While Ukrainians flee their war-torn homeland, and organizations and charities work to assist refugees, at least one veterinarian is braving the battle zone to help injured animals.
Jakub Kotowicz, 32, has rescued more than 200 cats and 60 dogs, as well as other animals, the New York Post reported. Kotowicz reportedly started going to the war zone “last week as part of a caravan from Przemyśl on the Polish border,” the outlet noted.
“The animals he liberated included Vira, a dog with a bullet caught in her spine; and a pygmy goat with deformed legs, named Sasha,” the Post added. “Kotowicz hopes to adopt the goat, who now shares a comfy bed with several Chihuahuas.”
The outlet noted that Vira, the injured dog, will receive a wheelchair to help her mobility.
Kotowicz began his own animal rescue charity, the ADA Foundation, 15 years ago when he was just 17. It’s through that organization that he is helping injured animals in Ukraine. The young veterinarian now reportedly hopes to purchase an additional ambulance and open up a new hub to better help rescued animals and to use as a warehouse for packing supplies.
Unfortunately, some of the animals Kotowicz saved had to be put down, but others were able to be helped and will be re-homed throughout Europe, the Post reported. That is, if their owners can’t be found. The outlet noted that two cats have been reunited with their Ukrainian owners. Meanwhile, Kotowicz’s clinic has started a “dog village” to help lost dogs find their owners. If the owners can’t be found, the dogs will be put up for adoption.
“All the cats are very stressed, the journey from Lviv is one day and we crossed the border with a diplomatic pass but the queue from Ukraine was very long,” Kotowicz said, according to the outlet. “We are preparing the animals for an adoption process. Sometimes the animals which are in very poor condition will be with us for two or three months. Some people came here and were asking if we had their cat.”
Kotowicz is not alone in his endeavor. The Post noted that volunteers from Canada, Denmark, Ireland, and the U.S. have also been helping Ukrainian animals, and British wildlife photographer Nick Tadd has helped raise nearly $80,000 for Kotowicz’s clinic.
As The Daily Wire previously reported, a top United Nations official said that an estimated 10 million people have fled from their homes in Ukraine since Russia first invaded late last month.
“Among the responsibilities of those who wage war, everywhere in the world, is the suffering inflicted on civilians who are forced to flee their homes,” U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi tweeted on Sunday. “The war in Ukraine is so devastating that 10 million have fled — either displaced inside the country, or as refugees abroad.”
The number of refugees represents nearly a quarter of the country’s pre-war population, with the majority fleeing west in Europe.
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Source: Dailywire
