Harmony Fund has provided extensive help and care to animal shelters in Ukraine for years, and now, we are called upon to provide emergency aid in the wake of war.
Here’s What We Must Do:
Aid is being gathered and dispatched to animal shelters in Ukraine. We’re beginning by providing aid directly to our past partners with whom we have a trusted relationship, but we are investigating ways to help smaller shelters as well. For the moment, our aid begins with help for:
- Friend Shelter in Dnepr City is a refuge for several hundred dogs.
- Ugolyok farm rescue has three shelters in Kherson, Dnepr City and Nikolaev. Those places are home to well over 600 farm and companion animals.
- SOS Kiev gives shelter in the city to hundreds of cats and dogs who have nowhere to go.
- Small shelters coming soon. We will be sending aid to smaller shelters in the near future
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Our History in Ukraine
Over the years, we have helped these rescue centers in many ways including:
- We helped the SOS Kiev shelter on numerous occasions with large donations for food and vet care.
- We also helped SOS Kiev to hire a security guard after arson attempts.
- We sponsored surgeries for two of their workers who were run down by a car and unable to walk.
- We helped Friend Shelter with a generous grant to buy the land for their current shelter, helping generations of animals.
- We helped Friend Shelter with funds to buy a tractor to clear snow during winter so volunteers could reach the shelter during winter storms.
- We helped Ugolyok Shelter in 2021 with an emergency grant to rescue a large number of pigs who now live peacefully, safe from slaughter.
–More Details Below–
Conversations from the Front Line:
There is so much going on and news is breaking by the minute, but here are excerpts from a few recent conversations…
A Race to Get Supplies
“Just got off the phone with Tamara,” Tomi Tomek, partner to SOS Kiev said days before the war broke out. “The situation for animals and humans in Kiev and the Ukraine is grave. People are all running to the stores to buy anything they can find. We don’t know what Putin and his army will do tomorrow and the coming days. Everybody is scared. Prices in stores are rising, dog and cat food is becoming scarce and very expensive. Donors won’t give money because they’re afraid the Tamara shelter will close its doors. But she’s gonna stay there. She tells me she can’t abandon animals and people and even her family calls her crazy and naive. But she is a true animal protector with all her heart and courage. Tamara needs our help.”
They’re Now Hiding in the Basement
“I was just speaking with Alexandra Levitska at Ugolyok Shelter,” Harmony Fund Founder Laura Simpson said. “She was hiding in her basement with her very young daughter who suffers from autism and many, many dogs. Her association has three shelters for hundreds and hundreds of horses, cows, pigs, sheep, donkeys, dogs and cats. The workers are with the animals at each location, but they are all afraid. Naturally, some of the animals won’t eat. Alexandra said that supplies are getting more expensive and more dangerous to get. Our conversation ended on such an unsettling note as I asked her to please, please stay safe. As a mother and a rescuer, I can’t imagine what it must be like to be in her shoes right now. Thank God all the world has eyes on Ukraine, and together, we can try to provide some measure of comfort.”
Hanging in There
“Sirens in city interrupt ongoing work in shelter,” Marina Dilly, Founder of the Friend Shelter explains. “We are stressed, dogs feel it, they fight. They are too many as we were not able to do a rotation before we accepted a lot from streets and from vet hospitals that all got closed. We are scared, but we are okay. At the shelter, we have food for dogs for a week. Big shortage of cat food, but we are looking for it. Shortage of wood can’t be solved now. We manage. We do have a well, so in worst scenario, dogs will have water. We have electricity generators thanks to your help. Main shortage now is space. But about that nobody can help us. Please trust me, I will stay here with animals. All souls who had home offers will reach homes sooner or later. But meanwhile all planned transports are cancelled. I can’t deliver animals to ANY border. Hugs from Ukraine. Hugs from me. From all my hundreds furry souls.”
