According to statistics, as a result of a full-scale invasion, Ukraine entered the top ten countries with the largest number of stray animals. According to the World Animal Association of Ukraine, at least 140 thousand dogs and cats needed help in 2023. Unfortunately, this figure is constantly growing.
Worth knowing Close to help: Purina® and Zoo Patrol team up to save animals
At the same time, the number of requests from shelters and volunteers who care for animals is increasing. First of all there is an urgent need for food. It is important that it is of high quality and takes into account the needs of everyone: from kittens and puppies to adult animals that are undergoing treatment or are on a special diet. Today, in collaboration with charities such requests are covered by Purina®.
Food for kittens in the Kherson region / Photo by “Happy Paw”
Enlisting the support of European colleagues, Ukrainian companies and charitable organizations, from the first day of a full-scale invasion until the beginning of March 2024 Purina® has donated over 1 million pounds of food to shelters and animal volunteers. Representatives of the brand note that the process of providing humanitarian assistance is really difficult, but the result – happy and well-fed animals – is worth it.
How humanitarian aid is organized today, who coordinates each parcel, how many animals have already been fed and how to join the initiative, we tell in the material.
Find, deliver, feed
Since the early days of the full-scale invasion, Purina® has scaled up volunteerism to benefit animals. The initiative was immediately taken up by the company’s international colleagues.
Colleagues from Europe immediately began to contact the Ukrainian team of Purina® to find out if everything was safe, what kind of help was needed… Already in the first weeks they transferred 30 thousand euros to the account of the charity “Happy Paw” to save animals, and then they offered food. We immediately agreed, although we had no idea how this process would be structured, because none of the team had worked on humanitarian projects before,
– recalls Purina®.
Despite the lack of experience, the process was established quite quickly. Already in 2022 Several hundred tons of feed arrived from different European countries to Ukrainewhich have become a real lifesaver for many volunteers and shelters faced with a record number of hungry, abandoned and injured animals.
Animal shelters in the regions have their own warehouses where food is unloaded / Photo by Purina®, BO “Shchasliva Paw”
Today, looking back at the first months of the full-scale invasion, it seems that such mutual support arose naturally and was a logical response to the challenges of the time. However, behind every important achievement there was the titanic and consistent work of caring teams. AND synergy between Purina®, the charitable organization “Happy Paw” (also known as Happy Paw) and Nova Poshta clear proof of this.
Novaya Poshta, as a logistics partner, ensured uninterrupted transportation and delivered food to more than 226 thousand animalsfor whom such help is perhaps the only chance to survive.
How does this happen from the inside? BO “Shchaslyva Lapa” analyzes the needs among Ukrainian shelters and animal volunteers. And in order to avoid unscrupulous people, he does this with special care. Representatives of the fund check documents, study history or get acquainted with the pages of potential recipients on social networks. This verification allows you to make sure that the help actually goes to the animals and not into the hands of scammers.
Our task is to ensure that humanitarian food is distributed as efficiently as possible and that the animals that need it receive help. In each region we have a database of volunteers and shelters with whom we have been cooperating for several years. We check all new applications through personal conversations with our manager, verification of photos and videos of the animals under our care, reviews of other local volunteers,
– share Happy Paw managers, who are actually guides and intermediaries between Purina® and homeless animals.
It takes time to process and verify applications / Photo by BO “Shchaslyva Lapa”
According to real requests and needs, “Happy Paw” compiles a list of recipients of assistance.
Based on these data, representatives Purina® negotiates with European colleagues on the required volumes and timing of assistance. For everything to come together, partners must analyze their own stocks and confirm that they will join the current collection. Only after this does the transfer of parcels from abroad begin.
At this stage, you need to take into account many nuances. For example, refuel trucks. In addition, load each package of food, take into account the norms of the current legislation on the delivery of humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and unload the received parcels. Purina® assumes all of these responsibilities.
Next, the Humanitarian New Post joins the process, which has been cooperating with charitable foundations and volunteer organizations since 2014. For Purina® and Happy Paw pet missions the company provided its humanitarian hub. This made it possible to constantly receive trucks from Europe and increase the volume of assistance. Over the 5 months of cooperation, Humanitarian New Post, at its own expense, accepted, unloaded and delivered 38 trucks with about 654 tons of food for animals to shelters.
Warehouses of animal shelters in the regions are an important component of overall logistics / Photo by Purina®, BO “Shchasliva Lapa”
Next, it’s up to the “Shchaslyva Lapa” charitable foundation, which deals with coordination within Ukraine, acts of acceptance and transfer of assistance, reports, and the like. And when another post appears on social networks with a photo or video of well-fed animals, this means that another mission for which the entire process was launched has been completed, and in parallel, the delivery of feed to other regions continues. And so on day after day, as long as there is a need for it.
Everyone’s contribution to this project is truly significant, because without mutual support there would not have been such enormous assistance to shelters. It’s hard to say what’s more important: the food that Purina® arranges for us to ship from Europe, the warehouse where we store it all, or the people who unload it all and deliver it to shelters. We united in this project for a common goal – to help animals!
– concludes the feed manufacturer.
Help for those who are waiting for it
Despite the fact that Humanitarian New Post takes care of all the logistics, the final stage of organizing assistance remains the most difficult. After all, delivering what is needed to the front-line regions is difficult. And if there is no Happy Paw coordinating partner in a remote community, the transfer takes even longer. In some cases, 5–6 months may pass from receipt of a request to its implementation.
But even despite all this, the main challenge is the emotional component of the process. Thousands of abandoned pets in deserted communities, many of them injured or in need of treatment. Others, on the contrary, touch us with their playfulness and desire to survive against the backdrop of devastation. And food is the least we can do to help them.
Help for animals of the Kherson region / Photo Facebook “Happy Paw”
Representatives of the charity “Shaslyva Lapa” note that their activities are inextricably linked with touching stories. There are a lot of people like that remembered here. Some of them are not only about animals, but also about volunteers who, despite everything, save their lives.
And this is not in vain, because we live in a time when everyone should worry about their safety. Especially when it comes to front-line regions.
It is these volunteers that Happy Paw pays special attention to. The Foundation organizes visiting sterilization missions to Donetsk (Mirnograd, Konstantinovka, New York, Selidovo) and Zaporozhye regions (Gulyaypole, Preobrazhenka, Orekhov). Thanks to sterilization and humanitarian missions, homeless animals receive minimal veterinary examination, treatment, vaccinations and sterilization. Food delivery is also available. Thus, at the end of 2023, during one of these missions, 820 kilograms of feed were transferred to the Zaporozhye region.
Help in Gulyai-Polye, Preobrazhenka, Orekhov / Photo by BO “Happy Lapa”
In addition, volunteers often meet local residents who, despite the risks, do not plan to leave their homes. To provide at least a little support for their pets, each owner is provided with a multi-month supply of food.
The most painful thing is to see tears of gratitude in the eyes of grandparents who remain to live in front-line cities to take care of their own and abandoned animals. Their stories are amazing, because every day could be their last, their streets and houses are destroyed, and the shelling does not subside even for a day,
– philanthropists share with us.
Everyone can join in helping
Since its inception, the initiative has been able to provide well-fed moments to many animals who have unfairly become victims of our reality. In particular:
- in 2022, 174 tons of feed were distributed to 250 animal organizations and guardians. Thanks to this, it was possible to feed 35 thousand animals*;
- in 2023, more than 486 tons of food, which is more than 1,200,000 servings, went to 1,700 animal protection organizations and volunteers, who care for more than 100,000 homeless animals;
- in 2024, assistance increased to 561 tons of food for 1,300 organizations and volunteers caring for 110,000 animals.
The amount of feed provided for animal needs is increasing. However, it is difficult to cover the entire country without a network of animal volunteers. Therefore, those who are also concerned about the well-fed and happy life of animals are advised to participate in helping.
You can view the project rules link.
Nobody knows how long the war will last and how long Ukrainian animals will need support. Despite this uncertainty, charitable initiatives are doing everything possible to deliver help where it is needed. And while Purina®, Happy Paw and Nova Poshta cover the basic needs of shelters and animal volunteers, there is confidence that Ukrainian animals will meet tomorrow well-fed and healthy. And this awareness is the best motivation to continue your work and scale it.
news-bg-text cke-markup">*Help may arrive at a particular shelter several times during the year.
