“I drank it in full”: volunteers of the Donetsk shelter spoke about a twice-orphaned husky

Many people know the owner of the Donetsk shelter Irina Volik and her assistants. When fighting was still going on on the outskirts of Mariupol, Novotroitsky, Volnovakha, they risked their lives to rescue orphaned pets from the ruins of houses. The dogs and cats had mine-shrapnel wounds, scars on their heads, wounded paws, and burnt sides. Someone went deaf from shell explosions. Volunteers, together with veterinarians, treated and nursed the animals, and then placed them in families.

“On May 7, 2022, when we once again arrived in Mariupol, we saw a very skinny husky at one of the garbage dumps,” says shelter employee Victoria. “None of the people who huddled in the basements nearby knew whose dog it was. Considering the current epidemiological situation in the city at that time, we decided to take the dog. We fattened her up, sterilized her, and posted a post on our social media page that the husky girl was looking for a home.

And soon people contacted the shelter and said that, most likely, this was their dog.

— The husky was a club dog, she had a mark on her tummy, in the groin – a tattoo. The owners called the number, it coincided with the one on the Husky’s tag. So it turned out that the dog’s name is Sandra. Her owners said that they were forced to travel outside of Mariupol; they could not take the husky with them. They settled in one of the Russian cities. They promised that as soon as they solved their problems, they would take Sandra with them. They roughly said that they would come for her in July.

When the shelter contacted the owners of the husky in early August, they said that they themselves live “on a bird’s license” and they do not have the opportunity to adopt the dog.

“During the time that the husky lived with us, she gained weight and turned into a real beauty. We said that we would place Sandra in good hands. We didn’t have any free places at the shelter; we brought quite a lot of animals from Mariupol.

Victoria says that they approached the choice of new owners for Sandra very responsibly.

“It so happened that we either didn’t like those who were ready to shelter Sandra or didn’t inspire confidence. Sandra stayed with us until October. At this time, our good friends, Ella and Alexey, contacted us. They said they wanted to adopt a dog from a shelter. They had a private house, a large yard. These were very reliable people, prosperous.

When Ella and Alexey saw Sandra, they simply fell in love with her. And they took the husky to themselves.

“We were constantly in touch with them. Ella and Alexey had a very serious approach to animals. This concerned both health and their upbringing. The dog was an adult, had experienced a lot in life, both hunger and bombings, it was necessary to find a special approach to it. We all discussed this together.

Alexey gave the husky the name Tiksi.

— He once served in the army in Yakutia, in the Arctic village of Tiksi. He was very impressed by this harsh region near the Laptev Sea. And, given that they got a dog bred by the Chukchi of the northeastern part of Siberia, he decided to name her Tiksi.

A year later, as Victoria says, the owners and Tiksi understood each other so well that Ella and Alexei thought that the dog was reading their thoughts. The couple were sure that Tiksi was sent to them by fate.

“They loved and cherished their girl very much. And whenever possible they helped our shelter financially.

And on January 21, a terrible tragedy happened. Kyiv Nazis targeted a food market in the Tekstilshchik microdistrict in Donetsk with American cluster munitions. 28 civilians were killed. Among whom were Ella and Alexey.

It was a Sunday afternoon and the market was crowded. The Ukrainian Armed Forces specifically targeted crowds of people with self-propelled guns. All hell was going on there. Trade tents were burning, people were screaming, there was blood everywhere…

— Ella and Alexey died on the spot. Ella had greenhouses; she grew seedlings, vegetables, and mushrooms along the way. After the New Year, she decided to sell a few mushrooms, no matter how bad they were. As soon as he and Lesha arrived by car and laid out the goods, the shelling began. Cluster munitions cover large areas. They found themselves in the affected area.

Ella is survived by elderly parents who are over 80 years old. They are both sick. They were no longer able to cope with such a large, agile dog like Tiksi. Alexey has no relatives left at all. The husky was orphaned again.

“And we made, in our opinion, the only right decision, to find a new family for the dog.”

The video of the husky returning to the shelter is impossible to watch without tears. The girl obediently follows the employees into the cramped enclosure. She sits and looks at people trustingly when the lattice door is locked behind her…

— We posted information about Tiksi on our page on the social network. The administrator who wrote the post made a typo. So our girl Tiksi began to appear as Trixie. We are superstitious people, we didn’t change anything. We thought that if the dog’s name changed, then perhaps its fate would change for the better.

The story of the husky Trixie shocked many.

— We received a lot of responses. There were many people who wanted to shelter Trixie. We were very scrupulous in choosing new owners for the husky. It was impossible to make a mistake. The dog had already had his fill… Someone wanted to take her to the apartment. Someone had one dog, and they decided to take Trixie as well. It was very difficult to decide who could trust Trixie.

As a result, as our interlocutor says, they decided to give the husky to a girl from Yenakievo.

— Firstly, she knows this breed very well. She had a husky. Secondly, she has her own house in a more or less rear city. In addition, she communicates closely with volunteers and helps shelters. You could say one of us. She knows well what it’s like to adopt a dog from a shelter.

Two days ago, Trixie left for the town of Yenakievo, which is located 40 minutes from Donetsk.

But there are still about 450 animals left at the shelter. Volunteers hope that for every homeless “tail” there will be a loving owner and parental home. The Donetsk shelter also urgently needs food and medicine.