Well, what a fantastic and exciting year it has been so far in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv.
Animal welfare has been high on the political agenda in Kyiv since Mr Leonid Chernovetsky became the new mayor of Kyiv in March 2006. Swift and proactive progress was made to adopt a humane stray animal control programme for Kyiv. However, just a few months ago, new elections were mandated and Mr Chernovetsky faced seventy other candidates in the election race which took place on 25th May.
We are delighted Mt Chernovetsky achieved a stunning victory capturing around 40% of the vote. This means we can continue to move forward with a progressive administration that cares not only for the citizens of Kyiv, but also has the compassion to consider the humane care of abandoned and abused animals.
Ten years of fighting to stop animal cruelty:
For over ten years, we have been campaigning relentlessly to stop the barbaric cruelty to stray dogs and cats in Kyiv.
Tamara Tarnawska, our representative in Kyiv, presented a proposal to introduce a humane stray animal solution. We advocated a “neuter and release” programme whereby the animals would be collected and brought to a modern veterinary clinic where they would receive all the required vaccinations, be neutered and released back into the original location after spending ten days at the recovery kennels.
In this way the animals would continue to live out their lives as community pets overseen by teams of local volunteers, safe in the knowledge they would not add to the stray population and without fear of cruelty.
This is how we achieved major changes in Kyiv:
In 2007 Naturewatch UK was invited to become special advisors to Kyiv City Authority. Tamara Tarnawska is the Naturewatch representative in Kyiv and President of the Kyiv Society for the Protection of Animals.
Working with our colleague organisation from Austria, Tierhilfswerk, Austria, led by Christian Janatsch, an agreement was reached with Kyiv City Hall to establish clinics in all the districts of Kyiv with the first clinic opening in October 2007. The city administration requested specialist western European veterinarians to attend to assist with training and procedures. Naturewatch contacted the 'World Veterinary Service' (WVS) who immediately organised a fantastic team of three highly experienced veterinarians to attend in Kyiv for two weeks. WVS provided all services free of charge – a wonderful bonus gift which enabled us to provide additional funds towards the upkeep of the animals housed at the Kyiv SPA-SOS animal protection shelter.
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March, WVS sent additional vets and nurses to help with neutering, further training, and they arrived with wonderful donations of equipment and medicines. Naturewatch is delighted to work with WVS in Kyiv and we warmly thank everyone involved with the project for their time, skills, generosity and aid provided to help the strays.
The challenge ahead:
On the outskirts of Kyiv is a place called Borodyanka. This is the place where the city department for stray animals sends the collected dogs. For ten years we have been fighting to have this location closed down but today it still operates. Conditions are disgraceful for the animals and the directors of the City department are not responsive to any attempt to improve conditions. Before progress can continue in Kyiv, we maintain that Borodyanka must be closed down and all the management and staff dismissed. This will be a real battle because a committee of councillors must be created to hear witness statements and adjudicate on the proposed dismissals. It is envisaged that this may take until the end of 2008 to resolve. While this legal procedure is taking place we want to remove all the animals currently at Borodyanka and relocate them to a proper protection shelter closer to the city where we can offer rehoming services.
To explain all that is wrong about Borodyanka would take many pages, suffice to say that Christian and myself insisted that two dogs be immediately released into our care because of the overwhelmingly bad conditions they were being kept in. I've named my dog 'Milo' and he is a black cocker spaniel cross - he was very ill at first but now he is recovering well at the SOS shelter. Christian’s dog is called 'Tony' and he's a twelve year old Staffordshire terrier cross that was obviously once a family pet but somehow found himself on the city streets. Now two are safe from cruelty – but there are still another 250 dogs to worry about. That is our current challenge - closure of Borodyanka and the appointment of a competent director to oversee the entire “neuter and release” scheme.
Here are some photo’s:
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| Deputy Mayor of Kyiv Ms Irena Kilchytska. Under her leadership tremendous progress has been made for the strays of Kyiv. Ms Kilchytska is both dynamic and compassionate - determined to stop animal cruelty in Kyiv for the benefit of both the animals and the citizens.
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Ms Kilchytska and Ms Tarnawska, the two prime driving forces to introduce humane treatment for stray animals in the city of Kyiv. |
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The fantastic team of vets from Worldwide Veterinary Services attending in Kyiv in January to conduct training programmes.
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The dog rescued by Christian. He is called Tony and is safe and happy at the SPA-SOS shelter after being taken from Borodyanka.
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Dark and cold and so miserable, I could not believe anyone could leave a dog in this state in what is supposed to be an animal shelter. I berated two veterinarians for leaving the animal in this hell-hole but they simply replied it was 'not their job' to look after the animals! There's no answer to that - except to take him away. |
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And here he is. I have called him 'Milo'. This image was taken one hour after he arrived at the SPA-SOS shelter with a high fever and in a very sorry state. Two weeks later, his eyes are bright and alert and he is playing with other dogs. I I can’t wait to see him again in Kyiv. But there are another 250 dogs which must be rescued from Borodyanka – we have a busy few months ahead! |
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