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The new cattery, built with funds raised by Naturewatch Foundation in World Animal Day auctions. The tenants are very happy with their cosy accommodation!
The SOS Shelter is able to keep the number of residents to about 60 cats at any one time by operating a very successful rehoming programme. |
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The Kyiv SPA-SOS shelter is a safe haven for the stray and abandoned dogs that roam the streets of Kyiv, with many of them being rescued following road traffic accidents.
Although many of them are re-homed, often to the families of diplomats, supply continues to outstrip demand! |
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Naturewatch Foundation funds the neutering of 90 animals per month for the Kyiv SPA-SOS.
The Society also teaches veterinary students from the local university about western spaying and neutering methods. Their curriculum mainly focuses upon farm animals with very little time spent on small animals.
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The shelter aims to re-home all of its inmates and pursues many avenues in order to achieve this including a regular, weekly feature in a Kyiv paper and even goes to the lengths of transporting dogs to western Europe when the opportunity arises. The sixty featured all found loving homes in Germany following a great deal of media interest. |
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For the first few years, one of the main tasks was promoting the adoption of animal protection legislation. In 2006 the hard work finally paid off when President Yushchenko signed the country’s first Animal Protection Bill into law - an historical achievement and one for which Naturewatch Foundation can take a large amount of credit.
Since then we've continued to lobby the authorities regarding the implementation of legislation and for improvements to animal welfare standards for Ukraine's animals - there is still much to be done. |
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The Kyiv SPA-SOS also works to improve conditions in the Zoo. Here are a couple of before-and-after pictures: the bear enclosure in 2000 (a tiny, dark, damp cell built in 1912!) and then two years later after a major injection of funding from outside benefactors. |
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The shelter has many visitors including celebrities and VIPs. Here you can see ex-President Leonid Kravchuk with Tamara and a few four-legged friends. |
The Late Princess Elizabeth de Cröy visited the Society and its shelter on numerous occasions, and always made herself available whenever her presence would benefit the animals. The Princess also did a great deal to help children's orphanages in Ukraine. |
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Anxiously awaiting a new home, this inmate at the 'SOS' shelter enthusiastically befriends Naturewatch's Caroline Barker. |
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One final image of some of the dogs being cared for by the Kyiv Society for the Protection of Animals 'SOS'. If you think you could be tempted to sponsor one or more of the dogs until new homes can be found, please click here to go to 'Sponsor A Dog'. |