The attack from Russia has taken been life changing for Ukrainians, and for their pets. Thankfully, a Ukrainian Zoo is trying to at least give the animals a safe place to stay until their owners return.
Odessa Zoo, in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa has generously taken in over 700 pet animals, including pet rats, needing homes after their owners had to flee the Russian invasion.
Since the start of the Russian invasion, that has been responsible for thousands of deaths so far, and left many more injured and homeless, Odessa Zoo have kindly looked after hundreds of animals while their owners were unable to do so.
The zoo’s care has kept these pets alive when they would have otherwise very likely not survived.
Thousands of Ukranians lost their families, homes and livelihoods. Many of the Ukranians that were able to flee, weren’t able to take their pets with them. That’s where Odessa Zoo stepped in.
Despite not knowing if they could even handle such a high number of animals, they didn’t let that stop them! They became determined to care for these beloved pets.
Odessa Zoo has taken in a whole range of animals alongside pet rats, including, dogs, cats, snakes, rabbits, hamsters, birds, chickens, turtles, chameleons, and insects.
What makes this act even more incredible, is that all of the staff are going through the trauma of their country being attacked, including losing loved ones themselves.
Photographer, Gian Marco Benedetto, has documented the daily life in the Odessa Zoo as they try their best to care for the sudden surge in animals.
The daily challenges include creating room for new arrivals, feeding, petting, and medical care. They’ve also had to deal with additional challenges like the power blackouts caused by Russian strikes.
The animals at the zoo are scared and traumatised by the sound of the airstrikes attacking the city, so need to be comforted by the staff regularly.
Odessa has been an active warzone during Russia’s invasion. The city has been under constant threat, receiving regular missile strikes, and the ships bombard from the sea. All causing the city to be a very dangerous place to be.
This zoo is playing a huge role in helping to keep pet rats, and a huge range of animals as safe as possible in terrifying times.
Now that things are improving in the city, around 300 people, who are now in safe homes have felt able to retrieve their pets from the zoo. Unfortunately, due to owners deaths, and some owners not being able to return to the country yet, a lot of the animals are having to be placed with new families.
If you’d like to support Ukraine, visit https://www.ukrainenow.org for more information on what you can do to help.
