Jennifer McCausland: Animals struggle alongside humans during war

By Jennifer McCausland

As a resident of Seattle who has spent decades advocating for the health and conservation of animals, it was an amazing coincidence to meet Gregg Tully, a resident of Portland, and a manager for Save the Dogs and Other Animals on the border of Romania and Ukraine, saving dogs.

I had traveled to Romania, on behalf of the Center for a Humane Economy, to meet the extraordinary volunteers and staff working daily to help animals survive the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

By now we are all familiar with the daily heartbreaking news from the area: the suffering of families, animals and their communities pummeled by Russian bombs. What we hear less about is the plight of animals once living with those families, who are now left to survive on the streets of cities and villages turned to rubble. It’s usually the women and children who are forced to abandon their homes and, sadly, to leave their animals, carrying only what they can hold in their arms.

It is shocking to see firsthand these now-homeless animals roaming the streets, attacking food frantically when they find it, and then turning back to the streets to continue their struggle to survive. You can see the psychological impact – faces and bodies filled with fear and anxiety – that explosive shelling day in and day out has on these innocent animals.

Life is so fragile here for so many.

Fortunately, there are several international animal-rescue organizations on the ground in Ukraine as well as in Romania and Poland. Our shared goals are first to save the animals from starvation and then to facilitate rescue and adoptions all over Europe.

Gregg is the project manager for Save the Dogs and Other Animals, a nonprofit based in Italy with a founding mission of spaying and neutering street dogs and cats. Gregg’s team had established a base in Cernavoda, Romania, more than eight years ago, eventually expanding into providing vet services, rescue and sanctuary for dogs, elderly horses and donkeys.

When the Ukraine war started, Gregg’s group launched into immediate rescue of animals abandoned in Ukraine and provided transfer services for accompanied animals and their families.

Today, it continues to provide these services in addition to purchasing and distributing tons of dog and cat food to shelters and stranded homeowners in the worst of the battle-affected cities. Without the support of Save the Dogs, countless animals would have starved to death.

That organization just sent 20 tons of dog and cat food to Odessa, a transport hub southwest of Ukraine. It’s being distributed right now. Sadly, it’s not enough. People who fled Ukraine and whom Gregg and his staff continue to meet at the border are pleading with them to send in more food for the animals.

Both Gregg and I continue to be inspired by the incredible bravery and selflessness of volunteers, and we believe that Ukraine’s animals will be reunited with their families or adopted as needed, but first they must be saved.

Pacific Northwesterners are considerate and loyal stewards of our land, habitats and wildlife. Maybe that is why two neighbors who had never met, had their chance encounter in a war-damaged country, thousands of miles from our homes with a joint ambition to rescue as many helpless animals as possible.

For more information about the organizations, visit centerforahumaneeconomy.org or www.savethedogs.eu/en/.

Jennifer McCausland lives in Seattle and is senior vice president for corporate policy at Center for a Humane Economy.