Ukraine Updates
November 14, 2022
Since just days after the war in Ukraine started in February 2022, PETA Germany and its partners have been risking it all to save animals in need. From flooding to missile strikes, Global Compassion Fund–backed teams have risked it all to help Ukraine’s animals. Meet some of the beautiful souls who now have a second chance at life because of your support.
To the farmer who kept Argentina and Kabia in their stalls for months on end, the pair had only one purpose—to breed more horses. Because their health was declining, he decided to send them to a slaughterhouse.
Transporting large animals during a war isn’t business as usual, so when an animal rescue group in Lviv caught wind that the farmer was looking for slaughterhouse transport, it turned to the public for help. PETA Germany’s rescue team quickly stepped forward.
Neglect had taken its toll on the horses. Both were skinny and showing signs of distress, such as endlessly weaving their heads back and forth. Kabia’s fetlock joints were swollen and uncomfortable, and the team knew they needed to get these weary souls to greener pastures as soon as possible.
Finding a safe place in Ukraine is a challenge, so the rescue team knew the horses would have to be transported out of the country. They had a partner shelter in Hungary that seemed just the ticket.
But after diving into the sea of multilingual paperwork required to get the horses across the border and making a five-hour drive through the Carpathians to pick them up, the team concluded that the journey to Hungary would be too risky.
Fortunately, a partner group in Poland came through with a perfect place for Argentina and Kabia.
The team hired a professional horse transporter to make the journey as stress-free for them as possible, but the war had other plans. The veterinarian who was to certify and fill out their paperwork to send them to Poland was stuck in an air raid shelter, and the transporter backed out of the deal, fearing the journey would be too dangerous.
But PETA Germany’s rescuers were not to be deterred. After they found another transporter who was willing to do the job, the horses were carefully loaded and the team set off for Poland. However, trouble arose at the border. The Ukrainian computers were down, and the Polish veterinarian who was expected to examine the horses said he couldn’t wait for the system to come back up. In response to the team’s pleas, the veterinarian promised to return the next morning. Luckily, the transporter had plenty of hay and water for the horses. Finally the morning came, and Argentina and Kabia headed off to their new home. They’re now living happily among other rescued horses on a beautiful farm in Poland. VICTORY!
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