They ask us to evacuate them, treat them, and bring them in for sterilization. All those who have already been affected by serious military events understand why sterilization is necessary and why animals should be vaccinated against rabies. After all, they are the ones who feed these animals and take care of them. 

For example, in the Zaporizhzhia region, particularly in Orikhiv, there have been recorded cases of rabies, and there are many foxes. We traveled there to vaccinate animals from rabies, and many people willingly came forward to get vaccines. There’s no resistance — on the contrary, people are grateful for the opportunity to vaccinate their animals.

— And who’s this joining us?

— These are Lyman and Richie — my dogs. They work here with us.

Richie is a dog from Kukhari, that heavily devastated village we visited after the Kyiv region was liberated.

We collaborate with a volunteer there who is very committed to preventing stray puppies and kittens from being born. However, due to the full-scale war, she couldn’t keep up, and Richie was born. We had to take the puppies for rehoming, but I decided to keep Richie.

And it’s clear where Lyman comes from! He’s from Lyman.

We were going on a trip to collect puppies that a soldier had asked us to evacuate, but we accidentally went to the wrong checkpoint. We explained, “We’re here for the yellow puppies.” They brought out Lyman. He’s black! A tiny puppy with no teeth. We said, “We have nowhere to take him…” and they replied, “Take him, or he’ll die here.” So we brought him with us and had to bottle-feed him. I thought about putting him up for adoption, but this little dog made me feel happy. Now he’s with me.

— Do you feel your work is making a difference?

— In Ivankiv, where we systematically sterilize stray animals, there are no unsterilized strays left. In fact, there are very few animals on the streets altogether. There were even a few seasons when people couldn’t find kittens to adopt. That’s an excellent indicator.

We’ve been to Lyman three or four times, and we’re quite pleased with the results. Most of the dogs there now have ear tags, which means they’ve been sterilized.

I also feel that our work is not in vain when people say “thank you.”

Giant mutant rats and two-headed dogs — the legends surrounding Chornobyl are countless. Add to that the eerie vibe of deserted, desolate lands, and it’s no wonder tourists from around the world have flocked here, particularly fans of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. video game series and viewers of HBO’s miniseries. 

But Chornobyl isn’t about romance; it’s about tragedy. This land suffered deeply under Soviet rule in the 1980s, and now, since 2022, it faces similar harm from its successor, russia. On the very first day of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, their troops entered the Exclusion Zone, occupying it and the Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve. They dug trenches in the Red Forest, raising radioactive dust with their heavy equipment.

Now, after liberation, Chornobyl is also a militarized zone, as Ukraine’s army works to prevent the occupation from happening again. At the same time, it remains a nature reserve. The head of scientific research at the Chornobyl Reserve and the researcher who authored the book The Terrible, The Beautiful and The Ugly in Chornobyl details the transformation of local nature from the post-disaster era to the wartime period.

After the Disaster, or the Natural Stages of Acceptance

“When the accident occurred at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986, specialists and military personnel — the so-called liquidators — filled the 30-kilometer zone around it,” says Denys Vyshnevskyi, who has led the Chornobyl Reserve’s scientific department for five years.

He adds that in the first days, efforts focused on reducing radioactive emissions from the damaged reactor and minimizing environmental consequences. 

“Ukrainian zoologists and botanists who began studying the Zone after the disaster developed a timeline of the ecological consequences of the catastrophe. They identified three stages, which we now refer to as shock, reset, and stabilization,” Vyshnevskyi explains.

Shock

The first stage, which lasted a few months, saw the most intense radioactive impact on the environment. 

“During this period, within a 10-square-kilometer forested area around the station — which bore the brunt of radioactive dust emissions following the reactor explosion — the pine trees began to die. Pine is nearly as sensitive to radiation as humans. The needles lost their chlorophyll and turned a rusty red color. This became the Red Forest,” says the scientist.

Reset

Then came the reset phase, which began in the latter half of 1986 and lasted until 1991. Vyshnevskyi describes it as follows: “Certain animals left Chornobyl, typically those dependent on human presence, such as the common pigeon and the house mouse. Some livestock animals perished due to being abandoned. Wild species moved in, replacing them, since they now had more space and less competition. This led to a gradual revival of typical Polissia [natural geographic region] wildlife.”

In some cases, domestic animals turned feral, a phenomenon still observable today. “A unique ecological experiment has unfolded in Lubianka, a village near the former town of Poliske. There, a man who kept cattle passed away, and his cows have now roamed freely for five years, living like wild aurochs along the river’s floodplain,” Vyshnevskyi shares.

Stabilization

By 1991, Chornobyl’s environment had reached a stage of stabilization and gradual recovery, where changes began to follow natural processes again. Vyshnevskyi notes that since then, the Zone’s ecosystem has started to resemble Polissia’s typical landscape.

Radiobiologist Olena Pareniuk recalls that around 2010, the Chornobyl Reserve experienced a surge in wild boar populations. “At that time, protection against them was installed. The animals would break through to the Zone and gnaw everything around them. And then, due to a plague, the number of wild boars decreased dramatically. For some time there were no wolves in the Zone, and then they appeared. It was incredible to see how nature changes and regulates itself.”

However, making conclusive scientific conclusions about how nature has adapted or why remains premature. Radiobiologist Kateryna Shavanova emphasizes that three decades of research are insufficient; at least another thirty years are needed.

In reality, long-term studies have been limited. Pareniuk notes that despite inspirational discussions about Chornobyl being an open-air laboratory, consistent funding, essential for any kind of research, has always been lacking for scientists studying the area.

“Studying wildlife, and especially evolutionary changes in wildlife, requires an experiment. Not a three-day laboratory experiment but an experiment throughout the entire life cycle. No one has ever conducted such research [there] because funding is only available now and then. Such things, however, require consistency. Therefore, unfortunately, no one can say with scientific accuracy how radiation affected the fauna of the Zone. We can only conclude that the animals have adapted,” explains radiobiologist Kateryna Shavanova, though she cautions that even this observation is not scientifically definitive.

In the absence of rigorous science, pseudoscience often takes hold. It plays into myths and rumors, abundant fantasies born of fear and ignorance.

Radiobiologist Kateryna Shavanova says that there are some unscrupulous scientists who have a fairly high citation index. However, the experiments of these scientists from different countries raise many questions: “They study, for example, two pairs of animals but make large-scale and ambitious conclusions. In fact, it’s freak research, which is then used to build conspiracy theories.”

The researcher also adds that in Chornobyl studies, it is crucial to factor in not just radiation but also climate change. 

“Yes, we can observe differences between animals in the Chornobyl Zone and those outside it. But we need to understand where these differences come from — whether they’re due to radiation or other environmental factors,” she explains. 

Olena Pareniuk emphasizes that it is also essential to accept the fact that nature does not always adapt. When animals moved, they were exposed to radiation, and the next generations could no longer be viable. In this case, we will not see adaptation: nature simply wiped someone out.

Chornobyl and War

“Sometimes I want to lament how the war affected Chornobyl. To lament the mining, the fact that the reserve suffered through the fighting… But then I remember how the chalk mountain landscapes in the east are being demolished, and I realize that complaining doesn’t seem ethical,” says Denys Vyshnevskyi.

He explains that although hostilities did harm nature, they did not destroy it. The full extent of the damage is still being assessed. Over the 36 days of occupation, russian forces looted approximately two million hryvnias’ worth of equipment, stole vehicles, and damaged facilities.

Estimating environmental damage from landmines, unexploded munitions, and forest fires is more challenging. In a report on the condition of the Chornobyl Reserve after the beginning of the full-scale invasion, its employees said that russian troops were quite active in the air over the protected area. The noise from planes and helicopters causes stress to wild animals. For example, it was reported that a nilgai antelope died in the Askania Nova reserve as a result of the invaders’ flights over the reserve, causing the exotic animal to crash into the fence of the enclosure.

russian military vehicles also traversed the reserve, and Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant staff reported russian tanks moving through the Red Forest. Likely due to this, on February 24, 2022, Ukraine’s State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate detected a spike in gamma radiation near the plant.

Thus, since the liberation, Chornobyl has become a bizarre fusion of the military and the pristine. Where once there was an industrial-pristine mix, a third aspect has been added. “We visited Chornobyl in May of this year. The area is now well-prepared for defense — trenches, dugouts, mines… On the one hand, that is not what a reserve should be like. On the other hand, because of the strong defenses, the russians will not be able to break through from this direction again,” says Olena Pareniuk.

Still, researchers emphasize the importance of preserving Chornobyl as a conservation area.

“Polissia no longer exists as it once was. The swamps are drying up — climate change is doing its job. At the same time, however, swamps are an important factor that slows down climate change. Chornobyl is the area that is most strongly reminiscent of the authentic Polissia,” Kateryna Shavanova explains.

Moreover, the swamps also hinder enemy movement. Thus, restoring wetlands can enhance the defensive properties of the protected landscape in an environmentally friendly way. At least in this way, the war could have a positive impact on Chornobyl. Currently, it only causes destruction, hinders the development of the reserve, and prevents it from fulfilling its educational and research functions. 

Denys Vyshnevskyi says that the primary goal of the Chornobyl Reserve until 2006 was to overcome the consequences of the disaster. Then came the so-called empty era. Only in 2016, under the leadership of Vitalii Petruk, Director of the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management, a new concept was proposed for the development of the reserve: not overcoming, but using the territory. In particular, the Exclusion Zone was to become a research site and a place for testing radiation protection technologies.

All of this is about safety, and in this concept, the workers of the reserve identified the development of safety as the main task of the Zone. Back in 2016, they had no idea how right they were.

This publication was compiled with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation within the framework «European Renaissance of Ukraine» project. Its content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation.

Main and last images: The Exclusion Zone through the eyes of airborne assault troops. Source: WAR CREW Telegram channel

Rallies, photo exhibitions, film screenings, installations in European cities and overseas — activists and politicians often raise the issue of ecocide. They draw attention to crimes against the environment and call for the punishment of the perpetrators. However, just punishment requires not only high-profile events and publicity, but also meticulous legal work. 

This is exactly what the team of the Truth Hounds NGO do: they study facts, collect evidence and testimonies, compile legal theories, and thus help law enforcement officers in Ukraine and abroad bring the perpetrators to justice. 

Next, we will talk about the ins and outs of this work: why Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are registering fewer and fewer cases under the ecocide article, whether Ukrainian and international law protects the environment in times of war, and how Ukraine’s ratification of the Rome Statute will help.

The Work of Truth Hounds

— Truth Hounds has been studying environmental damage from hostilities in eastern Ukraine since before the full-scale invasion. Could you tell us about the most serious incidents you documented at that time?

— In the occupied part of the Donetsk region, russians decommissioned mines without proper safety measures. As a result, these inactive mines were filled with water. This is dangerous for several reasons. First, after coal mining, harmful substances settle in the mines. Second, there was information that some mines were used to test underground nuclear explosions. The radioactive materials generated after the explosions and other harmful substances from the mines can seep with the water into different layers of the soil. 

— Have you tried looking for those responsible for this negligence? 

— Our goal was not so much to expose those who planned, organized, and authorized the decommissioning of the mines, but to highlight russia’s treatment of nature in the occupied territories. However, the environmental damage in the war-torn territories, even before the full-scale invasion, is not limited to the coal industry. According to our Training and Strategic Projects Coordinator Maryna Slobodianiuk, potential war crimes include the shelling of the Avdiivka Coke Plant, Lysychansk Oil Refinery, the burning of dead wood in the Luhansk region, and the fire at the Azot Factory. However, all of these cases require not only rigorous investigation, but also long-term monitoring of the environmental impact. After all, it is important to prove that the actions of the russians have caused extensive and lasting damage to the environment.

— Next, let us consider a case where the damage is large-scale and very obvious: the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant dam. On the anniversary of the disaster, Truth Hounds released a study proving that the russians were responsible. You called on the International Criminal Court to conduct a thorough investigation of this crime and to expel russia from the bodies of environmental conventions. Did you manage to achieve this?

— Our position was not romantic: we did not expect that the investigation would immediately lead to a response and the exclusion of russia from everywhere. We simply stated our position: it is unacceptable to involve russia in discussions about the future of the world in terms of environmental protection when it treats the environment with such disregard.

It is difficult to say to what extent the bodies of environmental conventions hear and consider these calls. It is important to understand that not all countries understand what is happening in the same way as we and the Western world do. Some either see the world differently, or have limited information, or simply cannot afford to support the position of Western powers without a second thought. So, there are limits to the exclusion of russia from various organizations, even if much has been achieved. I think we are standing somewhere on this threshold, and we should not be expecting russia to be actively excluded any further. At the same time, calls for this must be voiced. 

So far, we have held only a few advocacy events, such as a discussion in The Hague at the Environmental Peacebuilding Association conference. But there are other events coming up — several events with a focus on environmental organizations, including those from the United Nations system. Perhaps this will give more space to share the truth about what happened in Kakhovka. 

Also, the International Criminal Court is definitely looking at this episode and deciding whether to move forward with a full investigation. It depends not only on how serious a crime russia has committed, but also on the prosecutor’s overall strategy.

— Do our law enforcement agencies take into account the information collected by Truth Hounds documenters about this crime?

— Just a few days after the presentation of the report, we received a request from the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor’s Office: they asked us to officially provide them with the report and all the information we had collected, because this is the only way they can take this evidence into account. We provided all the materials. 

However, this is not the only line of our cooperation. We have also organized three workshops at the request of the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor’s Office. We shared the experience gained while writing the report and explained to prosecutors how international law regulates environmental protection and defines crimes against the environment. 

We have also presented our findings in the Kakhovka case to prosecutors from both the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor’s Office and the Department of War. This can help them better prepare for the trial. After all, there are quite a few options for describing the Kakhovka tragedy in legal terms. That description determines what evidence to collect, how to combine it, and the general logic of the assessment to be offered to the court.

Ecocide or Not?

— The destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant dam is almost a textbook example of ecocide, which is most often mentioned in the media. But the Prosecutor General’s Office also named the occupation of the Chornobyl and Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plants as examples. Why can these actions of the russians be characterized as ecocide? What other crimes would you call ecocide? 

— Not every kind of environmental damage during a war can be considered ecocide. International humanitarian law applies in such circumstances, allowing for the shelling of the territory of another state and environmental damage during such shelling. The only requirement is that the damage must be proportional to the military advantage anticipated. Therefore, only a violation of this requirement can be called a war crime or a war crime and ecocide. 

The Specialized Environmental Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine is considering a number of such episodes. 

For example, the attack on the Kakhovka dam can be qualified as an attack on a civilian target or a disproportionate attack on a military target, which is a war crime. Due to the environmental consequences of this crime, we can call it ecocide. In this case, we can definitely consider a double classification.

I think the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant can be a similar case. This is an attack on a protected site that can be considered a war crime. Next, we need to look at the damage, be it actual or potential. 

In the case of the Chornobyl power plant, however, it is not so much an attack on the facility itself as its use to shield military operations. Under international humanitarian law, there is an obligation not to locate military facilities near civilian ones. There might be a possibility to consider such actions as a war crime, and if there was damage to the environment, it may be labelled as ecocide as well. 

Another angle that prosecutors focused on was attacks on oil storage facilities and other fuel storage facilities. The environmental damage here is obvious, and at least it falls under the Ukrainian definition of ecocide. However, international humanitarian law considers such facilities to be military rather than civilian. In order to consider attacks on them as a war crime and ecocide, one would have to develop a very sophisticated legal framework. 

The crime of ecocide can also be seen in the management actions of the russians in the occupied territories. If they cause damage to the environment, it can be characterized as ecocide even without being linked to a war crime. Currently, we do not have access to that territory, so information is limited and it is difficult to proceed. But after the liberation, everything is possible. 

— Could the actions of the russians in Askania-Nova and other occupied reserves be called ecocide? For example, the kidnapping of rare animals, their negligent treatment, and fires in the virgin steppe.

— Any definition of ecocide is heavily burdened with value categories and lacks specificity. The Ukrainian definition under the criminal code states that an environmental catastrophe must be caused. There is no definition of an environmental catastrophe in Ukrainian law, so it all depends on how investigators interpret this concept: by encyclopedic definitions or by experts. 

Alternatively, to substantiate ecocide, the concept of “mass destruction of flora or fauna” will be required. It is also not defined, so it needs to be interpreted. Will the removal of a few animals from Askania Nova be a mass elimination of wildlife? Hardly. Is it possible to build an ecocide case against Askania-Nova in general? Perhaps. But to prove that this is an environmental disaster, we need to show its impact on the future.

How Laws Work

— Article 441 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine really lacks specifics about what constitutes ecocide. Some environmental activists and human rights defenders are calling for amendments to this article. Others object, saying that then we will not be able to retroactively punish crimes that russians have already committed in Ukraine. What do you think?

— I am not against changes to the article. It can be improved and harmonized with the international definition of ecocide, which is important for promoting its criminalization. I do not see any major risks that the amendments to the article will affect previous investigations. The old law will still be applied to previous episodes. 

— The Prosecutor General’s Office provides the following statistics on Article 441: 16 cases were opened in 2022, and seven in 2023. All of them are still under pre-trial investigation. In 2024, no cases were opened at all. Why do you think the figures are on the decline? It would seem that more and more testimonies and evidence should have surfaced.

— For me, this is an indication that the system is recovering. Prosecutors are becoming more aware of how difficult it is to prosecute environmental damage. They are carefully allocating resources to cases with real chances of achieving results in line with international standards, avoiding the pursuit of the number of registrations. 

— What is even more confusing about these figures is that the Prosecutor General’s Office has only been investigating ecocide crimes since February 2022. But the war began eight years before that. We have already discussed that even back then, russians were committing environmental crimes. Why do you think such cases were not opened earlier? 

— Previously, crimes against the environment were classified under other articles. For example, they used to prosecute for illegal mining. 

However, there is now international interest in criminalizing ecocide. There is no statute of limitations for such crimes, so it is possible to hold russia accountable for damage to the Ukrainian environment if sufficient evidence is found. Difficulties with this arise due to the lack of access to the occupied territories: we have not been in Crimea for more than 10 years. All we have are satellite images and testimonies of those who have left. But I think it is quite possible to accomplish at least some things. As for mining in the Crimean protected areas, it can be considered ecocide.

— Most people say that the main responsibility for the russian ecocide in Ukraine lies with the leadership of the terrorist state. They unleashed the war and issue criminal orders. But can we also bring to justice those russian military personnel who commit environmental crimes? 

— We can, but it depends on two key things: how much these soldiers participated in the illegal actions and what they knew about the consequences. For example, if the perpetrators had been told that the Kakhovka dam [disaster] would be a targeted explosion and that the amount of explosives would destroy only a small part of it, we could not charge them with a war crime. However, our report contains evidence to the contrary. We have a video where russian soldiers talked about the consequences of the dam destruction. 

Similarly, at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, we know of cases where the russian military tortures workers. This is a crime, and they jeopardize the safety of the entire power plant. Artillerymen who direct fire against the plant, especially repeatedly, know exactly where they are aiming. So it is not only the military and political leadership of russia that is responsible for these crimes.

On the Rome Statute and the Criminalization of Ecocide

— Ukraine has recently ratified the Rome Statute. Will we now be able to more actively advocate for the criminalization of ecocide? 

— Ukraine now has a number of options available to it, the key of which is the ability to vote and initiate consideration of issues at the assembly regarding the introduction of ecocide as a fifth international crime. 

We can also better understand internal sentiment: previously, we had only a general idea of which countries supported the criminalization of ecocide, but within the system, the position of each participant is more obvious. Thus, it is possible to more accurately calibrate the approach to raising awareness of this crime in bilateral relations with a particular nation. 

— Do you think other countries are ready to criminalize ecocide? 

— There are definitely governments today that strongly support the criminalization of ecocide. A certain coalition of countries has already been established, but there is no full consensus yet. 

Opponents of criminalization have a number of reservations. In particular, they fear that accusing company executives of ecocide will limit international business and that such accusations will be used politically. Some believe that the four defined crimes are enough to punish environmental offenders. In particular, crimes against humanity cover other inhumane acts, which theoretically may be the acts of ecocide.

Experts and entire nations are working to convince most countries in the world to criminalize ecocide. Because it will protect the environment rather than lead to a global catastrophe.

This publication was compiled with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation within the framework «European Renaissance of Ukraine» project. Its content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation.

Main image: Dmytro Koval. Source: Truth Hounds.

The Red Data Book of Ukraine currently lists 687 animals, each with unique behaviors and perspectives on the world. Which rare animal from our selection best reflects your character? Perhaps you like to delve deeply into things, much like the desman dives to the riverbed? Or maybe you’re keen on exploring new horizons, like the brave and curious lynx? Answer the simple questions in this quiz to find out which Red Book animal you most resemble!

Vika Horchuk, a Kyiv resident, had no connection to dogs until 2011 when she got her first dog—a Yorkshire Terrier named Dream. Why a Yorkie? Vika traveled extensively and was looking for a small dog that could accompany her in the airplane cabin. However, Dream grew larger than expected, exceeding all permissible limits for carry-on baggage.

Initially, Vika searched for places to leave the sizable Dream while she traveled. Later, she added a Bobtail named Summer and a small mixed-breed dog named Blue Moon to her family. The question of where to leave her pets took on three dimensions. So, in 2019, Vika opened her own dog hotel, with Blue Moon as the symbol on its logo and business cards.

The hotel founder had rescued Blue Moon from negligent owners. But let Vika tell the story herself.

— I took Moon on my birthday.

I didn’t get Moon from a shelter but from very poor conditions. I came across an online ad selling a puppy. When I saw the little one and the background of where she was sitting… It was a dreadful floor, like in a barn, with concrete everywhere. I thought to myself: I must take her away from there, no matter what. I had been considering whether I could care for another dog and how Dream would feel about it. But when I saw that puppy, I immediately decided she was mine.

When I arrived to meet her, they didn’t even let me inside to see where the dog lived. I took her and brought her to a clinic: she was covered in fleas, bitten, with no vaccinations. She had to go into quarantine for inpatient treatment. There, they bathed her, treated her, vaccinated her, and sterilized her.

In English, there’s a phrase “once in a blue moon”—something that happens very rarely. That’s why I named her Blue Moon. She’s unique! Every mixed-breed dog is unique by nature.

— In your experience, are mixed-breeds smart dogs, or are they hard to train?

— Oh, they’re very smart! But it’s important to understand that all dogs are different—much depends on their life experiences and the conditions they have experienced. Dream is smart, Summer is smart, but Moon is a super trickster! She learns very quickly and often invents her own games.

She knows that when I bring home a grocery bag, she’s not supposed to get into it. But Moon tries to outsmart me: she tosses a ball into the bag and then peeks inside. I say, “Moon! No.” And she looks at me like, “But my toy’s in there!”

The mixed-breed dogs that have stayed at our hotel are all super cool too. Sometimes they’re more fearful than purebred dogs. However, once they realize they’re safe, they turn out to be very inventive and friendly animals. I adore them.

— What challenges can arise if someone adopts a dog from a shelter or the streets? Can you tell me about your experience?

— When we got home with Moon, all hell broke loose… Moon peed on the bed. I changed the sheets three times a day. Over time, I trained Moon to use a pee pad: she got treats as positive reinforcement. Moon figured out that when she went on the pad, she got a treat, so she started peeing there just a little at a time. Now, she goes for walks.

Moon is still afraid of feet. I lie in bed with my legs under the blanket. If Moon notices my foot move, she runs to another part of the apartment or to her bed. I never hit her. Maybe she was beaten where I got her from.

She is also wary of strangers. If someone is coming to visit, they must first meet Moon outside. The person plays with her a bit, and then they come in. The rule is: don’t touch Moon, and don’t pay her any attention until she approaches you on her own.

— What else should you prepare for when adopting a shelter dog?

— You need to be financially prepared.

Firstly, you will have to spend money on dog food. For my three dogs, the monthly cost of food is about 10,000 UAH. How much you will spend depends on the dog’s weight and the quality of the food. And this quality directly impacts the dog’s health.

Secondly, you will also need to budget for flea, tick, and deworming treatments, which are necessary year-round. Your dog will need basic vaccinations, and there are additional ones to consider, like the kennel cough vaccine. Puppies and dogs with weak immune systems are particularly vulnerable, so vaccination is essential.

Sessions with a dog trainer and veterinary services can be quite costly. I take my dogs for a check-up at the clinic every six months. I also get their teeth cleaned. There are also expenses for leashes, toys, bowls, and potentially replacing items that might get damaged at home.

Be prepared for the fact that your dog may not be able to stay alone at first. They need to be gradually accustomed to being by themselves. It’s important not to create a situation where the dog is used to always having you around and then suddenly being left alone in a house or apartment.

Dogs adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic or at the start of the full-scale war were constantly with their owners. Then, when people returned to work at some point, these dogs couldn’t handle being home alone. They develop what is referred to as separation anxiety. Such dogs begin to spoil furniture or howl, which is their way of releasing stress. 

Regardless of whether you’re considering a mixed-breed or a purebred dog, you need to ask yourself: am I prepared, no matter what happens, to be there for this dog?

We all want healthy pets, just as we want healthy children, for example. However, in life, anything can happen. Accidents and traumas may occur. You’ll need patience, time, and the willingness to care for the animal. However, all these challenges are outweighed by the emotions—the loyal eyes, the moments when you come home, and the dogs jump around to greet you… Or when you open your eyes in the morning, and the dogs are right there, “Hey, human, scratch me!” These emotions are 100% worth all the effort. But it’s crucial to be honest with yourself about whether you’re ready for the difficulties.

— Do people bring mixed-breed dogs to your hotel?

— Yes, many do. And it’s encouraging to see that more people are adopting shelter dogs and getting non-purebred pets. Currently, we have Hovy (short for Hoverla), Mila, Motya, and Lando—all mixed breeds. Each dog is unique; there’s no other like them in the world. By the way, mixed-breed dogs are incredibly charming. We have a white mixed-breed named Teddy who visits from time to time. We’ve often been asked what breed this amazing dog is!

— Please, tell us about the caretakers. What motivates them to adopt dogs from shelters? 

— The people I know through my work are very responsible and involved.

Sometimes people adopt a purebred dog because it’s “cute and adorable.” They aren’t always as involved. For example, one purebred dog at home ate a plastic bag. We noticed this during a walk when cleaning up after the dog and informed its caretakers. They said, “That’s normal; it’s a Beagle!” Yes, Beagles are active, but that behavior isn’t normal.

Before caretakers leave a dog with us, we have a conversation, and they fill out a questionnaire. From the caretakers of mixed-breed dogs, we often receive much more information about the dog’s likes, dislikes, fears, and triggers than from the owners of purebreds.

People who adopt shelter dogs follow the principle of “don’t buy, rescue.” However, rescuing must also be done responsibly.

— Do you think the situation has changed after 2022?

— If we compare the number of mixed-breed dogs in our hotel before the full-scale war and now, there are definitely more now. Before the war, most of the mixed-breed dogs we saw belonged to foreigners or were brought in by IT professionals or people for whom rescuing animals is a core value. There are still many dogs in shelters, but it’s heartening to see that more of them are being adopted.

— Have you ever come across cases when people abandoned their dogs?

— Throughout my time working with dogs, I have encountered three instances of dogs being abandoned. Twice, dogs were simply left with us, and incidentally, they were purebred. On one occasion, we discovered through their caretakers’ social media that they had abandoned a mixed-breed dog. We found new homes for these dogs.

After the Kakhovka Reservoir dam was destroyed, we assisted a shelter in the Kyiv region. At that time, people approached us with requests like, “We want to adopt a dog, but it has to be from Kherson.” When we suggested other dogs available at the shelter, they insisted, “No, we want that one.” This isn’t a very considerate approach. Why do you want a dog? To say you’re a hero because you saved a dog from that specific place? 

You would be just as much of a hero if you adopted any dog that has been in a shelter for three, five, or even seven years…

— The war has also displaced many people. Having animals complicates the process, so UAnimals rescuers often have to rehome abandoned dogs in shelters. 

— How can anyone abandon a family member, whether it’s a mixed-breed or a purebred dog? Sometimes people say, “We’re leaving and can’t take the dog; it’s too difficult.” Yes, it’s difficult! But it’s possible. I’ve traveled abroad and returned with my three dogs. You’re not moving to Mars! It’s good when people at least reach out to volunteers rather than just tying the dog to a tree in the woods (unfortunately, that happens too).

We still have many people who believe it’s normal for a dog to live in a kennel on a meter-long chain. Absolutely not! Or that it’s okay to feed dogs table scraps because “that’s what they do in the village, and the dogs are fine.” No, it’s not fine! They don’t have a choice.

I don’t have any issues with dogs; my issues are always with people. Yes, a dog can destroy things or be aggressive; they can be challenging. But you can work on a dog’s behavior, and if the caretaker is fully committed to training the dog, it’s likely to be successful.

— Taking care of a dog is quite an undertaking. What is the point of so much effort? 

— It’s what keeps you from completely going crazy, even when you’re at your limit. No matter how I feel, the dog needs to be walked. Sometimes I wonder what my life would have been like if I hadn’t adopted Moon. There are times when I’m in a terrible mood, everyone has gotten on my nerves… But then the dog licks me, kisses me, or Moon throws her little crocodile toy onto my laptop… These are just genuine emotions that keep you going.

I know of a case where a woman gave up her dog because she got a new boyfriend, and they didn’t get along. It’s sad because the dog was already part of the family.

As for me, I have it written right on my Tinder profile, “If you’re not ready to sleep in bed with dogs, swipe left.”

In early May, a forest in the Chornobyl Biosphere Reserve became the scene of another tragic incident. Border guards heard an explosion near their post. When they deployed a drone equipped with a thermal camera, the image it captured was heartbreaking: a rare Przewalski’s horse, listed as an endangered species, had triggered a landmine.

This year, Ukraine’s Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources stated that our country is the most heavily mined in the world. Forests, meadows, and waterways in the east, north, and south of Ukraine are not only littered with mines planted by the invaders; Ukrainian forces have also laid explosives to defend the borders.

Mines in Nature Parks 

Serhiy Kubrakov, director of the Desna-Stara Huta National Nature Park, periodically visits the ruined Desnyanka camp. There, he photographs an unexploded Grad MLRS rocket. “This rocket has been lying on the porch of one building for a year and a half,” says Kubrakov. “Fishermen have also reported unexploded Grad [rockets] stuck in the riverbank. This is what we’ve found. Who knows how much more is out there, embedded in the ground?”

A map reveals the extent of the danger: red zones mark areas that are mined or potentially dangerous, while yellow indicates possible mine contamination. 

Many nature parks and reserves fall within these red zones. In the Sumy region, for example, national parks like Desna-Stara Huta, Hetman National Park, and Trostianets, along with the regional Seymskiy Park, are affected. In Kharkiv Oblast, the Dvorichna National Nature Park is also under threat.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine notes that natural areas, regardless of their ecological value, are demined last. In liberated territories, deminers prioritize areas where people live first, followed by roads and critical infrastructure. Only afterward do they move on to agricultural land and, finally, forests, meadows, and water bodies.

Even if deminers were ready to begin clearing natural areas today, most of these places are accessible only to the military. Fighting continues in many forests and near river floodplains, making humanitarian demining impossible under fire.

The Desna-Stara Huta park stretches along the state border with the Russian terrorist state. It includes the floodplains of the Desna River, which are partially accessible to park employees. However, the Stara Huta forests along the border are heavily mined by both Ukrainian and Russian forces.

“There have been incidents where our border guards nearly triggered anti-tank and anti-personnel mines. Enemy sabotage groups frequently enter the area, setting up booby traps and planting anti-personnel mines,” Kubrakov explains.

The park is littered with not only mines but also unexploded ordnance. While there is no official prohibition from emergency services, Kubrakov warns, “You can head in any direction, but it’s a one-way trip. Besides the mines, there are also Russian saboteurs. Last year, they shot at a milk truck and killed 10 people, including pensioners.”

Another park in the Sumy region, Seymskiy, is constantly shelled from the Russian side of the border, and its riverbanks are reportedly heavily mined.

Dvorichna Park on the Oskil River in the Kharkiv region, adjacent to the border, currently lies in an active combat zone. “We have no access to the area; it’s constantly under fire. The extent of the mining is unknown,” said park employees.

The first park close to the front lines where demining has begun is Holy Mountains in the Donetsk region. Almost the entire territory was liberated in October. After demining, park management plans to plow firebreaks—strips of land cleared of brush and other flammable materials. This will help prevent forest fires caused by shelling.

Forests near the Belarusian border are partially accessible to park staff and visitors, but they, too, are heavily mined. Blueberry and mushroom pickers are warned by special signs, although some have tried to use them as firewood or even as stakes for their tomato plants. Nevertheless, most foragers stay clear of the dangerous areas.

Do Animals Trigger Mines?

“These incidents are not uncommon, though they don’t happen daily. Since the death of the Przewalski’s horse, we haven’t recorded any similar cases,” says Yuriy Shakhraychuk, a press officer with the 9th Border Detachment.

In February of this year, near Makariv in the Kyiv region, a moose triggered a booby trap. A similar incident occurred in May in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, where a female moose was killed by a mine, and her calf, despite the efforts to save it, also died.

“In 2022, we spent a week working with combat engineers near Bakhmut,” recalls an infantryman from the 30th Brigade who wished to remain anonymous. “The combat engineers were setting up tripwires throughout that time. Every night, some animal would trigger them. It could be a fox, a boar, or a hare. We were expecting an enemy advance, but by the time they attacked, almost all the tripwires had been triggered.”

However, documented cases of animals triggering mines are few, as it’s challenging to confirm what exactly happens in remote, mine-filled forests. “I’m always in touch with the military. They report that sometimes in the forest, where there are certainly no people, isolated explosions can be heard. It’s highly likely that wild animals are triggering these tripwires. No one would dare investigate an explosion in the middle of the forest, as it could cost them their life,” explains Serhiy Kubrakov, director of the Desna-Stara Huta Park.

Before the full-scale invasion, the park was home to bears, lynxes, capercaillies, numerous moose, and even occasional bison and deer. Whether these animals still inhabit the forests is unknown, says Kubrakov: “The entire territory needs to be surveyed. We don’t know how the fighting has affected animal populations, including rare species. Once we regain even limited access to these areas, such as along cleared paths, we can start drawing conclusions.”

Mines pose a threat not only in forests but also in water. From March 2022 to July this year, 68 carcasses of Black Sea cetaceans were found in the Tuzly Lagoons, according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection. The likely causes of death include bombings and underwater mines. If the animals didn’t die immediately, they succumbed later from their injuries.

What Types of Mines Threaten Animals and When?

“The corpses of animals with limb or torso injuries are a telltale sign of a minefield, something all soldiers are trained to recognize,” says Yuriy, known by his call sign Ram.

Yuriy is a professional soldier. Although he’s not a combat engineer by training, he has learned just about everything about mine safety. He became an instructor in this field with the Ukrainian Legion, a civil society organization that has been teaching basic military skills since 2014. He explains the dangers that mines pose to living creatures in forests, meadows, rivers, and seas.

Not every animal that touches a mine or unexploded ordnance will cause an explosion. If a mine is pressure-sensitive, the outcome depends on the animal’s weight and whether it is walking or running. Each mine has an activation force (or sensitivity) measured in kilograms. For example, if a mine’s sensitivity is 5 kilograms, something weighing that much or more must press on it to trigger an explosion.

Pressure-Sensitive Mines

Yuriy shows pictures of deadly “tin cans” on his rugged military laptop. The international Ottawa Convention, which Ukraine has signed, prohibits our forces from laying anti-personnel mines. Russia is not a signatory to the convention.

Some of the most common anti-personnel mines laid by Russians in Ukrainian fields and forests are PMN and PMN-2, with sensitivity ranges of 8–25 kilograms. PMN-4 mines, with a sensitivity of 5–15 kilograms, are also frequently encountered. These mines pose a danger to many wild mammals, except the very smallest: hares (4–10 kg), foxes (3–14 kg), wolves (45–60 kg), wild boars (60–200 kg), roe deer (20–37 kg), and moose (360–600 kg). These mines can be dangerous for years before they are defused.

“Butterfly” mines (PFM) are used along the entire frontline. They are launched in large numbers from special dispensers and scatter randomly on the ground. Spotting a mine of this type is difficult: they are small, made of plastic, and even those who deploy them don’t know exactly where they land. While these mines usually don’t kill, they can cause severe bleeding and suffering. Their activation force ranges from 5 to 25 kilograms.

Anti-vehicle mines, which detonate under pressure, have higher sensitivity thresholds: the TM-57 mine requires 200 kilograms to activate, while the TM-62 series is triggered at as low as 120 kilograms. Some of these mines are cylindrical, while others resemble tin cans, similar to anti-personnel mines.

Anti-vehicle mines pose a threat to larger animals. “You won’t find these mines in dense forests, but they might be placed on clearings or roads,” says Yuriy. “If a moose decides to take a well-trodden path instead of trudging through the underbrush, it could be fatal.” These mines can also be set in steppe areas—anywhere without bogs or steep slopes.

Mines with seismic, magnetic, and infrared sensors are also used. These theoretically respond only to vehicles.

Mines with Tripwires

A tripwire is a wire or fishing line that connects a detonator to a tripwire-activated mine. Anyone who triggers the wire causes an immediate explosion. The tripwire can be set at a low level, where it might catch a crawling hedgehog or at shoulder height for a human. Any animal that exerts enough force to trigger the tripwire will most likely be killed.

Russians frequently use the OZM-72 mine, another elongated “can.” It is buried in the ground, with the detonator connected to a tripwire. This mine has a sensitivity of 500 grams. If an animal or person touches the tripwire, the mine jumps out of the ground, explodes in the air, and strikes the victim with shrapnel.

The most sensitive mine commonly encountered is the POM-2. These mines are deployed through remote mining systems, which scatter them across the ground. A tin can with explosives lands on the ground, with four tripwire darts falling around it. “They scatter chaotically; one might land on a tree, another on a flower, and one could just lie on the ground. You stumble on it, pull the wire with a force of 350 grams… Even a hedgehog can do that,” Yuriy explains. This mine has a self-destruct mechanism that should activate no later than 100 hours after deployment.

Mines in the Water

Anti-landing mines (YaRM) are grayish cans hidden beneath the water’s surface. They are equipped with a cross-shaped sensor, also submerged. There is little to no chance of spotting one. The trigger force for these mines is 600 grams. Mines like these can be found in the Dnipro River and its tributaries in the Kherson region, “The explosion causes a powerful hydrodynamic shock, killing many fish.”

Another danger in coastal areas or shallow waters is the PDM-1M mine. It is a semi-sphere with a rod that is usually covered by water. If the rod is displaced with a force of 18 kilograms or more, the mine will explode. “Over time, these mines can break free from their anchors and drift out to sea after a storm. The destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant sent many mines into the Black Sea, where they drifted towards Turkey and Odesa. If a mine breaks loose, it will float like a buoy until it hits something. That could be a dolphin or a person who brushes against it with their hand or an oar.” At a few meters’ distance, the mine will kill anything nearby, while those farther away may suffer concussions.

Why You Shouldn’t Go Mushroom Picking in Former Combat Zones

“‘I won’t go mushroom picking in the forest,’ is an old combat engineer’s favorite saying,” Yuriy quips darkly. Until deminers provide a qualified assessment that an area is clear, entering it is off-limits, he warns. “There could be countless tripwires… Some might have been disarmed by the military, but others could have been missed. A mine might be buried in the ground, camouflaged by turf, grass, or branches, making it impossible to detect without special equipment. Plus, a soldier carries two tourniquets with them. But a mushroom picker goes with just a knife and a basket… If this person triggers a mine, they could bleed out in the forest. The phone might not work, there’s no tourniquet—and then what?”

While animals can trigger tripwires or set off anti-personnel mines, the primary danger mines pose is to humans, “If a mine is lying under the snow, a hedgehog might crawl over it without issue. But a person, thinking they can follow the tracks—’a hedgehog passed here, so can I’—will be in danger. The hedgehog weighs a kilogram, but a person weighs 80.”

There are also mines that can explode just by a person approaching them, like the POM-3 mine with a seismic sensor. For this mine to detonate, one doesn’t need to step on it or trigger a tripwire. The seismic sensor detects the vibrations from a person’s steps and activates the detonator.

When Will We Be Mine-Free?

Let’s take a look at the map again and find the Falkland Islands in the Atlantic. For two and a half months in 1982, a war raged between Britain and Argentina over control of these islands. The intensity of combat was lower than in Ukraine, and the Falklands’ area is almost 50 times smaller than Ukraine’s. Yet it wasn’t until 2020 that the UK officially declared the islands fully demined—38 years later.

Some mines self-destruct after a certain period. Those without a self-destruct mechanism will remain a hazard for years, “These things can stay in a ready-to-kill state for decades. Metal and plastic can take years to decompose. Even if something is done incorrectly and water leaks inside, it won’t affect the mine’s lethality,” says Yuriy.

When will it be safe to go mushroom picking across all of Ukraine? 

Predictions after the first year of the war estimated hundreds of years. As new technologies and vehicles have been acquired and more demining operators have begun working in Ukraine, those hundreds of years have been reduced to decades.

According to calculations by James Cowan, CEO of the Halo Trust is a charitable organization that performs humanitarian demining. HALO Trust, one day of fighting in Ukraine equates to a month of demining. So, for now, we are at least 75 years away from being able to pick mushrooms safely in the Stara Huta forest.

This publication was compiled with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation within the framework «European Renaissance of Ukraine» project. Its content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation.

Our first attempt to talk with Viktor Vorotnikov, a veterinarian and head of the Veterinarians Without Borders organization from Krasnohrad, Kharkiv region, was put off. “I have surgeries starting soon, sorry. They will take the whole day,” explained the doctor. However, we managed to connect the next day. “Convenient or not—if I promised, I have to keep it,” Viktor laughed.

On the day we couldn’t speak, he was in Izium, where he, along with two assistants and another veterinarian, performed around 70 surgeries. Last year alone, his clinic team sterilized up to 15,000 animals. Since the start of the full-scale war, Viktor and his colleagues have operated on over 5,000 animals rescued during sterilization missions and UAnimals evacuation trips.

What is it like, to save animals affected by war? Does the veterinarian witness more humanity or indifference? Viktor shared his experiences.

— How did you connect your life with veterinary medicine?

— I have dreamed of saving animals since childhood! Even in play, I pretended to treat rabbits—one had an “earache,” another had a “sore leg.” As I grew up, these games became my daily reality. I first studied at a vocational school in the veterinary department, then graduated from the Kharkiv Veterinary Institute. I’ve been in this profession for 42 years.

Now, I work in my own clinic and in the field. We have two mobile surgery units, so we travel to frontline areas. In 5-6 days on such a mission, we manage to operate on at least 300, sometimes even 600 animals.

We sterilize some, while others need treatment for injuries. I also provide consultations during these missions, advising people on how to care for their animals, what vaccinations they need, and when. Outside of surgeries, I see up to 80 patients a day. I often help animals with concussions. It’s similar to treating humans—they need rest, care, and medications that relieve pain and symptoms.

— Do you notice how animals are treated in areas close to the combat zone during these trips?

— I encounter a lot of human indifference. Sometimes, for example, animals are left chained up. I understand that in wartime, anything can happen—perhaps the animals’ caretakers were caught in shelling or had to leave quickly. But at least unchain the dog! 

Still, there’s more kindness. 

I’m always struck by the soldiers who bring us cats and dogs. Recently, they brought us a cat named Vasya with fractures of everything that could be broken. He’s currently living at our clinic, receiving treatment, and waiting for his caretaker to return from the frontline.

Soldiers risk their lives, but don’t forget to help the most vulnerable. Then, they call us to check on the animals because they worry about them. 

Sometimes, I think this helps the soldiers themselves, too—it distracts them from the horrors of war by allowing them to focus on helping.

— Over your 42 years in this profession, have you noticed changes in how animals are treated?

— Absolutely! Especially towards stray animals. The attitude used to be very harsh—they could even be shot. Now, there are far more initiatives to control their population humanely. Our organization, Veterinarians Without Borders, was one of the first to implement such a program. Since 2017, we have been catching, sterilizing, vaccinating, and microchipping cats and dogs and then releasing them. We’ve done this in seven regions in the East of Ukraine, and I’ve personally participated in these missions.

— What advice would you give to those who rescue animals near the frontline?

— It’s very simple: safety first. When rescuing animals, you must think about your own life, too. 

I conduct first aid training for volunteers and always urge them to plan everything in advance. You need to be prepared for any unforeseen situation and know how to help an animal in those conditions.

Consider the types of injuries animals might have (gunshot wounds, concussions, fractures) and have all the necessary supplies with you. Also, keep in mind that sometimes animals need to be rescued from water or may flee into mined areas. In such cases, special equipment will be needed. 

This is serious and dangerous work, not just a “photo op.” Even a sincere desire to help isn’t enough. So if you plan to volunteer there, consult with professionals—those who have already worked near the frontline. This will help you avoid mistakes that could cost you your life.

— From your experience, which animals are the hardest to evacuate?

— Evacuating any animal is challenging in its own way. There are frightened, aggressive dogs that need to be unchained first. Sometimes an animal has to be pulled out of a pit before it can be evacuated. 

But in my opinion, the hardest animals to save are those with underlying health issues. Sometimes we find animals with anorexia or starving from hunger. Transporting them is extremely difficult—you must carefully plan the evacuation, ensuring access to oxygen and water.

— Do you have any pets of your own?

— Of course! I treated them myself, too, by the way.

— Розкажіть про них, будь ласка.

— Please tell us about them, please.

— There’s my cat, Harik, a Sphynx who was evacuated from Vuhledar. He’s a large, dignified cat with a stern look but very gentle and well-mannered. 

I also have a wonderful little dog, Tobik. He was hit by a car, and this little guy—a toy terrier—had a pelvic fracture and a prolapsed intestine. There was little hope that we could save him. But Tobik survived, and now he’s such a great friend!

— Lastly, could you share what discourages you in your work and what inspires you?

— Well, what inspires me, of course, is when a difficult surgery ends successfully.

What discourages me… It’s the indifference of people towards animals and nature. 

For example, in 2020, we rescued a bear that an oligarch had “played with” until he got bored. The animal lived in a cramped enclosure. When we saw her, the bear was already paralyzed in her hind legs and was extremely emaciated. We consulted with colleagues from other countries on how to help her and shared her test results. Everyone unanimously said she wouldn’t survive. But we managed to stabilize her enough to place her in Natalia Popova’s Wild Animal Rescue Center. The bear lived there for another two years before passing away just before the full-scale invasion began.

What discourages me now is how all living things are suffering because of Russia. What can I say? If we save the natural world, we save ourselves as well. That’s what I believe.

Have you ever found yourself still awake at 4 a.m. after binge-watching a series? We know what it’s like to keep hitting “Continue” until you find out the ending. But besides the dark circles under your eyes, TV shows can also serve a positive purpose. For instance, they can teach us something about animal protection. We’ve compiled a selection of examples for you to reflect on and learn more.

One blood donation can save three people. Last year alone in Ukraine, donors gave blood at least 14,000 times. So, over the years — even centuries — of blood transfusion history, millions of lives were saved. This was made possible thanks to animals, namely the first dog-to-dog blood transfusions. Let’s dive into history and learn about the risky and often inhumane experiments that paved the way for modern blood donation — lifesaving and safe.

Liver or Heart: How the Circulatory System Works

Imagine this: it’s the early 17th century. Copernicus has already shown that the Earth revolves around the Sun. Yet people still do not fully understand the workings of their own bodies, particularly the circulatory system. Since Ancient Roman times, the theory of Claudius Galen prevailed, claiming that the liver produces blood and distributes it throughout the body like a centrifuge.

But one man in the Kingdom of England set out to prove that these ideas were incorrect. This was physiologist and anatomist William Harvey. Observing the hearts of living animals, he realized that during systole (the contraction of the ventricles and atria), blood is pushed out. The scientist then demonstrated that valves in the veins allow blood to flow in only one direction — this is how the blood returns to the heart.

Ultimately, William Harvey hypothesized that blood circulates in animal bodies. In the eighth chapter of his book “De Motu Cordis” (“On the Motion of the Heart”), he explained it like this: “…through dissection of the living in order to experiment and through the opening of arteries, from the symmetry and magnitude of the ventricles of the heart and of the vessels entering and leaving… I had very often and seriously though about… how great the amount of transmitted blood would be [and] in how short a time that transmission would be effected… I began privately to think that it might rather have a certain movement, as it were, in a circle….”

Thanks to William Harvey’s research, he discovered and described in his research that:

• The heart contracts 1,000 times in half an hour, initiating blood circulation;
• With each contraction, approximately 6 grams of blood pass through the heart, with its total capacity being 43 grams;
• Blood moves in circles through the system of blood vessels in one direction (from the heart via arteries, and back via veins).

From the Theory of Circulation to the Practice of Transfusion

Following William Harvey’s discovery, the development of this branch of medical science accelerated, and by 1665, physician Richard Lower conducted the first blood transfusion between dogs. For this, he drew blood from a medium-sized dog “its strength was nearly gone” and then transfused blood from two large mastiffs.

The procedure was successful — an outcome tempting enough to try on humans. But there was a catch: at first, doctors experimented not with human-to-human transfusions but with… animal blood. Such attempts were bound to result in losses: animal blood cannot mimic human blood due to differences in the properties of red blood cells across species.

However, some studies found that, among tested animals, sheep blood most closely matches the viscosity of human blood. This explains the documented case of interspecies transfusion without fatal consequences: in 1667, French physician Jean-Baptiste Denys transfused blood from a lamb to a 15-year-old boy and a woman who had recently given birth. Both survived but suffered severe anemia. Not all experimental patients were so fortunate, and some cases resulted in death. Therefore, blood transfusions from animals to humans were soon prohibited.

From Practice to Understanding the Principles of Donation

In 1818, scientist and physician James Blundell performed the first successful and documented human-to-human blood transfusion.

Blundell’s patient was dying of postpartum hemorrhage, so to save the woman, the doctor used her husband as the donor. Between 1825 and 1830, James Blundell conducted 10 blood transfusions, but only half were successful. Why was the blood sometimes unsuitable?

It took science nearly nearly a century to figure out the concept of blood types and how critical they are for successful transfusion. We owe the most to Karl Landsteiner, who in the 1900s described all blood types and received a Nobel Prize for his discovery.

Notably, zoologists contributed to this progress as well. In 1875, one of them, Hermann Landois, discovered that when animal blood is transfused into humans, foreign blood cells “clump together” and break down in the blood vessels, releasing hemoglobin. Between 1901 and 1903, Karl Landsteiner noted that a similar reaction occurs during human-to-human blood transfusions. This can cause shock, jaundice, and hemoglobinuria (abnormal breakdown of red blood cells), as seen during early attempts at transfusion.

At first, this reaction was overlooked. However, in 1909, Karl Landsteiner classified human blood into the now-familiar types A (II), B (III), AB (IV), and O (I). He demonstrated that when blood type A is transfused to a recipient with the same type, blood cells remain intact. But if blood from another type — B or AB — is transfused, the red blood cells are destroyed. Additionally, there are universal donors: people with the blood type O (I).

This is just a brief outline of the journey toward a functional system of blood donation between humans. But let’s admit, we owe many of these great discoveries to animals. So why shouldn’t animals also benefit from science to live longer, healthier lives? Let’s explore blood donation among animals.

Blood Donation in the Animal World

Around the same time when human blood types were being studied, scientists were also researching dog blood types. However, a complete classification wasn’t achieved until the 1950s. For dogs, the DEA system (Dog Erythrocyte Antigen) is used, while for cats, the AB system is applied — somewhat resembling the human blood type system.

Animals that regularly participate in blood donation become true heroes. For instance, a dog named Woodie from Leicestershire, England, saved 88 dogs by regularly donating his rare blood type.

Entire blood banks are already being created to save animals. For example, the Pet Blood Bank operates in the United Kingdom. In Ukraine, similar banks exist based at research institutions, veterinary clinics, or municipal enterprises like Lev in Lviv.

However, due to a shortage of animal donors, scientists are also searching for alternatives to blood products. Currently, synthetic colloids and oxyhemoglobin are being considered, but they are not yet effective. For example, synthetic colloids cannot carry oxygen, and oxyhemoglobin has limitations such as high cost and limited availability. Additionally, this type of hemoglobin performs its function for only 3 days.

Therefore, while researchers continue their work, finding donors must be simplified. For this purpose, UAnimals created the Animal Donor Platform. Those whose cats and dogs can donate blood can register there, as well as those looking for donors for their pets. From there, the process works like a dating app, except the “date” happens in a clinic and is often life-saving for the animal.

The journey to inventing and perfecting blood donation was arduous, filled with mistakes and sacrifices. Let the knowledge gained save as many lives as possible — both human and animal.

“I saw a Facebook post by a veterinary clinic about a blind kitten that had been brought in to be euthanized. I couldn’t sleep all night thinking about Mokh and finally decided to take him. He was my first pet with a disability. I didn’t know what I would do with him at home — I was scared,” shares Iryna Yakymenko.

Now, she has eight cats, half of them with disabilities. Two have coordination disorders, another has only three legs, and one cat, Mokh [which means moss in Ukrainian], the one saved from euthanasia, is both blind and deaf. He’s now 11 years old.

Caring for animals with impaired vision often involves rescue stories. People find an animal on the street that has developed an eye infection and can’t leave it to die. This was the case with the kitten in Kateryna Semeniuk’s family.

“I hesitated for a long time about getting a pet. But fate brought me the cat I was ready for. My boyfriend’s mother found her as a kitten, and she already had eye problems,” recalls Kateryna. Due to the infection, small Savannah had to have an eye removed. After the surgery, Kateryna and her boyfriend took her home.

Kateryna says she had considered adopting an animal with a disability from a shelter even before Savannah, “Most people are hesitant to take home an animal with disabilities. But it gives you the opportunity to become a better person. All animals deserve love.”

However, caring for an animal with impaired vision isn’t always a family’s choice. Sometimes, after many years together, blindness can develop with age. If this happens it’s essential to show responsibility and love, never abandoning a sick animal. 

Yuliya Vedmova had a healthy and active dog — a spaniel named Lola — for seven years. Then Lola developed an ear infection, and Yuliya immediately took her to a veterinary clinic. It turned out that the clinic was only reducing Lola’s symptoms without treating the cause. Another clinic later informed Yuliya that Lola needed an ear removed. However, even more problems arose after the surgery.

“A red lump appeared on her eye. The vet said it wouldn’t affect her vision. But one day, during a walk, I noticed that Lola didn’t understand where to go. I was shocked. We started looking for other vets again,” says Yuliya.

Eventually, another clinic discovered the inflammation, but it had already caused irreversible changes. Lola lost her sight.

“Lola was suggested to have her eyes and another ear removed for aesthetic reasons. We didn’t want to torture the dog for the sake of appearance,” recalls Yuliya. “One woman even asked if we wanted to euthanize the dog. My husband replied, ‘I won’t put down a healthy dog.’ She eats, plays, and sleeps like any other dog.”

Causes of Vision Impairments in Animals

Olena Kuznetsova

Dr. Olena Kuznetsova, an intensive care and resuscitation specialist at the Hels Veterinary Medicine Center, explains that problems with any ocular structure can affect vision — eyeballs, eyelids, tear glands, eye sockets, muscles, and nerves. These can be congenital conditions, traumatic incidents, or infectious systemic diseases.

Congenital issues include developmental anomalies and breed-specific traits. A prominent example of breed-related vision problems is the heavy, drooping eyelids of shar-peis and sphynxes, which can cover the eyes.

“Among developmental disorders leading to eye problems, the most common are microphthalmia and anophthalmia, which are underdevelopment or complete absence of one or both eyes. In particular dogs with the currently popular merle coat pattern can inherit these issues,” says Olena.

Certain dog breeds, including pugs, shih tzus, and others with unique eye socket structures, are at higher risk of severe eye injuries.

“Eye injuries are a common reason for veterinary visits,” Olena notes. “These can include scratches from claws or bites, bruises from collisions with bicycles, cars, or other vehicles, and foreign objects in the eye such as splinters, insects, or plant thorns.”

Some infectious diseases also affect vision. Olena provides examples: “Herpes in kittens can cause not only inflammation but also complete eye destruction. Diseases like ehrlichiosis in dogs, feline infectious peritonitis, or feline immunodeficiency can damage specific ocular structures and blood vessels and cause chronic pain.”

Lastly, age-related vision deterioration in animals, such as cataracts or glaucoma, can result from the aforementioned causes.

Olena advises pet owners to be attentive to their animals to detect early signs of vision problems. Seek veterinary assistance if you notice a change in eye color, confusion, stumbling, or bumping into objects.

“In addition to a general clinical and ophthalmological examination, additional diagnostics are needed to identify the root cause and understand how the disease progresses. The vet will ask many questions, and it might seem like they are unrelated to vision. However, please provide complete and accurate information — sometimes it can substitute the need for tests,” Olena says.

When Ears Are Eyes and Nose: How Blind Animals Cope

There are three animals under Darya Buhayevska’s care: a dog, a cat, and a kitten. The first family member was a dog named Busia, and two years ago, Darya adopted a cat named Vanga from a dog shelter.

“My husband and I sometimes visited the dog shelter to help out. One day, someone left a cat with kittens there. We looked at her, and Vanga immediately touched our hearts with her uniqueness,” Darya recalls.

Vanga is indeed unique: she is blind, her front legs are shorter than her back legs, and she has no tail. Vanga has only a part of one eye left; she lost the rest due to an infection or injury. That’s what the doctors that Darya consulted suspected. Darya had long hoped that Vanga would regain some vision, but her hopes were dashed. However, Darya says Vanga leads a full feline life even without her vision.

“Blind cats respond very well to sound: their ears are their eyes. Vanga almost never bumps into anything and can climb onto the couch on her own. She uses the litter box perfectly and knows where her dish and the dog’s dish are. She even catches sparrows! And her most mysterious ability is finding boxes. As soon as a box appears in the house, Vanga is in it within 10 seconds,” shares Darya.

Iryna, Mokh’s caregiver, notes that animals with impaired vision have a well-developed sense of smell, which helps them navigate their environment. Mokh finds the toilet, water, food, and toys through his sense of smell.

“Compensation of sensory functions through other senses is a crucial survival mechanism,” says the veterinarian. “However, owners should not rely solely on this. We must maintain the quality of life of a sick animal at a proper level. They are only part of our lives, but we are their everything.”

“A Little More Attention”: How to Care for Blind Animals 

“Mokh was initially sickly, but not because of his blindness. Even animals without vision impairments have their health issues. Now, Mokh and I have annual blood tests to determine if he needs vitamins or special food,” says Iryna.

Concerned about her cat’s comfort, Iryna researched how to care for blind animals. She found out that it’s important to limit the space so the animal can gradually get used to the home. At first, when she was leaving home, Iryna used to designate an area for Mokh in the apartment with napkins and a small fence.

“Anyone considering a pet with impaired vision must understand that the cat will initially have difficulty finding its way around. Sometimes, they might meow loudly when lost, but this is temporary. I also avoid sudden movements to prevent stress. I approach Mokh slowly, let him sniff my hand, then start petting him before picking him up.”

On the other hand, Darya says there’s usually no need for special accommodations for her blind cats. After adopting Vanga, the family also took in Liokha, a kitten with an eye infection that Darya found near the dumpsters. Both Vanga and Liokha rarely bump into things. If they do, they adjust their route for next time.

When the family moved to a new two-story house, they worried about the cats navigating the open staircases, fearing they would fall down if they were not careful. “We entered the house and immediately placed their paws on the stairs so they could feel them. It took just a minute. Now the cats run up and down the stairs without any falls,” Darya recalls.

To create a comfortable environment for blind animals, Olena Kuznetsova advises, “Close your eyes and think about what would be convenient for you in that state. This helps you understand the sick animal better. Of course, everything must be in its place, remove obstacles on the way to the water bowl, food, pads, and resting areas. Let everyone who visits know about this. During walks, keep the animal on a short leash. It’s preferable to walk in secluded areas.”

For animals with one eye, Dr. Kuznetsova says they adapt quite well, but there’s always a risk of not seeing something. Kateryna confirms, “Sometimes, Savannah bumps into surfaces, especially when she’s very playful. But she’s very active. She even jumps from door to door when they’re open. I’ve never even seen a two-eyed cat do that!”

However, the vet emphasizes the importance of daily hygiene for one-eyed animals, “Consult your vet for proper care instructions. And no wiping with tea!”

As for Lola, who lost her sight at 8 years old, Yuliya used to take her for frequent check-ups post-surgery, but it’s no longer necessary. Occasionally, the dog receives injections to reduce inflammation and is given moisturizing eye drops. Yuliya also takes Lola for grooming every three weeks, where she gets washed, trimmed, and her ears cleaned. Yuliya noticed that after losing her sight, Lola needs a bit more attention and tactile interaction:

“We sleep in the same bed. Before, Lola would come to me on her own, but now I carry her to the bed. She snuggles up to me and falls asleep. When I cook, Lola leans against my leg and sits there. We do everything together.”

Like any other, animals with visual impairments can be just as fluffy (or not), calm or mischievous, affectionate or independent. They, too, need caring and responsible caretakers.

Don’t leave children alone at home on Christmas, choose the red pill to wake up not in the matrix and take a geological hammer with you if you’ve been unfairly sent to Shawshank prison. We’ve gained a lot of life wisdom from movies, but have you ever wondered what famous films have taught us in the field of animal protection? With our test, you can reflect on this question and also pick a useful and interesting movie to watch in the evening.

It all started with the smallest thing: it all started with ants. It also started with the fact that literally every day, almost from the day Darusia was born, I have paid and still pay a lot of attention to all living things. It was methodical: I wanted to give my child the opportunity to observe the world, not just consume it in a hurry. So before she could even walk well, Darusia was already tracking ants, leaning on the trunk of our old apple tree for safety.

At first, we watched together as the hard-working ant was eagerly carrying something to its home or simply fleeing from danger into the deep cracks of the thirsty ground, and then Darusia would hover over those cracks day after day without me to see at least one more.

We would admire when we were lucky enough to see ants in the mating season in late spring, with wings! That’s how I explained the miracle: they were brides. To tell you the truth, I didn’t know those facts about ant life until I had to explain it. I had to learn!

Darusia at the age of one (or even two) actually had no idea who brides were or that even ants could be brides, but never mind. As since then, and even at the age of five, she has been fascinated by the fuss of any ant swarm. Even without wings. And when we come across the winged ones once in a while, Darusia says that they are brides, mum. That’s how she explains it! And she still follows the ants — she moves her finger in front of them as if drawing a path.

She used to love it just as much when an ant climbed up her arm or down her leg. In those moments, however, I had to make sure that no one nearby lamented and shouted ‘Oh, my God’ to the child, actually instilling perhaps the greatest fear. I could not allow someone to so categorically destroy the trust in the world with which a child comes to know it and thanks to which she can feel its fullness now and always afterwards. This trust is so easy to frighten away! And parents have the ultimate power to control it — to support it or vice versa.

I must admit that it was a great effort for me not to rush to the child and immediately sweep that ant off her hand! No, no. You just have to be careful, daughter, just don’t make any sudden movements.

And then, receiving her mother’s approval, Dara literally froze, staring at the ant, falling in love with each of them. She looked at me to see if I was also fascinated, and then looked at the ants again; at me — at the ants; at me — and then quickly back at them, so as not to lose sight of them. She silently showed me with her index finger to keep silent and watched them climb again.

And later there were worms, snails, crickets, May beetles, frogs, fish, every bird, chicken or squirrel — it didn’t matter: absolutely every animal that Darusia had ever seen. Meanwhile, I just had to feed her curiosity. It’s not very difficult! But it is work. And as a result, there were even bees that tickled with their golden wings. Then I was already protesting! But Darusia finally told me to calm down and just not to wave my hands too much. Then it worked. Yes, to be fair, it doesn’t always work, but Darusia and I know that nothing bites, pecks or scratches just like that, so we don’t get angry with the animals. Оh! It happened, the child used to regularly come to Mrs mouse’s hole to ask how it was doing, even though I am terrified of rodents myself!

I can hardly even pick up a slug. Let alone a frog in my palm! But every time Darusia is willing to do this, I turn off my prejudices (if it’s safe) and then turn on her trust. Or should I say mine? I had it once, too.

For reasons of common sense, I explain that it is better not to take an unknown beetle for the sake of your safety and the safety of the unknown beetle, but also not to do it any harm. We have no right, just as we have no right to kill. And today Darusia is already asking why if you kill a person, you go to prison, but if you kill an animal, you don’t.

We have to pet the cat gently and peacefully so that it doesn’t hurt sometimes. You can feel pain, can’t you? Animals can, too, daughter. And you cannot grab the tail even out of great love, because even out of great love you can hurt them. Who better than parents to know this?

Until recently, Darusia dreamed of going to the circus — it was so interesting! She had been to the theatre twenty times, but never to the circus. And there is light music, acrobats, and bears walking on ropes, wow! I had to explain that animals are trained during rehearsals, which is cruel, unpleasant and painful; they, being hungry, are forced to do things that are completely unnatural for them for food for the entertainment of people who then sit in the stands and enjoy this violence. Do we want to be among those who sit in the stands? No? So we must refuse. We cannot and will not support this either with our presence or money.

If you don’t know the background, this universal Darusia’s love for animals may seem like some kind of unique innate gift on the Instagram reels. And it would be convenient to think so, but the truth is that one is not born with this knowledge. No value comes out of nowhere, not a single one. Any value has to be formed — and I am here to do it as a mother. And also to guide them gently through life, without projecting my fears or imposing categorical views. 

For instance, I am less sceptical that Darusia, with her already-formed empathy, could potentially refuse to eat meat, poultry and fish. We are a traditional Galician family with a certain cult of food. None of us are vegan or vegetarian yet, but at the age of five, the child explains out of love that she will not eat a rabbit because the rabbit wants to live. And the fish? And the fish must swim, of course, mum! And, anticipating your question: I’m not going to force her to do that.

And yesterday, when we were leaving kindergarten, the mother rushed to catch a butterfly for her children in the grass, but instead of being happy, Darusia started crying a lot, until I convincingly assured her that I would never do that again, honestly!

I was so ashamed.

I don’t think anyone in my life has taught me more than my children.

Yulia’s photo was taken by Halyna Kuchmanych

What to do if your dog is all but breaking off the leash when it sees other animals, growling, barking and trying to bite? Why does the dog behave this way and what to do about this? We asked Maryna Boiko, a dog handler, Daryna Vasylchuk, an animal psychologist and an expert in canine behaviour, and Yuliia Marunych, a licensed dog handler instructor of the highest category in the Ukrainian Kennel Union, as well as the founder and director of Humans & Dogs Dog Training Centre.

What is animal aggression

Our experts explain that the term “animal aggression” is a contextual one, as it can mean a number of different things. Most often, specialists use it to refer to the aggression that a dog displays towards other animals. There are also those who apply this concept to aggressive reactions of dogs towards people. And some believe that animal aggression can occur not only in dogs, but also in other animals,  including cats.

“In general, animal aggression is the aggression of one animal towards another, which can be caused by many different reasons. It can be territorial aggression, when a dog doesn’t want anyone to enter its territory, or sexual, when a dog does not get along with members of the same sex, or just a reactive response to a stimulus,” explains Maryna Boiko. “But currently, there is no clear definition for this phenomenon.”

Daryna Vasylchuk thinks that it is worth distinguishing between animal aggression and certain peculiarities of the animal’s behaviour. For example, if a dog reacts to representatives of a specific breed or to all large dogs, or regularly attacks cats while leaving other animals alone, this is not animal aggression. These are individual reactions that can be corrected if the owner is willing to do so or needs it. This will not be “working with an aggressive dog”, but working through a reactive response.

Experts advise owners against calling their pets aggressive ahead of time. Instead, they recommend trying to understand the reasons for this behaviour.

Causes of animal aggression

There are a lot of reasons for dogs to display aggressive behaviour. In order to understand what affects your dog without provoking aggression yourself, before adopting it’s important to consult specialists and acquire basic information about dogs in general and about the specific breed, if the dog is a purebred. You need to understand the peculiarities of your dog’s development, its age-related crises and how they manifest, how its nervous system develops, how to feed the dog, etc.

Yuliia Marunych thinks that one of the main errors made by dog owners is that they do not turn to dog handler instructors in time. Even in order to visit one of them if there are problems, you need to understand when something is going wrong.

If you suspect that your dog displays animal aggression, specialists will collect as much information as possible about the dog: how it was adopted into the family, its health, what it eats, etc. It’s also important to observe how the owner treats the dog in different situations. Only then can a dog handler or animal psychologist draw conclusions and start selecting individual correction methods. Among the most common causes of animal aggression, the experts list the dog’s pain and fear, anxiety of the owners and their mistakes when raising an animal.

Pain

It is natural to defend yourself from pain and try to prevent it from getting worse. In dogs, perhaps the most effective way available is what people usually consider to be a manifestation of aggression. A dog may first bare its teeth, then growl, and if these signals don’t work, it may even bite. So when your pet starts showing signs of aggression, especially if it was rare before, you should visit a vet clinic. In fact, any sudden changes in the pet’s behaviour, not only aggressive ones, are the reason to make an appointment. 

“The first question I ask people who come to me because their dog is behaving aggressively is whether they have been to the vet, had an ultrasound and a clinical blood test. In most cases, the aggression disappears after treating the cause of the pain,” says Daryna Vasylchuk.

Aggression can also be provoked by pain caused by a human or another animal: tugging, pulling, beating. So it’s worth analysing and correcting your own actions.

Daryna notes that pain can be caused even by a regular dog collar, if the dog is not trained not to pull at the leash. The expert recommends picking out an anatomical harness for walking your dog.

Maryna Boiko emphasises that it’s important not only to choose the right equipment to fit your dog’s individual anatomy, but also to put it on correctly. A dog collar should be fixed under the dog’s chin so that it fits tightly enough — there should be room for two fingers between the collar and the neck. Maryna also thinks that a harness might not be the best fit for everyone, so it’s important to consult experts when picking out accessories for your pet.

“If a dog is pulled on a collar or tugged at from a young age near another animal or, let’s say, children, it forms an associative bond with the animal: when these objects get close to me, I feel pain and should defend myself,” explains Daryna Vasylchuk.

Our experts also believe that the mindless use of special equipment (choke or electronic collars, noose collars), that is still used for correcting animal aggression, can be considered animal cruelty. The Ukrainian law provides for punishment for this.

“In exceptional cases, when all other methods fail, special equipment can be used. But it should be done under professional supervision and only in a very limited number of situations,” notes Yuliia Marunych, “for example, when it comes to life or death cases. I do everything I can to make sure the need for this never arises.”

Yuliia also emphasised that choke collars (par force) hadn’t been created to correct aggressive behaviour. They were used to protect shepherd dogs from wolves, with the spikes facing outward for protection. However, later people started inverting the collars to push their dogs towards developing guard habits or encourage their fight response.

In other words, a choke collar is not the kind of equipment that can be considered effective in correcting aggressive behaviour. On the contrary, it can be the cause of it. 

A dog that is constantly experiencing pain quickly gets used to it. Therefore, supporters of training through pain sooner or later run into the issue that pain no longer restrains an agitated dog.

“The worst thing dog owners can do is to put a choke collar on their dogs and use a retractable leash,” says Yuliia. “It’s very painful to watch!”

Negative experiences can also cause animal aggression. For example, if a dog has already been bitten by other dogs, there’s a high probability for it to develop an aggressive reaction towards them.

Dog’s fear

Another reason for canine aggression is cowardice. This is a common strategy for animals to attack when they’re scared, and if a dog is fearful from birth or due to training, it can be labeled as “animal aggressive”.

Fits of fear can prompt aggression even in normally fearless dogs. And that’s why it is important to analyse whether your calm dog was scared before it displayed signs of aggression.

Our experts believe that although many people still consider fear-based training as part of the norm, such an approach is unacceptable in the modern world.

“You need to negotiate with the dog and treat it humanely,” says the dog handler Maryna Boiko. “In that case, the dog will be loyal to you and trust you. Fear will not lead to love, and therefore the dog will not protect its human if necessary. A frightened dog can just be waiting for the right moment to express itself the way it wants. And the owner is unlikely to be pleased with it.”

Owners’ nervousness and fear

Another reason for canine aggression is the emotional state of the owner. Even if a person is not usually aggressive, does not use intimidation as a method of training, does not hurt the dog, but is often nervous or full of fears, this will affect the animal as well.

“If the owner is constantly stressed and smells of adrenaline, a dog that is sensitive to smells will begin monitoring the situation and try to understand the reasons. In such a situation, the dog’s nervous system is overloaded, so it will react to stimuli in a completely different way than in a calm state,” explains Maryna Boiko.

“It’s important for owners to learn how to calm down when they are with their dogs. During lessons, I often ask owners to just start breathing deeply. It’s a very simple method, but it helps,” adds Yuliia Marunych.

Human mistakes at various stages of canine development and interaction

Our experts listed the main mistakes made by dog owners that can lead to animal aggression — from the moment they choose to adopt a dog and to the dog’s training in later years. However, there is also a universal mistake in interacting with a dog of any age — when the same thing is one day allowed, another day forbidden. This happens due to inconsistency or lack of coordination in the actions of people who interact with the dog. Therefore, it’s necessary to have a common training strategy from the very beginning.

When choosing a dog

Even when choosing a pet, it is possible to reduce the risks of animal aggression in the future. The first thing to consider is whether you and your dog are a good match. There are dogs that need high daily activity for proper development and life. If you aren’t ready to constantly satisfy that need, an animal overwhelmed with emotions and energy can display aggression.

If you’re planning to adopt a purebred dog, pay attention to the characteristics of the breed, ask the kennel owners or in the shelter how the dogs usually behave both as puppies and adults, and draw your conclusions after interacting with the dog. A good thing to do would be to have a dog handler present when making a choice.

Another cause of dog behavioural issues is a violation of the rules of breeding and training in the first months of life. In particular, early weaning of a puppy from its mother.

“The first important stage of socialisation in the context of aggressive behaviour occurs at the age of up to three months, when a puppy learns how to communicate with adult (through its mother) and small dogs (siblings). A human cannot teach a dog everything that its mother can,” emphasises Yuliia Marunych.

That’s why, if possible, a puppy should be left with its mother for up to three months.

Right after adopting a puppy

Entering a new home is the next stage in the animal’s socialisation. If you lack the experience and knowledge for this, it’s important to contact specialists who share your views in advance. For example, those who will not teach you to scare or hurt an animal. We are talking about training for owners, without a dog for now.

“Training is not as important as socialising, since a dog should know the whole world around it: what people, other dogs, cats, birds and cars are like. It’s just to make it comfortable during a walk. As when a dog feels uncomfortable, it is frightened, overexcited and cannot control itself,” says Maryna Boiko. “For this reason we have to walk with a puppy every day — each time a little farther from home, to places with a little more stimuli. It’s also important to explain to it how to react properly.”

It is recommended to take the dog to the first lesson with a dog handler or animal psychologist only after your puppy has adapted to the new family and when quarantine following the vaccination is over.

Adolescence

Another important step in the dog’s development is adolescence, which occurs between the ages of 6 and 11 months. During that period, young dogs, as in the case with human children, go through a very complicated stage of development. Displays of aggression during this time are a common phenomenon.

“During puberty, your previously adorable puppy can turn into a dinosaur,” jokes Yuliia. “But if the owner is aware of this possibility, they will not be scared, but will know how to react or when to ask for help.”

“If at this age a young dog acts aggressively and the owner doesn’t react in any way, this behaviour will become standard for it. Your teenager should hear right away that this kind of behaviour is not permitted,” adds Maryna Boiko. “It’s easier to prevent such things than to correct them afterwards.”

Though, all experts emphasise that, in most cases, it is possible to correct an adult dog’s behaviour, although it requires more time and effort. However, it is usually not possible to completely change stereotypes. And it is not always appropriate to retrain a dog. For example, it makes no sense to start correcting a dog that has been interacting aggressively for all of its 9-10 years, if its owners have tolerated it. This is a very big challenge for an animal of respectable age. 

Ways of preventing and correcting animal aggression

Yuliia Marunych emphasises that it is not appropriate to give advice in general. Each dog requires an individual approach.

The bottom line is, our experts say, that the main objective of any kind of training is to teach the dog to focus on its owner.

Maryna Boiko explains, “Executing commands is not the main thing. What’s important is how the dog can focus on its owner in such a way that, in any situation, hearing the owner call out its name will be enough to instantly switch over. To that end, a person has to be more interesting than everything around. It’s quite difficult, as the world is so big and attractive! That’s exactly why we start training dogs from an early age to reinforce the skill.”

Owners need time to get to know the animal, to learn themselves and to teach it. A good strategy is to show the pet that being with its owner is advantageous: “Look at me and you’ll get a treat, affection or a game…” For different animals, different sets of rewards can be developed.

“One should start with simple trick commands to get the dog interested. It might be easy to teach a puppy to sit still, but it won’t be interesting,” says Maryna. “So we break up the basics with tricks: do a snake run, do a spin, give a high five or show your nose.”

When a pet is trained to see and listen to its owner in all situations, even in case of aggressive behaviour, it will be easier to handle.

“One of the simplest teaching techniques is to stop and stand still, not to react emotionally and not to pull a leash. Just let the dog run around and then call it over, give it a treat and then command it to go back in its place,”  says Maryna. “But this may not work, and then you’ll have to look for other methods.”

It’s necessary to teach a dog how to behave when there’s a stimulus. If you understand what exactly can provoke certain reactions in your pet, you need to work out an algorithm of its behaviour. For example, it should come to its owner, sit next to or between their legs, and then play when the ‘stimulus’ passes by to release the tension. This is just one possible action protocol Maryna Boiko told us about. This is the one her Corgi Lucky has. But there can be a lot of them, and each dog has its own. Your hard work and support of an expert will help you form the one that will be effective for your dog and easy to understand.

Daryna Vasylchuk also recommends self-education: listening to lectures or reading books such as, for example, Oksana Galan’s “Who Do I Live With? A Short Course To Understand the Dog.”

Whether training is successful depends on the persistent systematic work of the owner, the desire to stay in contact with the dog, read its signals and understand its personality. And this is only possible with unconditional love and the desire to do everything in the best way for your friend.

“…I remember he was small because we put him in my small backpack. He was sitting there drooling, maybe he was hungry. We brought him home, and he peed like all little puppies. He cried a lot the first night. We made him a separate place on the floor, but then we took him into our bed. And he calmed down. He was very emotional.”

Yulia from Kharkiv remembers her dog. His name was Tymchyk. He hated fireworks, shed a lot and could hardly tolerate car rides.

When the full-scale war broke out in Kharkiv, they had to leave. Combat actions are not limited to one day, like fireworks on New Year’s Eve.

The family stopped in Kremenchuk and stayed in an apartment not very suitable for living. But they were happy they got out. And that they were together. All of them. With the dog.

“You must take the dog with you. Any animal, you must. A dog is a part of the home. When you take your dog with you, a part of the home goes with you,” Yulia recalls.

And then Tymchyk got sick and died. The family’s memories are tightly intertwined with a sense of guilt.

“I think the move affected his health. Moreover, he picked up a tick, and we didn’t notice and treat it in time. We are guilty too. Because we missed it, he got very sick. We barely saved him then. But there were still consequences for his health, from which, in fact, he got sick again and died,” Yulia recounts.

Guilt is what weighs heavily on the loss of a pet. And it’s something that almost all grieving caretakers remember.

Ruslana lost her cat, Pyrizhok, a few months ago. He was often ill, but then the worsening of his condition came like a bolt from the blue. The girl assumes that anesthesia during dental cleaning triggered a pancreatitis flare-up.

“I still haven’t come to terms with it. I have so many questions. I think only a professional psychologist can help me overcome this. It was not just the doctors who made the decision. In many ways, it was my responsibility, and I often wonder if I have made a mistake somewhere. Yes, we all make mistakes, but a mistake at the cost of an animal’s life is too much to bear,” she says.

The hardest part for Ruslana was the decision about euthanasia. While the cat was sick and in the hospital, he was getting worse. So the family was waiting for that very call. And one day it came.

“We were in the subway. They told us he couldn’t be kept suffering any longer. We went to the clinic, expecting to see an exhausted animal. He was lying down when we arrived, but then he got up. He recognised us. However, it was the effect of the medication, nothing more. It was time to make the hardest decision,” Ruslana recounts.

Due to the russian aggression, we lose animals in situations where we could supposedly save them. Our actions are limited by shelling, fuel shortages, conditions of extreme stress.

Journalist and blogger, known to readers as Yuri Koshmarchenko, wrote a lot and humorously about his pug named Agamemnon. Many people visited Yuri’s page to read about his dog. But in March 2022, Agamemnon died. Yuri couldn’t get him to the vet in time due to shelling and fuel shortages.

“I have thoughts that I could have gone to the vet earlier. Could have found fuel faster. Or a detour route (at one point, a bridge blew up right in front of our car). Or something else. It still hurts me because of this. I don’t know what to say. Just take care of your own ones. Whoever these ‘own ones’ may be,” he says.

Oksana Zinko, a psychotherapist, says that the feeling of guilt is one of the hardest experiences. It applies, of course, to the period after the death of an animal. This is a state in which people often get stuck in their grieving.

“This situation can be explained by the fact that there is a great responsibility on the person for the fate of the animal. And caretakers cannot forgive themselves for how everything turned out,” explains the psychotherapist.

Moreover, people who have lost a friend — a dog, cat or another animal — often don’t feel they are understood and supported as they wish. So how to cope with the loss of someone who became so dear to you?

The loss of a person or an animal is often not radically different.

According to Oksana Zinko, downplaying the significance of the loss of an animal and comparing it to the loss of a person are categorically unacceptable.

“Just like between a person and a person, a relationship is built between an animal and a person,” she explains. “And often animals give us something special: unconditional love and devotion. After the loss of an animal, its caretaker goes through the same stages of grieving as in the case of the death of a loved one. This includes denial, shock, guilt and depression.”

Yulia remembers that she felt the urge to return to the rituals of walks: “I even thought about posting ads saying that I would walk with any dog. And I replaced it with just walking. At first, I took a leash, put it in my backpack and walked to our, with Tymchyk, places. I sat on a bench, talked to him, remembered, cried. It lasted about a month.”

Yuri says that he even misses what used to annoy him: snoring, piles in the corners where there’s a risk of stepping into. But the most painful thing is that nobody welcomes him at home anymore: “At first, the absence of those jumps on my head hit me straight in the heart every time.”

Ruslana also speaks about this: “When you come home and no one welcomes you, you feel like it can’t be real.”

Often people don’t understand another person’s grieving for an animal. In particular, they compare this loss to the loss of material things. But Oksana Zinko explains: when we lose someone we had a close relationship with, we grieve for our own condition as well — for how we felt when our dog, cat, friend or father was alive.

How can you help yourself to cope with and accept the loss?

“The animal gave us a lot of love. And now we face a difficult task — to give some of that love to ourselves, to take care of ourselves,” notes Oksana Zinko.

She explains that there’s a classic dual model of grieving. What is its essence? We have to allow ourselves to grieve, to cry, to be angry at this injustice, regardless of other people’s thoughts or criticism.

Tymchyk’s former caretaker rightly points out: “If a person feels that this is a significant loss, they have to go through it. From the outside, it might have seemed that I was grieving too much. I remember our friends came over, and I burst into tears when I said ‘we explained to the little one that we buried Tima in the sand.’ I think it’s not necessary to pay attention to how people will perceive it from the outside.”

But at the same time, it’s important to help yourself with the desire to live.

“Explore new things, make new plans, talk to people. It’s normal if at some point you fall back into sadness and withdraw from active social life again. Your support should remain, or rather, be strengthened by your personal forms of support — the ability to rely on yourself,” explains Oksana Zinko.

It’s also helpful to find a community of people who have gone through similar experiences.

Yuri says that he has always received sincere support from others:

“I think this is one of the important traits of Ukrainians — the ability to appreciate any life. Pay attention: when we read about rescuing operations from under rubble after shelling, there is always information that so many people were rescued, as well as a cat, dog or a parrot. Every life is sacred. Ukrainians don’t even know this as much as they naturally feel it. But I felt it myself — with the sincere condolences of many people.”

Thematic groups, chats, a friend or an acquaintance who has experienced the loss of an animal as well — they will help you go through this path a bit easier, without getting stuck in a feeling of guilt. By the way, how not to get stuck in it?

Feelings of guilt often arise regardless of how and why the animal died.

“Many people feel regret and anger at themselves, even if they know deep down that they did everything possible to save the animal,” says the psychotherapist. “Of course, when a person faces a situation, they need time to accept what happened, to get over it, to grieve. However, guilt left unchecked can gradually destroy lives. We have a choice: to control these feelings and emotions or to allow them to control us.”

Ms. Oksana explains that feelings of guilt are not just emotions. Essentially, guilt is the belief that you have done something wrong and deserve to suffer for it. The only way to influence this belief is to change what we believe in. There are several options here.

Observe your feelings of guilt. Do you notice that you’re repeating the same guilty thoughts over and over again? Choose the “stop” signal to get off this painful mental path. It could be a physical action, like taking a deep breath and exhaling sharply. Then consciously focus on something else, like your plans for tomorrow. This way, you’ll remember that there is something positive ahead in your life, not just negative things from the past.

Choose the courage to accept what cannot be changed. Repenting of mistakes doesn’t change or compensate for the past. It just drives you into a dead end. The only thing you can change now is your future. Accept this fact.

Choose balance. Feelings of guilt make us focus on the times we perceive as failures — when we were “too busy” to walk, play with or hug our pet. Or when we couldn’t take them to the vet earlier, pay attention to symptoms of illness. This prevents us from objectively seeing all the other time we spent with our pet. So the next time your mind dives into these unhappy thoughts, decide to refocus. Actively remind yourself of the good times when you were a truly responsible and caring pet owner. Most likely, this was a significant part of the time.

How to help a person next to you grieving for the loss of an animal

“The worst thing that can happen is belittlement. If you don’t know how to support, it’s better to keep silent than to say that I ‘can just get another cat’,” says Ruslana.

If you want to support someone who is grieving and avoid saying the wrong things, it’s best to inquire about how they’re feeling.

“Our idea of how we can help sometimes differs significantly from what the person needs. Some people want to be alone. Someone needs to go to a place where they have spent special time with their pet, someone needs to talk. Allow them to express their needs. If we can’t help, it’s very important not to harm,” says Oksana Zinko.

The psychologist suggests a few universal words of support: “It must be very difficult”, “I can’t even imagine how hard it is to go through this.”

However, phrases like “I know how much it hurts” should be avoided. Because we can never fully feel another person’s pain. Everyone hurts differently.

The psychotherapist also advises being cautious with religious themes. Religion touches very deep values, so it can evoke strong emotions.

How to help a child comprehend the loss

“Tima died before our eyes,” recalls Yulia, “the little one was at home. He saw our reaction, but then he didn’t quite understand what was happening. He asked, and we explained to him what happened. We told him that Tima died and that Den (dad) buried him in the sand.”

Often, the death of a pet is the first death a child has encountered. And how adults help them through this can affect their future attitude toward death. The best thing you can do is to be honest with the child, says the psychotherapist.

“It’s important to explain in advance that every animal grows old and eventually dies. Tell your child the truth, but be careful. Never tell them about clouds or other fantasies. This creates distrust of parents and the world, which is very difficult to overcome later,” says Oksana Zinko. “When the pet’s death has already occurred, certain rituals can help say goodbye to the pet, cope with the loss and gradually accept it.”

When choosing a ritual, focus on what may resonate with your family. You can plant a tree in honour of the pet or write a farewell letter. Perhaps the ritual will be related to something important in the pet’s life.

“We cremated Pyrizhok and brought the urn home. Then we decided to scatter his ashes from the window. Pyrizhok adored windows, he could sit there for hours. It was a kind of feline Netflix. And we decided that such a farewell would be the most appropriate,” recalls Ruslana.

***

Soon after losing Pyrizhok, Ruslana’s family adopted a kitten from a shelter. The girl says it wasn’t she who saved him, but he saved her. Yulia isn’t ready for another dog yet, but she happily interacts with other dogs on the street, which somehow replaces the absence of Tymchyk for her.

It’s been a year without Agamemnon for Yuri, and he’s currently not ready to be responsible for another pet either.

Oksana Zinko explains that people choose different strategies: some immediately get another pet, while others close this question for themselves forever. There can be no universal answer here. Everyone has their own way of acceptance. But most importantly, it should bring peace to their souls.

Only 22% of apartments for rent in Ukraine are available for people with pets. This was found out by UAnimals and DIM.RIA during a joint study of the residential rental market in September 2023.

Meanwhile, due to the full-scale invasion of russia, internal migration continues in our country. People move from the occupied or frontline regions to safer places with whole families, often leaving their lifetime possessions at home but taking their pet friends with them.

Today’s article is about how they manage to rent housing in Ukraine and what helps in this. We share the stories of internally displaced pet owners and advice from people with experience in the rental market.

“Is it possible to live with the elderly?”: the story of Rudyk and Baghira’s owners from Bakhmut

Natalia Zubar evacuated from Bakhmut with her large family. When it became too loud in the city [ed.: due to shelling], everyone left: she and her husband, her sister with her son, elderly parents, a male cat, and a female cat. The male cat Rudyk is a village boy whom they took as a small kitten, and the female cat Baghira is a black beauty who came to them for a foster home and treatment after a serious injury, but she was never given to anyone. The pets arrived in ordinary bags to the capital itself, where Natalia’s son, Petro, lived and studied. There, the family started looking for a separate home.

“We tried not to get nervous — we didn’t even look at the ad that categorically stated ‘no pets’. But still, there were strange preconceptions. For example, one realtor said that traces of cat urine were visible under ultraviolet light. And if one of my little ones [ed.: pets] ‘messes up’, even if I clean it right away, it won’t be possible to rent out the apartment to anyone afterwards. I just imagined how people who want to rent an apartment walk around with ultraviolet light and look for traces of cats,” says Natalia.

Eventually, the family found a rather spacious three-room apartment – the kind of apartment that is usually described as “in need of repair”. In order to live in more or less comfortable conditions, they really made the repairs. But they still remember the process of looking for housing with a nervous smile. 

“We always asked cautiously: Is it possible to live with the elderly? And with pets? And with a disabled person?” says Natalia, who has been using a wheelchair for many years. “Sometimes the conversation didn’t even end with cats.”

Natalia says that anything can happen. Recently, a parrot flew onto her son’s balcony, which either escaped or was deliberately set free. There was no pet clause in the lease agreement, but the owner of the apartment was moved by the story that the parrot had chosen her apartment on its own and did not demand that he be evicted.

Advice

Antonina Semenova, a homeowner: “Look for different options. In my case, for example, tenants without pets and children consistently ‘killed’ apartments more than ‘a herd of horses with 3 senior kindergarten groups.’ Therefore, if in the future I rent out my apartment in the suburbs of Kyiv again, I will write ‘only with children and/or pets’.”

Kateryna Honchar, a tenant: “For these almost two years, I have changed housing three times. I have two cats. When I searched with the help of realtors, they asked for a deposit of $1,000 for the animals. Those, who did not plan to move but were forced to flee the war, do not always have such ‘extra’ funds. But this is not the only way. In the previous apartment, under the condition of a long lease, our pets were given a trial period of 3 months. They are well-behaved, so everything went well.”

“Oh, do you have cats? No way”: the story of owners of a cat and kittens from Siversk

In April 2022, Yuliia Deineko evacuated from the town of Siversk in the Donetsk region to the village of Horyn in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. And a year later, the family moved to the capital, as the children were enrolled to study there. They also took their big cat family to Kyiv — a mother cat and her newborn kittens.

“We knocked about hostels for a long time, moved and tried to rent housing. It didn’t always work out,” Yuliia recalls. “When we were looking [ed.: for the house], one realtor assured us that we would not find anything with cats. She told us to hand them over to a shelter, and there would be no problems. But I couldn’t do that!”

Yuliia calls those times of looking for a place to live the circles of hell because she was in despair from constant insults, hints about the possibility of getting rid of pets, emphatic refusals and scare stories about the inevitability of damaged wallpaper or destroyed parquet.

“These words are still in my ears: ‘Oh, do you have cats? No way…’,” says the woman. “I think we were lucky: the owner of the apartment was urgently renting it out because she was moving. I was constantly monitoring the announcements, and as soon as a new one appeared, I immediately called. We met, talked and agreed on the cat issue. She has a cat herself, so she treated our pets normally.”

The family rents an apartment on the left bank of Kyiv. They live together with cats that have not damaged anything.

Advice

Olena Vincent, a tenant of housing in Georgia: “In Batumi, there is much more housing than those who want to rent it. In new buildings, there are residents in at most one-third of the apartments. Over the past six months, a lot of people have left Georgia, the high season is far away, and it is not necessarily true that it will be at all. Therefore, the prices are falling, and the owners are happy to find people willing to rent their housing. Half of my friends rent apartments with dogs, two friends — with four cats, and I — with three cats and a dog. And we are talking about more or less new, good apartments. Housing in Soviet conditions [ed.: home improvements] or without appliances is rented out very rarely here.”

Olena Antipova, administrator of the Facebook group for finding housing for tenants with pets: “I would advise you to write as much detail as possible about yourself, your pet and the housing requirements in the ads. Tell where you are from, where you study or work, in which location you are looking for housing and how much you are willing to pay. If possible, add a photo of your pet. I remember one case when an apartment after renovation was rented with a “no pets” condition. A girl with a dog came to watch. After seeing her [ed.: a dog], the landlady agreed. Unfortunately, not everyone is so lucky. Finding housing with pets is very difficult, but possible.”

“We decided to take a puppy”: the story of a doctor and a soldier who travel around the frontline regions with a dog

Daria Volkova is the last doctor who left the semi-surrounded Soledar. She helped people who stayed in their hometown in shelters and basements. She already evacuated wearing a bulletproof vest, which her 13-year-old beloved cat Archie clung to. Daria recalls that this helped her pass the checkpoints quickly: a tired woman with red eyes and a frightened cat around her neck answered all possible questions only with their look.

“We drove to Pokrovsk, where a friend put me in an empty three-room apartment near the railway station, regardless of the cat. Archie survived a month with me in Pokrovsk. And then there were three more happy months with my parents at a rented dacha [ed.: summer house] in Poltava. One night he left and never came back. Perhaps his time had come. This is still my great pain,” says Daria.

Her husband Oleksii joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine. His path is also the path of Daria, who has lived almost along the entire front line over these two years.

“I changed houses every 2-4 months. I remember it like in a kaleidoscope. When I lived in Sloviansk, we decided to get a fox terrier puppy. We were looking for this particular breed because my husband has childhood and teenage unmet needs,” smiles Daria. “And Tobik turned out to be a salvation for both of us — for me, so that I wouldn’t go crazy from everything that was happening around, and for him — a kind of rehabilitation. The dog helps to survive everything. I can’t describe how he waits, meets and loves Oleksii!”

Daria says that renting an apartment with a dog is not easy. Especially considering the fact that it has to be changed often. Now they live in the Kharkiv region.

“It took incredible effort to rent a private house. We deliberately looked for a house with territory in order to let the teenage dog out and train it to use the toilet,” the woman says. “When we settled in, during the inspection of the house and territory, it turned out that only the concrete path to the gate was ‘fixed’ for us, and everything else belonged to the owner, who lived nearby behind the fence. Although the ad promised 3 hundred square metres of land. We had to look for another place to live.”

However, Daria recalls that incredible stories also happened. Once she rented a house on the territory of the manor the size of a recreation centre. The owners, a married couple, loved the dog as their own and allowed him almost everything. Daria remembers this sincere humanity with gratitude.

“I think we did everything we could for our pets. Sometimes I watch ‘dog groups’: people abandon pets and leave forever. Sometimes they leave them on a chain. Perhaps they are afraid, in particular, of these difficulties with finding housing…”

Advice

Olha Kononenko, a friend of a tenant with an animal: “My friend once submitted an ad on social networks on behalf of her cat, and everything worked out. He wrote something like this in the introduction: ‘My name is Dzhanho, and I am a cat. I’m a pretty smart cat as I manage my social media pages by myself. Yep, I know how to do it, and how am I worse than my human roommates who do just that all day long: tap-tap, tap-tap on a laptop keyboard?’. This text was funny, but it contained information that was usually of interest to apartment owners. For example, the cat complained that back in his early childhood he was deprived of the very thing that some people associated with dignity. Therefore, he does not mark the territory and smells only of shampoo. It was creative, original, and it helped.”

Natalia Adamovych, a tenant: “Hiding that there are pets, in my opinion, is not okay at all. The only thing is that it is easier to talk about them already during the meeting. When landlords like a potential tenant in communication, they become more accommodating in some matters.”

Comment from expert

Natalia Birova, Real Estate Management Specialist

For tenants

In our country, it is currently difficult for pet owners to rent housing, so I advise you to offer an increased guarantee payment if possible. In this way it is often possible to convince even those who write in capital letters “NO PETS” in the ad. It’s not just about the money — this way you’ll show a conscious sense of responsibility.

In my memory, no one has ever said: “Yes, my pet can damage something.” But I know such cases when pets that have lived in an apartment for 10 years and have never damaged anything, start to cause damage in new conditions. You should be ready, both morally and financially, to be responsible for the consequences. Even if the owner of the property is pet-friendly and does not demand a double guarantee payment or compensation for damaged property.

You can provide recommendations from your previous place of residence, which is a huge advantage. Sometimes people say that they are ready to invite [ed.: a landlord] to the apartment where they currently live, give the contact details of the current owner and even send videos and photos of the apartment. It works.

In no case should you persuade the owners. It is better for you to look for the right person. Because this violates the equality of relationship: people, feeling that you simply have nowhere to go, often start, as they say, “hoovering”. Even if you are really in a hopeless situation, don’t talk about it. You are not an unfortunate person who out of pity was allowed to live with a pet, but a tenant who pays for a service by mutual agreement.

For landlords (landladies)

I advise you to communicate with future tenants, be interested in their history and assess their adequacy and responsibility. In particular, it is worth learning about people from various sources — from open registers to feedback in groups. From my experience, it is people who damage property much more often than pets. The order in the house will depend on people, not on the pets.

Carefully prepare an agreement, with all the details specified. The agreement should protect both parties — you and the tenants.

Immediately arrange for regular visits at an agreed time. Once every month or two, you should check what is happening with your property, so that it does not turn out to be completely ruined in half a year. Usually, tenants with pets offer you to visit themselves to make sure everything is okay.

Specify mandatory cleaning after eviction. The next tenants may be allergic, and the previous stay of a pet in the apartment should not harm them and your business in general.