Mascots – 2023: animal rights activists asked not to buy kittens and rabbits

In winter, homeless animals and city birds freeze without human warmth.

With the advent of winter in Moscow, one not very noticeable and, one might say, familiar problem is exacerbated. Homeless animals, birds that stay winter in the city freeze, and sometimes freeze to death. Because they have nowhere to hide, they could not find warmth and sleep or intercept a piece in time. And this year, due to departures and the deteriorating economic situation, there have been more and more discarded muroks and bobiks on the streets …

Animal rights activists call on caring citizens to help shelters, feed the homeless and birds in the yards, and let them warm up. After all, just opening the door can save a life.

About how to help winter brothers smaller, deprived of human warmth, “MK” talked with the animal rights activist Svetlana Safonova.

“Many do not understand why we often collect food in winter,” Svetlana says. – In winter, the metabolism of animals accelerates, the body expends energy to maintain heat. It is more difficult for a homeless animal to keep warm, it is more difficult to find shelter. Many homeless people spend so much time looking for a place to sleep that they hardly get any rest. The load on the body increases exponentially. And they can rest only in a dream. That is why it is so important that they have food. A dog without food in winter can last up to three days, a cat too. The bird won’t last a day. Because its activity is limited to daylight hours, and it is short in winter. Until the birds find something edible there, peck out from under the ice, it’s dark in the yard. She still needs somewhere to hide. Therefore, it is so important to hang bird feeders in winter, to feed the birds.

– Do shelters need more help in winter too?

– Of course, all organizations that work to help animals dream that they all live at home. But the percentage of attachments is very small, we understand this. So yes, shelters. In addition to feed-feed-feed, as usual, good dry straw is needed. After all, the enclosures in most shelters are not heated. The dogs burrow into the straw and are warm. Someone collects old blankets, rugs, but not all shelters, you need to call and ask. Heaters, heat guns are very much in demand. People often do not even realize how much they are needed there. Almost always relevant and require drugs for ticks, antibiotics, antiseptics for wound treatment. Cats always need cat litter. Toys – they play even there.

You can help and information. If you like some animal, but you can’t take it, come for a walk, play, chat. Take his photo for the Web, write the text of the ad and help find the owner.

What else can anyone do?

– Let it warm up. A common story is when a weakened or injured animal freezes into ice in winter. Here we have a dog Zhuzha now living in overexposure, she is 5 years old, a very cute dog. Our volunteer found her at a bus stop, the dog froze into the ice and was practically dying. Somewhere she was hit by a car, and she somehow crawled to a stop, to people … Now Zhuzha is almost all right. But so far it has not been able to fit in. Or last year’s sensational story, when a young cat froze right on the steps of a pet store. He lived there, someone fed him, someone did not. But no one opened the door for him in severe frosts. The night was very cold … The cat froze and stiffened on the stairs in a sitting position – the photos then spread widely across the Web.

Separately, I would like to say – this year the mascots of the year are the rabbit and the cat. There is evidence of an increase in sales of rabbits in stores, and we are very concerned about them. I would not like to find frozen kittens and rabbits in snowdrifts and ice puddles in January. A small kitten or a rabbit, whether decorative or ordinary, will not survive a day outside in winter. Therefore, please think many times before giving someone or getting yourself a living talisman. Any animal, including a rabbit, needs food, drink, cage cleaning, care, care. You should not get a pet without thinking about it properly.