There is no one to save mobilized pets: the patriotic mood has disappeared

“The son was mobilized, the cat was left alone. Needs to be fixed urgently. I’m in another city.”

“Umka and Tobik from Maloyaroslavets with delivery to Moscow and Moscow Region. The owner is wounded in the NWO and can no longer take care of the dogs.”

“I’m leaving for NWO. I will give forever American Staffordshire Terriers to Bonya (5 years old) and Marcel (5 years old. St. Petersburg.)”.

“The owner of the cat has applied as a volunteer for CBO. There are 10 days left to settle down. The animal is a carrier of viral leukemia. Upon his return, the owner plans to take it for himself.

“We give the mestizo Labrador Archie. The child developed a severe allergy against the background of stress after the mobilization of the father.”

“I will give it to live. The dog is large, Caucasian type, 13 years old. After the owner left for the NWO, she behaves aggressively, so she ended up in the aviary on a chain. Aggression of the animal is manifested towards the wife of the mobilized and two children. Most likely, the dog is experiencing the absence of the owner.

Such announcements are still published in the telegram channel “Help to Mobilized Animals”. They just don’t get much of a response.

We talked with the head of the social movement “Help for Mobilized Animals” Mikhail Solomatin and with one of the administrators of the telegram channel Natalya about the current situation.

“The emotional lift was enough for a couple of months”

– When we just started a project to find those who want to shelter mobilized animals, a huge number of them gathered. There was an emotional lift. People were ready to take everyone: dogs, cats, rats, hamsters, rabbits and even snails, – says one of the administrators of the channel Natalya. – There were many times more requests with the text “I will accept an animal from a mobilized one” than applications from those who went to the NWO. In two weeks, about 10 thousand people subscribed to our channel. Animals were attached within 30 minutes. I remember that the man volunteered for the NWO and left the cat in Chelyabinsk, in the basement of the house. So a woman from Moscow flew there and took it away.

Gradually, the theme of destitute animals faded away. Thousands of people have unsubscribed from the telegram channel. Although the animals have not gone away.

– There are pets that have not been sorted out since the fall. They live with friends, relatives of the mobilized, who no longer have the opportunity to support them. Applications are now being received from contractors and volunteers. We have a waiting list for publication. But there are far fewer people willing to take the animals. Apparently, these stories no longer touch anyone much.

According to the interlocutor, the emotional upsurge of the Russians, who rushed to save their pets, was enough for a couple of months.

– An obvious failure occurred on the New Year, then on May, – adds the head of the public association Mikhail. – A classic of the genre – everyone is resting, not up to the animals. We still have an urgent need for guardians, a lot of animals are not attached, applications are received daily. But people don’t have much of an emotional response to help.

– Are there many animals left on the street?

“When the mobilization began, most people did not know where to place the animals. In addition, the people had little time to search for information. I think a lot of animals ended up on the street,” Natalya continues. – For example, there is a case when a man took four kittens to a veterinary clinic. He left 5 thousand rubles and said: “That’s all I can, I’m leaving to serve.” We managed to quickly attach two kittens, and two more lived in the clinic for about five months. Then the clinic staff admitted that they could no longer support them and would be released into the street in the spring.

Once they rescued a dog from the Belgorod region, which the mobilized left at home in the hope that a neighbor would feed the pet. For about two months we were looking for someone to give the dog to. When they found a candidate and arrived at the place, the dog was left with skin and bones. Nobody fed him. I don’t know how miraculously the dog survived.

Not everyone was able to leave animals with relatives either. One man went to the NWO, left the Labrador for his wife. Not only was the woman in a difficult psychological state, but there were two more small children in her arms, plus a cat and a dog. We adopted a cat. The dog failed. It’s hard for a woman to walk her, she still hopes to put her pet in good hands. But no one takes.

“Some say they will return, others are not so optimistic”

“Many tried to go to the NWO with their dogs, but it didn’t work out,” Natalya continues. – As a rule, the servicemen left, and the animals remained where their owners were distributed. Volunteers said that many cats and dogs accumulated in such places.

– In requests, the mobilized sometimes write: I will give it forever. That is, people understand that they can not pick up their pets?

– It’s 50/50 here. Someone says: I’ll be back and I’ll definitely pick it up. Someone is pessimistic: I don’t know if I’ll be back, if I can pick it up, so I give it away with the prospect of forever.

The other day we received a call from a man who went to serve on a contract basis. He has four cats. He said: I would like to go back and pick them up, but I don’t know how it will turn out. He cares about the well being of the animals.

– Applications are coming in from volunteers. Are there many people who want to go to the NWO now?

“The number of requests from volunteers is incomparably less than it was during the partial mobilization,” says Mikhail. – If at the beginning of mobilization we received 10 thousand appeals in two weeks, now these are completely different numbers.

Are the mobilized interested in the fate of their animals?

They don’t write very often. But some communicate with guardians. They send them photos of pets.

– Do the owners help the new family of the pet financially?

We immediately ask if they are ready to help financially. 80 percent are ready, even if they are on a tight budget. As far as possible, some money is sent for food.

– If a person dies, is this reported to the guardians of his pet?

– After the transfer of animals, we do not contact those who transferred and accepted. People communicate directly with each other. So I don’t know about deaths. But we had a case when a guy returned from the SVO wounded. He asked for his dogs. Understand, we just help those who are in trouble.

‘CWO exacerbated the animal problem’

— You adopt cats from Mariupol. Haven’t they all been taken out yet?

“Our friends are still exporting animals from those regions. We help them,” Mikhail comments. – Shelters are bad now, there is no money. They live on voluntary donations, there are no other sources of income. When the mobilization began, we tried to negotiate with shelters to give them animals, but there is an impenetrable wall: there are no places and there are enough worries without you. The shelters turn to us to help them. The problem with homeless animals did not appear yesterday, but with the onset of SVO, it worsened.

– Have any of the mobilized already returned and took the pet?

– It’s hard to say, not much time has passed. I haven’t heard of anyone coming back and picking it up yet. It will be seen in the future,” Natalya suggests.

– Do you check the people to whom you give animals?

We are conducting a survey. We recommend that the giving and receiving parties register an agreement with passport data.

– At the moment, how many mobilized cats and dogs do you need to attach?

– At least forty. But there is still a waiting list.

– You received applications from people who left the country at the same time when the mobilization was carried out. How are their animals doing?

“We also helped these guys, in the ads they wrote “from those leaving,” Mikhail recalls. — Our audience was extremely negative about such cases, although we tried our best to prevent this. They asked to help the animal, not to condemn their owners. However, such pets were attached longer. I remember one ad hung for a long time, they could not attach a big dog in any way. As a result, the owners removed the ad, and took the dog with them. Now there are no such requests.