Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/ukraine-poland-shelter/

While Russia continues to punish Ukraine with its evil rage, many people from the other parts of the world are doing their best to help the Ukrainians including the animals they have been forced to leave behind.

A German group, Winkler Aktiv organization, has made the brave decision to put up a make-shift shelter at the Ukraine-Poland border to rescue pets and other animals that have been caught in the crossfire. But the challenges that the organization faces are just as dangerous and heartbreaking as those of a true soldier.

Volunteers are Making Sacrifices to the Point of Risking Their Lives

Sasha Winkler told Associated Press that among the difficulties they encounter is the provision of animal food and water. “Directly in the war zones, there is nothing of this. 100 kilometers or so around, nobody is there to bring them food. So, we bring it often to Lviv, to different places, and from these places to Ukraine.”

Sonja Mortensen-Dissing, a volunteer from Denmark, takes care of the very stressed and traumatized animals.

“Some of them are street dogs, they have never been in human hands. Other ones are family dogs that are just left, and sometimes with a letter where they write, ‘We hope we can find our dogs and cats again.’” said Mortensen-Dissing tearfully.

Yet, the plight of these animals is not the only thing that causes grief to these volunteers. Recently, Anastasiia Yalanskaya and her two male companions were ambushed by Russian forces. The three volunteers delivered food to an animal shelter in Bucha outside Kyiv, where the animals had not eaten for three days. On their way back, the Russian troops targeted their civilian vehicle at close range. Their bodies had to be buried in Bucha.

Volunteers Courageously Face the Uncertain Future for the Sake of Their Rescue Animals

“A life of an animal is the same life as a human,” reasoned Winkler. The 35-year-old is a dog trainer who has six dogs, two of which were adopted from the streets of Romania.

The volunteers are doing their utmost to comfort all the animals in the shelter, trying to make them feel secure again by petting and coaxing them to play. But some dogs are too traumatized, hiding their heads with bodies continually shaking.

26-year-old Anastasiia Yalanskaya was killed while attempting to bring dog food to a shelter in Ukraine, where the animals had gone without for three days.

Her car was ambushed by Russian fire. t.co/ZwjO0T6shk pic.twitter.com/KV1cVAqK1H

— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 6, 2022

But their human friends are determined not to give up on them. They will continue taking in pets and other animals from Ukraine to make them feel safer and loved once again at the shelter.

“The only good thing is for the dogs and cats to have an option now, with the war, for a better life,” said Winkler.

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Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog