The China Mail - 'We couldn't leave them': Ukraine refugees flee with pets in tow

USD -
AED 3.673035
AFN 71.323752
ALL 89.53094
AMD 391.220403
ANG 1.790208
AOA 916.000367
ARS 1072.780296
AUD 1.655081
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.70397
BAM 1.766685
BBD 2.011533
BDT 121.061023
BGN 1.786617
BHD 0.376648
BIF 2961.474188
BMD 1
BND 1.332099
BOB 6.885493
BRL 5.844604
BSD 0.996193
BTN 84.992526
BWP 13.874477
BYN 3.260694
BYR 19600
BZD 2.001147
CAD 1.42285
CDF 2873.000362
CHF 0.861312
CLF 0.025108
CLP 963.503912
CNY 7.28155
CNH 7.295041
COP 4213.53
CRC 503.907996
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 99.605696
CZK 23.045604
DJF 177.720393
DKK 6.808204
DOP 62.907224
DZD 133.33904
EGP 50.555986
ERN 15
ETB 131.300523
EUR 0.91245
FJD 2.314904
FKP 0.762682
GBP 0.776096
GEL 2.750391
GGP 0.762682
GHS 15.444933
GIP 0.762682
GMD 71.503851
GNF 8622.916761
GTQ 7.690049
GYD 208.470909
HKD 7.77465
HNL 25.487566
HRK 6.871704
HTG 130.352909
HUF 370.410388
IDR 16745
ILS 3.74336
IMP 0.762682
INR 85.53285
IQD 1305.312033
IRR 42100.000352
ISK 132.170386
JEP 0.762682
JMD 157.104991
JOD 0.708904
JPY 146.97504
KES 129.250385
KGS 86.768804
KHR 3988.349252
KMF 450.503794
KPW 899.928114
KRW 1459.510383
KWD 0.30779
KYD 0.830341
KZT 505.20544
LAK 21581.388627
LBP 89275.06515
LKR 295.434118
LRD 199.25846
LSL 18.999968
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.818396
MAD 9.490092
MDL 17.606012
MGA 4619.406928
MKD 56.151733
MMK 2099.545327
MNT 3504.730669
MOP 7.976641
MRU 39.72565
MUR 44.670378
MVR 15.403739
MWK 1727.378227
MXN 20.436704
MYR 4.437039
MZN 63.910377
NAD 19.000827
NGN 1532.820377
NIO 36.665011
NOK 10.768404
NPR 135.979445
NZD 1.786991
OMR 0.384721
PAB 0.996508
PEN 3.661278
PGK 4.111636
PHP 57.385038
PKR 279.668989
PLN 3.890384
PYG 7986.705382
QAR 3.6322
RON 4.542038
RSD 106.939038
RUB 84.443694
RWF 1435.583432
SAR 3.752392
SBD 8.316332
SCR 14.340707
SDG 600.503676
SEK 9.992304
SGD 1.345704
SHP 0.785843
SLE 22.750371
SLL 20969.501083
SOS 569.320455
SRD 36.646504
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.718942
SYP 13001.416834
SZL 19.003238
THB 34.403649
TJS 10.84572
TMT 3.5
TND 3.051269
TOP 2.342104
TRY 37.993904
TTD 6.749683
TWD 33.177504
TZS 2690.000335
UAH 41.00191
UGX 3642.391584
UYU 42.149384
UZS 12873.912081
VES 70.161515
VND 25805
VUV 123.606268
WST 2.823884
XAF 592.401234
XAG 0.033794
XAU 0.000329
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.736757
XOF 592.438686
XPF 107.728231
YER 245.650363
ZAR 19.124415
ZMK 9001.203587
ZMW 27.620652
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    1.0200

    69.02

    +1.48%

  • RELX

    -3.2800

    48.16

    -6.81%

  • NGG

    -3.4600

    65.93

    -5.25%

  • RYCEF

    -1.5500

    8.25

    -18.79%

  • AZN

    -5.4600

    68.46

    -7.98%

  • BTI

    -2.0600

    39.86

    -5.17%

  • CMSC

    0.0300

    22.29

    +0.13%

  • GSK

    -2.4800

    36.53

    -6.79%

  • VOD

    -0.8700

    8.5

    -10.24%

  • RIO

    -3.7600

    54.67

    -6.88%

  • BP

    -2.9600

    28.38

    -10.43%

  • SCS

    -0.0600

    10.68

    -0.56%

  • JRI

    -0.8600

    11.96

    -7.19%

  • BCC

    0.8100

    95.44

    +0.85%

  • BCE

    0.0500

    22.71

    +0.22%

  • CMSD

    0.1600

    22.83

    +0.7%

'We couldn't leave them': Ukraine refugees flee with pets in tow
'We couldn't leave them': Ukraine refugees flee with pets in tow

'We couldn't leave them': Ukraine refugees flee with pets in tow

Lea and Keks are among the latest refugees arriving in Poland from war-torn Ukraine, both jumping at their master's feet and visibly relieved after crossing the border.

Text size:

The two Yorkshire terriers are a part of a large contingent of dogs, cats and parrots fleeing Ukraine following the Russian invasion.

"At home, they live on the pillow, they are small and their body and health are not really fit for this trip," said their owner, Anna Zatsepa.

"But they're like children and you just can't leave them behind," she told AFP as Keks sniffed around curiously, while Lea cautiously followed him.

"They were scared crazy for sure, because they don't understand what's happening and why it is happening to us," said Zatsepa, one of more than two million refugees who have left Ukraine.

At the Medyka border crossing, Zatsepa said she, Lea and Keks were planning to rest in Poland a bit before pondering their future.

Tatiana Tymchuk, who lives near Kyiv, arrived with her mother and little brother, as well as a turtle named Cherep and a Snowshoe tomcat called Simon.

"We couldn't leave them behind so we took them with us. We also have dogs, but they stayed at home with grandpa," she told AFP.

"We lived 10 kilometres (six miles) from Kyiv, they were free in a happy house there," Tymchuk said.

A grey cat carefully watching the world outside her blue and white cage, Mara came from Kyiv with Liana Getman and her two daughters.

"She was really scared and I guess now she understands all the disasters happening and she supports us as she can," Getman said.

"She was crying while we were evacuated from Kyiv, she was crying half of our trip, but then she understood that she's OK, she's with us and now she's calm."

- 'Tired and scared' -

Many women crossing the border from Ukraine to Poland at Medyka carry or lead animals besides their sometimes bulky suitcases, but there are also more efficient ways of taking cats and dogs into safety.

At an animal shelter on the outskirts of the nearby city of Przemysl, Joanna Puchalska-Tracz welcomed 38 dogs and 32 cats from Ukraine on Wednesday, taken from Kyiv by the German organisation White Paw in several cars.

"They are tired and scared and they don't want to eat yet, they must rest and look around and maybe get better here," she told AFP over the barking and miaowing of the canine and feline refugees.

Melanie Vogelei from White Paw is evacuating not only animals from Ukrainian shelters, but also the organisation's Ukrainian volunteers to the west.

"They used the chance to flee and they took all the animals," Vogelei told AFP at the sprawling shelter.

"We have a little sanctuary in Germany and we'll bring all our Ukrainian people and all their animals there," Vogelei said.

The Przemysl shelter will soon increase its capacity, said Puchalska-Tracz, adding that she had also established a 24/7 animal help point next to a large refugee centre in central Przemysl.

"Many owners travel with their dogs and cats and they don't have anything for them. They are leaving home so fast. So after work here I go to the centre to bring some food to those animals," she said.

S.Davis--ThChM