APNEWS
By HANNA ARHIROVA

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Shell-shocked family pets started roaming around Ukraine’s capital with nowhere to go in the opening stages of Russia’s war.

Volunteers opened a shelter to take them in and try to find them new homes or at least some human companionship. Every day, Kyiv residents come to visit cats and dogs evacuated from cities on the frontlines or left without owners because of the nearly five-month war.

Hrystyna Sairova and her 12-year-old daughter Anna walk rescued dogs three to four times a week. Many of them arrived at the temporary shelter with lost paws or other serious injuries, Sairova said.

“They don’t deserve this, nor do humans. They are members of our families,” she said.

The shelter occupies a small building that was once an exhibition space to showcase the achievements of the Soviet Union. Wooden kennels and leashes fill a corridor, and a playroom is furnished with bowls and toys inside the safe haven for animals that would not exist if Russia had not invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

“We could not ignore the fact that due to active hostilities, animals began to appear on the city streets,” said shelter coordinator Natalia Mazur, who also manages the Kyiv City Hospital of Veterinary Medicine.

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