Horrors for Ukraine's Stray Dogs in 2012

What the European Football Championship in 2012
means for stray dogs in Ukraine?

As I was looking for content for this posting of my blog, I came across multiple videos exposing the recent mass poisoning of stray dogs in Ukraine, which inspired this post. There are videos being posted noting "As Kiev prepares to host the European Football Championship in 2012, animal rights groups claim attempts to beautify the country are coming at the expense of homeless animals." The videos are too gruesome to place on my blog and personally-- I watched part of one of a poisoned street dog-- I couln't watch more than a few seconds. The image disturbed me too much. I have two videos posted below of news reposts about the situation.


Ukraine is known as the one of the poorest countries in Eastern Europe. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Ukraine and its people have suffered in a world turned upside down. A friend of mine there told me "Under the Soviets, we did not have much, but we knew what we had. Since the collapse, we do not know how much money we will have from month to month." 

 I have personally visited Ukraine three times and have seen first hand the result of years under Soviet rule--much of Ukraine looks like it was frozen in time.



I could write about many impressions from my experiences there, but in this blog I share my thoughts about dogs and dog boarding. I am a true dog lover. It was difficult for me while I was in Ukraine to see all the stray dogs-- big and small-- wandering the streets and countryside. Every where I went, there were lonely stray dogs. On the subways, in the train stations, on the street, along the road in the middle of no where.



One day we were driving through a farming area --miles and miles of endless farming fields, covered in snow and not a house or person in sight. Suddenly, in the middle of nowhere, there were three small dogs running along the side of the road. The largest looked to be about 15 pounds or so. The second was a little smaller and the smallest perhaps about 10 pounds, trailed behind.


As an American involved in the dog world, it actually pained me to see the sight of three little dogs-- one smaller than the other, all alone in the middle of no where, running along the road-- to where? It was bitterly cold. 

 The landscape was covered with deep snow and I couldn't see a sign of human life anywhere. Where I live on the East Coast, our strays are quickly picked up by concerned neighbors and brought to a vet or shelter. We have rescue groups for just about every breed imaginable, working to find homeless dogs a new forever family. I myself am a foster mom for Yorkie 911 Rescue, Inc. and so far  I have fostered 7 pups while we searched for new families for them.


Back to Ukraine...in the village center of the small remote town where I lived during much of my last my visit to Ukraine, I observed strays of all sizes politely walking through the crowds at the open air shops.  These shops were actually nothing more than cramped and dirty outdoor stalls, separated from one another by tarps and sheltered overhead by another tarp which offered some protection from the snow and rain. Hoping for a scrap or morsel from the shoppers and vendors at these open air stalls, these stray dogs stood patiently, hopefully, quietly looking up at the people passing by.


There was one particular stall that caught my attention--in it was the chicken vendor. While there were different cuts of chicken meat available, their most popular item was chicken feet. I suppose people bought the feet for soup. Perhaps it was all they could afford. Occasionally a kind person would drop a chicken foot to a silently begging dog. This lucky little pup would run off with this little treasure to quickly gobble up this scant meal.

The guest house where I stayed during my stay at this remote village had their own resident stray dog. They called him Bobbick, a Shepherd mix who one day appeared on their property and never left. He was there everyday, no matter what the weather was, in his favorite spot on the slopped hill outside the fenced property of the house. They fed him scraps and kept an eye out for him.

 He was very happy during my stay there because I always tried to remember to bring some cookies or biscuits with me when I went outside for him. Bobbick was a sweet dog, he would have made a great family pet.


While I loved my experiences in Ukraine, and I loved the people I met, it still is a harsh society-- where orphaned children are institutionalized and brutalized. It is a country where the weak and defenseless are very vulnerable and often without protection. For a government lacking the resources to properly care for its elderly, its weak, its homeless and orphaned children, there can't be much (if any), provisions for stray, homeless animals.



However, everywhere I went, I saw signs of ordinary people taking care of stray animals. In the Kharkov apartment complex where I lived in for a couple of weeks, I saw people leaving scraps and leftovers outside for the stray cats and dogs of the neighborhood. Everyday there were new offerings left out on planks for the homeless animals.  And while I saw many animals living out on the street, I can't say that I saw any emaciated dogs with rib cages showing.


My hope and prayer for Ukraine, is that true reform will come for the people. That the people will find God's peace and healing from the oppression that they lived under for several generations. That the government and society will reform, and that the people of Ukraine find true freedom, that they will prosper and experience economic independence. Perhaps then, when the people have the care and services they need, and eventually there will be the resources for animals-- for spay/neuter programs, shelters and rescue groups to help homeless pets. May God heal and bless the people of Ukraine.