The War’s Invisible Victims: Why Helping Pets Is Critical
In every conflict, some victims have no voice. In Ukraine, countless animals have been abandoned, injured, or left to fend for themselves. The full-scale invasion caused the number of animals in shelters to surge by 60–100%, overwhelming the fragile system of shelters and volunteers.
At a time when human needs are so urgent, the plight of animals can be overlooked. However, helping pets not only saves their lives but also supports communities traumatized by war. Pets are sources of comfort, hope, and healing for displaced families. Saving them is a vital part of the human experience.
What Shelters Need Most: How to Help Homeless Animals Today
If you are wondering how to help homeless animals, it starts with understanding the immense daily needs shelters face:
Food shortages
Especially critical during the winter months when animals require more calories to survive. The daily pet food needs to reach up to 7,740 kg for dogs and 4,868 kg for cats. Despite the efforts of organizations like Save Pets of Ukraine, many shelters cannot stockpile enough food due to financial constraints.
Veterinary crises
Shelters suffer from a shortage of vaccines, antibiotics, antiparasitic treatments, and surgical equipment. Even minor injuries can become life-threatening without immediate medical attention. Critical needs include regular sterilizations, vaccination programs, surgical interventions, and access to veterinary hospital supervision. Shelters often lack essential supplies like dressing materials, bed mats, syringes, infusion machines, and tests for leukemia.
Electricity and heating
Continuous blackouts force shelters to rely on expensive generators or firewood to keep animals warm. Without reliable power sources, shelters face disruptions in water supply, refrigeration, and heating systems. There is an urgent need for generators, fuel, flashlights, and insulation materials. In some cases, shelters are exploring alternative solutions like installing inverters for independent heating.
Space issues and accommodation
The number of animals has doubled or even tripled in some regions. To meet this demand, shelters require construction materials for the repair, insulation, and expansion of enclosures. They also need kennels, cages, and carriers for transportation. In some cases, there is a need for specialized facilities such as sterilization centers, enclosures for puppies younger than three months, and separate quarantine spaces for sick animals.
Personnel shortage
Many caretakers and volunteers left due to mobilization or displacement. Shelters now urgently need animal attendants to feed, clean, walk, and socialize the animals. Furthermore, dedicated volunteers are needed to assist with adoption processes, including organizing photoshoots and posting announcements. Veterinarians are critically required, particularly for sterilization centers.
Knowing how to help homeless animals means understanding that shelters are not just looking for occasional donations. They require structured, consistent support across multiple areas — food, medical supplies, infrastructure, skilled personnel, and power sources — to sustain their lifesaving operations.
By addressing these needs systematically, we can help shelters not only survive but create a better, more humane future for homeless animals devastated by the war.
Aliona’s Story: A True Example of an Animal Shelter Story
Aliona, a military servicewoman from Mykolaiv, balances her army duties with rescuing abandoned animals. She now cares for 16 cats and 9 dogs in a rented house, having taken in many pets left behind by fleeing families.
But Aliona’s compassion doesn’t stop at her home. She feeds and sterilizes around 30–40 stray cats in her area and often delivers food to military checkpoints where soldiers find starving animals.
One touching rescue involved a five-year-old dog left behind after her owner’s death. Aliona arranged her sterilization and now lovingly nurses her back to health, preparing her for adoption.
Each animal shelter story like Aliona’s reminds us that helping pets means fighting for lives in places where everything else has been lost.
The Silent Crisis: Why We Must Help Stray Dogs and Cats
Before the war, many stray animals already struggled, but the conflict has made their situation catastrophic. To help stray dogs and cats, we must address multiple layers of suffering:
Abandonment
Mass migration left thousands of pets behind.
Disease
Limited access to sterilization caused a sharp rise in infections and uncontrolled breeding.
Starvation
Destroyed supply lines mean no food reaches many animals.
In frontline regions, shelters reported cases where they went days without electricity, food deliveries, or veterinary access. Volunteers often improvise, feeding animals with leftovers or porridge when pet food runs out.
Today, supporting sterilization campaigns, donating specialized veterinary equipment, and helping with heating solutions are among the most effective ways to help stray dogs and cats survive harsh conditions.
Lora’s Battle for Survival: Another Animal Shelter Story
Lora, a rescued cat from Matviivka, suffered a terrible setback when her adoptive family had to return her due to war-related displacement. Shortly after, she stopped eating.
Diagnosed with Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) and granuloma, Lora needed urgent care. Thanks to donations, volunteer Kseniia could get her the daily medication and soft food she required.
Without immediate intervention, Lora’s fate would have been grim. But because compassionate people chose helping pets as their cause, Lora now has a real chance at a quality life.
Every animal shelter story is a powerful example of how your support transforms desperation into hope.
The Role of U-Hearts Foundation: Dedicated to Helping Pets
At U-Hearts Foundation, we are committed to helping homeless pets in Ukraine by:
- Supplying shelters with pet food, medicine, and heating equipment
- Funding sterilization and vaccination programs
- Assisting volunteers in frontline regions with emergency evacuations
Since the war’s start, efforts coordinated by Save Pets of Ukraine, supported by organizations like U-Hearts, have delivered over 976 tons of pet food, created 27 coordination centers, and evacuated hundreds of animals.
Yet, the need remains enormous. Every contribution helps another shelter stay warm, another dog heal from injuries, and another cat find a loving home.
How Shelters Overcome Challenges: Creative Strategies to Continue Helping Pets
The war has pushed animal shelters and volunteers into survival mode, requiring them to find innovative solutions to stay operational. Learning how to help homeless animals also means understanding the behind-the-scenes work shelters perform every day just to keep their doors open.
Shelters mainly rely on two approaches to manage ongoing difficulties: resource search and forced resource right-sizing.
Search for Resources and Donors
Facing overwhelming needs, shelters, and volunteers had to proactively seek assistance from multiple sources:
– Appeals to charitable foundations
Shelters send requests for aid to Ukrainian charitable organizations and search for international donors, including foreign shelters and charity funds.
– Social media campaigns
Volunteers actively post about urgent cases on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, raising awareness and attracting individual donations for specific animals or general shelter needs.
– Credit arrangements
Some shelters manage to secure essential goods — such as food or medicines — on credit, hoping to cover debts through future donations.
– Public awareness events
Community outreach activities help shelters educate the public, advocate for responsible pet ownership, and encourage local support.
Forced Resource Right-Sizing
When external aid isn’t enough, shelters are forced to make tough internal adjustments:
– Discontinuing the use of industrially produced goods
To save money, shelters stop using expensive items like manufactured fillers or professionally made kennels, opting for cheaper alternatives.
– Staff reduction
Financial struggles often force shelters to downsize their workforce, putting more pressure on the remaining volunteers.
– Self-reliant animal care
Without enough money for veterinary services, many shelters try to treat sick or injured animals themselves, often under very difficult conditions.
– Changing dietary structure
When pet food prices rise or supplies run out, shelters switch animal diets from commercial pet food to cheaper by-products, or vice versa, depending on which is more affordable.
Despite the monumental challenges, shelters continue helping pets every day through resilience, creativity, and the unwavering support of compassionate individuals and organizations.
Ongoing Struggles: Why We Must Continue to Help Homeless Pets
Despite incredible efforts, major challenges persist:
– Winter Emergencies
With Russia targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, shelters struggle to heat enclosures, keep water pumps running, and refrigerate food.
– Sterilization gaps
Without regular sterilization, the homeless animal population grows exponentially.
– Medical debt
Many shelters accumulate debts at veterinary clinics because of delayed payments.
– Adoption barriers
Mass migration has reduced the pool of potential adopters, especially for large dogs and chronically ill animals.
Thus, the need to help homeless pets is not temporary. It is an ongoing commitment to a vulnerable population deeply impacted by war.
Simple Steps to Help Stray Dogs and Cats
Even small actions have a massive impact:
- Donate monthly to shelters or foundations like U-Hearts
- Share adoption campaigns online
- Volunteer at a local shelter or offer remote help like social media promotion
Together, millions of small acts create a movement powerful enough to save lives.
How Each of Us Can Help Homeless Pets and Rebuild Hope
The devastation of war may seem overwhelming, but every life saved is a victory against despair. By knowing how to help homeless animals, by choosing to help stray dogs and cats, and by committing to help homeless pets, you become a part of something greater.
Every time you support an animal shelter or a volunteer like Aliona or Kseniia, you create a future filled with healing and kindness.
Choose compassion. Choose action.
Choose helping pets — and turn today’s crisis into tomorrow’s hope.
