Original subtitles

I couldn't even imagine myself filming something about animals.

Sure, I'd filmed them during my trips,

but making a documentary specifically dedicated to animals…

Not even in my wildest dreams.

I think everything changed after I saw these photos.

Photos of Ukrainians evacuating together with their pets told the world

about our country better than presentations or commercials.

There was something touching and humane about these photos.

Something we urgently needed at that time.

Back then, we couldn't even imagine

the real scope of this evacuation of animals.

VOLODYMYR VAKHITOV

We are talking about approximately 15 million people who evacuated.

Our data shows about two-thirds of households owned at least one pet.

I think we’re talking about literally millions of pets who changed their homes.

You know, I’ve worked on many conflicts.

WAYNE JORDASH INTERNATIONAL LAW SPECIALIST, UK

From Sierra Leone to Rwanda to Syria.

Pet evacuations have not really crossed my radar

until the I saw it in Ukraine for the first time.

And it was obviously part of people trying to save themselves and their families.

For me, it’s undoubtedly the biggest pet evacuation in history.

And I think that is really interesting

because it says something about Ukrainians something about who they are as people.

It also says something about their resistance,

in the sense that nobody is going to be left behind, including their pets.

The most emotional moment of this evacuation process for me…

OLEKSANDR PERTSOVSKYI UKRAINIAN RAILWAY

…goes down to one photo of a little girl with her dog at the Lviv railway station.

The entire world saw this photo, and these photos of children and families

with their pets impressed foreigners the most.

BENITO MARES FILM DIRECTOR AND PHILANTHROPIST, USA

Ukrainians are true animal lovers.

I noticed that at the border.

MEGAN ROMANO VOLUNTEER, USA

I saw a lady with a big German Shepherd she was carrying across the border

because the dog was old and couldn’t walk.

It really struck me that this country

seems to have a strong love for animals and a high value for life.

PETJA PETROVA VOLUNTEER, GERMANY

I was impressed by the number of people who took their animal companions across.

There were literally children just carrying their favourite animal.

That was a very different from the many refugee crises we experienced,

many of the other people fleeing conflicts.

And I was extremely happy to see that Ukrainians

care so deeply about their animal companions.

They flee 500-600 km from the front, going on days and days of travel.

And they got cats in little containers and dogs on leashes.

That’s a terrific effort!

And that was a nice surprise because I’ve been involved in Eastern Europe

and haven’t seen that in Bulgaria or Romania.

If Sugar couldn’t come, I wouldn’t have left.

There is no question there. She is family.

You’re making me emotional now, just thinking about her…

Yeah, she’s family, so I wouldn’t leave family.

That was quick, wasn’t it? To go into tears.

Hey, Sugar.

US, OUR PETS, AND THE WAR

After the first days of evacuation, it became clear

that many cats and dogs ended up locked in the apartments.

So, volunteers started rescuing them.

- Shush! Quiet! - Like this!

Hold it close!

This is how I met the ZooPatrol team, which, prior to the full-scale invasion,

had nothing to do with animals and produced video commercials instead.

When the war started, people were in a state of shock,

and there were people who…

they left earlier…

they were my customers.

They called and said, "OK, we need to fix this and that in the video."

And for me it was…

Well, I couldn't understand how one could think about work at this time.

DMYTRO REVNYUK FOUNDER OF ZOOPATROL

My world came crashing down, and suddenly, I realized,

"Damn, I have to do something good. We will all die."

And I thought, "I will keep rescuing these animals until the end."

KYIV THE DOG HAS BEEN LOCKED IN FOR 15 DAYS

When you are depressed and rescue an animal,

you take it in your arms, and it begins to purr gratefully,

because it had spent three weeks there,

you are overwhelmed with emotions, and all fear recedes.

I think it's the perfect therapy.

It becomes a drug. You begin to like rescuing.

And if you didn't save anyone during the day, that day was spent in vain.

Look at this handsome boy!

There are still landmines here. Be careful, see?

Come on, lift like I taught you.

Just take it the way I taught!

Perfect.

Everyone thought that we were marauders, and this is our cover story.

"Look what those thieves came up with."

It's because we had all those tools, saws and all that…

and it looked strange, because everyone was leaving, escaping,

and we were some crazy people trying to save a cat.

At first, we would take a chisel and a hammer,

whatever was at hand, and knock the door down.

And then we started to knock out holes, like barbarians,

so that a thief could not get inside,

but the cat would be able to come to it, and the neighbors could give him food.

Beautiful!

Many owners were shocked when we said,

"We will free the cat, but you will have

a meter-wide hole in the wall, and we are not liable for that."

Many people agreed. It encouraged me.

I saw what people were willing to do to save their animals.

We had to screw up about 50 doors

before we got to the point of evolution and realized

that it is easier to unscrew the lock holes,

insert the tube from the cooler, and voila!

We could fill a two-liter water bottle,

and if there was a mat inside, it would soak in.

We knew this, so we would pour, say, six liters of water

and leave a note, "We left six liters of water here.

Come on, drink now.

In our application form, there was a question,

"Is the toilet lid open?"

That's how we prioritized our tasks.

If the toilet was closed, we knew that we had to go there first,

because there is no access to water.

The animal can jump and drink water from the toilet.

BUCHA THE CAT HAS BEEN LOCKED IN FOR 42 DAYS

There he is.

- Damn it, he died. - Died?

- Died? Really? - No, he is breathing!

He's breathing! Take him! Give him water! Water!

At least pour some water next to him.

- Damn, he's barely breathing. - He cannot breathe. He is stiff.

It's rigor mortis. He is not alive.

Without food, they would even eat cardboard.

They ate cardboard pasta boxes. We would come and see this personally.

They were in terrible condition, but I repeat: no animal died.

The first cat died in Bucha.

The occupiers did not allow anyone there, so it was impossible to rescue anyone.

CHUBYNSKE

Due to war, not only cats and dogs, but also wild animals needed rescue.

Little ones.

Nataliya Popova had been doing this even before February 24.

You might have heard about her.

NATALIYA POPOVA WILD ANIMALS RESCUE CENTER

We would rescue pets from unscrupulous owners.

These wealthy people no longer know how to show off.

They are trying to get a lion cub, a tiger cub, a bear cub.

The animals grow into huge beasts, locked in small cages.

Sometimes they are fed, sometimes not.

We saved animals in such situations.

Until recently, I had 16 big cats.

Even a zoo normally doesn't have this many at once.

I started evacuating animals from conflict zones.

When they find a lion, a tiger, or someone else,

not every vet will agree to go there.

You cannot evacuate such animals without anesthesia,

because they cannot be loaded into the cage.

I started by traveling to conflict zones,

rescuing animals, and transporting them to Europe.

Most of the time we don't even know whose animals these are.

That is, we arrive, the military escorts us to someone's house.

There is a small enclosure, up to ten square meters,

and there sits a lion.

We grab him and run away from there.

I met Petja in summer 2022.

Someone told me about a foreign volunteer who rescues animals from the frontline.

We made a trip to the east together.

DONETSK OBLAST

We are very close to the frontline, to the so-called ground zero.

And I think…

I hope that if something happens,

it will minimize any damage or harm we might be exposed to.

I know that there are different causes and volunteers helping humans.

And I thought it’s also important to have people who help animals there.

So, I decided to quit my job and moved to Kyiv.

I just realized I wanted to dedicate my time to these rescue operations.

When I have evacuations in Donbas, I usually start at 5.30 or 6.00 am,

as I aim to be there at the safest time for me to leave the area with the animals.

When you approach the actual ground zero,

you see the whole horizon covered with smoke going into the sky.

IVANIVSKE

I am not really afraid when I do this job.

I think the satisfaction it gives me is way greater than the feeling of fear.

The fact I can help is just way bigger than the potential fear or danger I feel.

As a matter of fact, I don’t think I feel fear anymore.

This is still quiet.

Okay.

Are you Natalia? Is Maria your daughter? Yes?

We brought dog food from UAnimals.

I met some people in the village of Ivanivske,

where we dropped food for a family that takes care of 50 dogs.

Many of those dogs actually came to them after the war started

because they were left alone.

And she’d just accept any dog seeking shelter in her house.

Hungry dogs come by themselves. Some stay, but many don't.

They look for their owners, they move on.

We do not chase them away, but they leave.

They are afraid. They go further away from the shots.

As people experience trauma and are emotionally affected by this conflict,

so do the animals.

But also, similar to people, animals learn to live with it

and realize, in their way, what’s going on.

They realize they’re gonna be fine again.

They realize they’re not alone, that they’re with this lady.

Because she had nothing to feed them with,

she used to cook porridge in a very big device she showed us.

She just distributed the food around, throwing it in the yard,

and the doggies got so happy.

We dropped them some food, and then they offered to escort us through a safer way.

Oh my God, I am so happy.

And I am so grateful to those guys

who actually put themselves in danger to escort us to the dogs.

The military warned us not to use the main road and entrance to the city.

What those men did,

first of all, they risked their lives and went on a mission

that was none of their problems.

They escorted the evacuation car through the fields,

and then we entered Bakhmut.

BAKHMUT

The windows covered, and most of the shops were closed.

There were not so many people around, there were many destroyed buildings,

which shows yet again that residential buildings are targeted.

Oh my God. Fucking hell.

Why?

Like, really, why?

Driving through Bakhmut was sad, in a way.

At the same time, I am happy that this city is fighting

and has not given up for a long time.

Wait, wait.

Yes, it is a mechanism.

She is small. She is black, like this.

- Yes, it can be done. Of course. - Bring it.

- We fed her. - Yes?

- Like this. - This is a big cage for him.

- It's fine. Convenient. - Let's go, I'll take the shepherd.

- Come here, little one. - Come in, good girl.

Go hide. That's it.

The two dogs that we managed to evacuate,

especially one of them, were very disturbed.

He didn’t even drink water; he was that stressed.

Thank you! Thank you very much.

- Take care! - Thank you.

I don’t feel scared.

I just feel this rush of motivation and determination every time I come here.

So far, my guardian angel has been protecting me.

I hope he stays on track.

Recently, we evacuated a bear from Bakhmut.

This is just horrifying.

- In such conditions… - Yeah.

In fact, the shelling was aimed right at us.

But the only mine aimed at us did not explode.

Everything that flew exploded.

I was not afraid, because when I saw the shaking bear,

who was in a terrible condition, to say the least,

because who knows how long he lived without water and food…

My hands started shaking. I was afraid to anaesthetise him.

Can you imagine coming all this way, with so many people,

just to kill him with anesthesia?

Imagine my state of mind.

"WHITE ROCK" BEAR SHELTER

Hello.

First of all, my fear was overcome by… how do I put it correctly…

by sympathy for these animals I saw.

At such moments, the fear of a missile strike somehow recedes.

- Who is speaking? - This is a donkey.

- Is he saying something? - Just asks for attention.

Everyone in this war should do something to help.

What I can do is help animals.

As long as don't lose that feeling…

extending a helping hand and so on, we remain human.

HOSTOMEL

This story would be incomplete without animal shelters.

Part of them ended up under occupation after the invasion.

One of them was the Hostomel shelter.

ASYA SERPINSKA SHELTER FOUNDER

Two things made Hostomel famous: the Hostomel Airport

and Hostomel animal shelter.

The Hostomel Airport is 3.5 km from the shelter,

and the Russian troops were here on the second day of the invasion.

The Russian National Guard came here.

They started asking us who we are and what we are doing here.

"May we stay at your premises?"

We said, "you can live in the kennels. We have enough for everyone."

MAKSYM SKRYPNYK EMPLOYEE

Russians blocked all the area close to the shelter.

And we had no connection with anybody else.

The Russians were all around.

They had a mortar battery here.

Helicopters and jets were flying over the shelter, firing on the go.

Two armies fighting.

And we, with our dogs and cats, were between them.

I calculated how many shells and missiles were flying in the air.

Sometimes, it was 100-150 per hour.

The death was very close.

Our goal was to survive. Save the animals, save the shelter,

save the people, and survive.

From the first minute, we understood that we must continue the job

and care for the animals every day.

It was the general decision.

And the shelter's owner, Asia Serpinska, said,

"We continue our job every day."

The mines were falling, the ground was shaking.

There was a terrible roar.

Animals were going crazy.

They were trying to destroy the iron net and run away.

So we opened all the cages,

and some animals ran away.

I am really happy that we made such a decision

because, in this case, we could at least guarantee that the dogs would survive,

even if something happened to us.

But we had the absolutely opposite situation with another shelter,

the state shelter in Borodianka, where things happened differently.

These are the gates of the municipal shelter in Borodianka.

BORODIANKA

Before February 24, 425 dogs lived here.

A team of volunteers took care about them.

Well, hello.

Olena was one of them.

OLENA KOLESNYKOVA VOLUNTEER

We would walk the animals and help them socialize.

Some of these animals have literally spent years in their cages.

The shelter employees themselves would not socialize them.

They wouldn't walk them.

Nataliya Mazur was the director of the clinic that hosted the shelter.

She was in Kyiv at the beginning of the invasion.

NATALIYA MAZUR DIRECTOR OF THE KYIV MUNICIPAL VET CLINIC

You know, I don't understand how I personally coped with all this.

But I did.

On February 26, I made a post on social media,

which are the most powerful channel nowadays,

urging to evacuate the animals from Borodianka.

At least one by one.

We could not organize the evacuation quickly.

There were no instructions regarding evacuation of people in these towns.

Then, enemy tanks entered Borodianka,

and no-one could get to the shelter anymore.

They closed all kennels and cages and ran away.

All the staff.

WELCOME

We realized that we'd lost the shelter.

We realized the dogs were left by themselves.

They were simply left alone there, locked in their cages,

without food and water.

Half of the dogs could have survived if they had just opened the doors.

If we let the dogs out,

the animals could've started biting people.

So I think not letting them out was a right decision.

One person from Poland

wrote me and offered to send me satellite images.

On those images, one could see that the shelter was not damaged.

This made us happy,

because we thought they are still alive, as long as the building wasn't hit.

Still, we couldn't go there. I talked to the military every day.

They would say…

"You're welcome. It's a one way ticket."

NASTYA ONILOVА VOLUNTEER

It was clear that going there was sure death.

Even if I wanted to go there,

doing this and dying to no avail didn't make any sense, unfortunately.

I realized that the animals have less chances with every passing day.

I knew this. Still, it was not worth a human life.

We had to wait and…

this month was, in general, my personal hell.

Which cat of the ones you've rescued survived the longest time?

None have survived for more than a month…

Actually, no, it's not true.

Gloria the cat, commonly known as Shafa.

NASTYA LUNYOVA GLORIA'S OWNER

I've had Gloria for 13 years now. In 2010, my husband gave her to me.

I've just moved in with him.

We lived in the center of Borodianka and our apartment complex

was situated in the very center of Borodianka.

On February 27, we went to visit our parents.

It was an ordinary day. We just went to see our relatives.

The convoy of Russian equipment was moving through Borodianka.

They said it was about 64 kilometers long.

We could not come back home anymore.

On March 2, at 8 am, they dropped an aerial bomb on the building.

An acquaintance wrote me,

"My condolences, Anastasiya Viktorivna. Your house has been destroyed."

Gloria was at home, on the eight floor.

Until April 12, we still believed that, in theory, she could have survived,

but then, someone finally got into our apartment.

After April 12, we thought it's over. There was no hope anymore.

On April 1, 2022, Borodianka was deoccupied.

The volunteers came to the shelter for the first time in the month.

When they went there, they sent us a video.

The actual video begins with the barking of dogs.

Alive!

Sanya, you need to take food and feed them right away.

Sanya, let's take food and go.

We had three days for evacuation.

Our volunteers…

with their own hands…

Yeah.

With their own hands, they removed the corpses… of dogs.

The very dogs they took care of for many years.

Volunteers collected their bodies piece by piece.

Only Dakota and Shyldyk survived from this enclosure.

From this one, only Kai, Laska and Lisa.

No one else. No one over there.

Mir and Wendy.

Two puppies survived, one is being rehydrated.

From these, Eli died, and the rest are alive.

Olivia ran away. She runs around the shelter.

Of these, only this frightened one remained.

Zara… Zara is dead and so is Lucky.

Topaz survived, but he is almost not…

Here, only this frightened one remained…

They howled, I approached absolutely everyone,

and that dog was the only one who did not come close…

We had a fight before the war.

She lived with other dogs and I punished her

by putting her in a separate enclosure.

And after I approached her enclosure…

She used to be a social dog, now, she set in the corner.

I felt so guilty.

I castigated myself.

I promised that I'd never punish anyone in this way again.

It's wrong because we don't know what might happen.

I felt very sorry for her.

MAY 1 60 DAYS SINCE AFTER THE STRIKE

It was on May 1. We were filming in Borodianka with Australian journalists.

We approached the infamous house on the Central street.

Somewhere on the seventh floor, I noticed some movement.

It could have been a curtain or a cardboard box.

But I have experience with animals, so I realized it was a living creature.

I saw a tail. It was not so fluffy and cute anymore.

I said, "Steven, there is an animal upstairs!"

He was like, "Katya, it's already May 1. No one could have survived so long."

Indeed, we saw corpses of animals while filming in this building.

The idea of someone surviving was absolutely insane.

We received this application. We came there as well.

I think: "How is this possible?

The cat has been on seventh floor without water and food for 60 days."

We immediately turned to the State Emergency Service.

Local rescuers did not have a ladder long enough to save the animal.

So they called an entire team of first responders from Irpin

who came and rescued the animal.

It was a real rescue mission.

This makes me incredibly proud for our country and its people.

Oh lord, poor creature.

It's incredible.

Like the rest of the world,

I've seen this video of the rescue of this tiny little cat from the 6th or 7th floor.

That's an incredible effort!

And it spoke volumes about what's in the minds and hearts of Ukrainians.

After the rescue operation was over,

I went to the rescuers and thanked them for dedicating their time

and saving an animal among this destruction and horror.

They weren't even sure whether she will survive,

as her condition was critical.

They answered me,

"We are the rescue service. For us, every life matters."

At a moment like this, you just break into tears.

Standing amid all this horror, you see a beam of hope.

Come here, little one. Come here!

I wanted to write at the facade of my shelter:

"Save animals to stay human!"

A person who abandons an animal would also abandon a child

or another human being.

Maybe I sound radical, but I've seen countless examples of this.

Someone who is cruel to animals is also cruel to humans.

MAY 2 NEXT DAY AFTER GLORIA'S RESCUE

On May 2, acquaintances wrote us, "Look, this is Gloria."

There was just a photo of her in Yevhen's hands.

She always has this angry look

when someone touches or disturbs her.

Her trademark look.

I recognized her at once.

I showed the photo to my husband, and he agreed it's her.

She was in a terrible condition, but we would always recognize our cat.

Sixty-five days have passed.

This is a real miracle, in my opinion.

There was absolutely no food, not even items

or cardboard to chew on, nothing.

No water, nothing.

Only two floors to run on despite the fact that she is 13 years old.

It was just the beginning of a long recovery process.

She was in an oxygen chamber, on a lot of medication.

They gave her a 40% chance of survival.

That is, the doctors told me,

"It is unlikely, because she is so old."

Everyone said, "Shafa is holding up, and so are we."

She survived, and it was incredible.

It is somehow very helpful for our mental state.

It gives us hope.

Some days we might feel less hopeful, but such things definitely instill hope.

DNIPRO

Okay, wait a moment. There they are.

I think both of them had a rough few months.

I am really happy they're now with a friend of mine, Maryna.

She has a dog shelter in Dnipro.

We prepared two enclosures at home. We thought there would be eight of them.

Well, anyway. I will take you there later.

Now we will bring the second one.

MARYNA BOLOHOVETS "FRIEND" SHELTER

First of all, if Dnipro is lucky, they are already saved.

They'll be fed, looked after, vaccinated,

sterilized and then we will look for home.

Sadly, not locally but abroad.

Before the war is over, they won't be adopted locally.

3 MONTHS LATER

AMSTERDAM THE NETHERLANDS

JOANNA VAN DEN BERG ADOPTS DOGS IN THE NETHERLANDS

Did you recognize Bakhmut?

He has grown. He is not scared anymore.

He became a big man.

Did you recognize him?

- No. - No?

He is a lovely boy.

He follows the rules.

Well, animal rules, you know.

He obeys. Only Masha is a bit naughty.

And she takes him everywhere she wants to go.

That's a bit difficult.

Dogs are so much better with each other than humans are.

He learns.

He looks at my dogs, and they're not afraid,

so he's not afraid either when they go outside.

I don't think he's scared any more. I hope he isn't.

- Do you have photos? - Yeah, I have videos.

- Of him? When you found him? - Yeah.

- Can I see it? - Yeah.

And this is the place? Bakhmut?

That's Bakhmut?

God.

Oh my God, so… Oh, my Bakhmut.

It's terrible.

Unbelievable.

Oh my God.

Yeah, well…

Thank you for showing me this.

I am glad he's with me now.

I think his past was horrible.

And the future? I try to find for him…

The best future.

Yesterday, he fell in the river. He was wet, and it was cold.

So when we came home, I gave him food and a warm blanket.

I put it over him,

and for hours, he stayed in the blanket and slept.

It was so…

It was so nice to see he likes the warm blanket.

In the Netherlands, dogs are family.

Dogs are in your heart.

They are like children.

I don't have children.

Or they can be like a friend or girlfriend.

People foster children, and that's what I do with dogs.

They need as much love as a child.

And care and a loving family, as if they were kids.

Many people say kids are more important,

but every living creature deserves a loving home.

Well, come on in. Come here.

Lyova, come here.

BRETZEL LION FROM DONETSK OBLAST

He's arrived only recently, and he is still stressed.

It's something like post-traumatic stress disorder.

In general, he should not react like that.

He is actually on sedatives.

He takes what foreign doctors recommended me,

but he doesn't get better.

This lion came very recently from Kramatorsk in Donetsk oblast,

and that is why he reacts like this.

When we came for him, he was in a tiny cage,

about a quarter of this one.

And he was under bombardment in this confined space,

which, of course, left a mark on him.

This is not aggression. This is a form of fear.

I really hope that, when he gets into the big, spacious enclosure,

the situation somehow normalizes.

KYIV

Shellings of Ukrainian cities at the beginning of the invasion

had severe consequences for animals, not only domestic ones,

but also those living in spacious enclosures of the Kyiv Zoo.

MARYNA SHKVYRYA CHIEF ZOOLOGIST

All these noises of shelling and bombing were the main stress factors.

And the animals were really stressed.

KYRYLO TRANTIN DIRECTOR OF THE KYIV ZOO

After the shellings started, all the animals would hide.

The lions spent the first week in the basement.

We even trained the elephant to enter the building in two minutes.

Our pelicans trampled all the eggs,

and we lost the possibility of having new pelicans in spring.

One female lemur refused to feed the baby,

so our staff artificially fed him

and named him Bayraktar.

So now, we have a Bayraktar lemur.

Of course, we were worried about our large fauna - elephants and giraffes.

When they're stressed, they can destroy everything around and hurt themselves.

The elephant has been very stressed during the first week.

Our employee was by his side 24/7 the entire week.

His condition was not normal, so we gave him antidepressants.

They are different, but still the same, and they suffer the same way we do,

and they are just as happy to meet someone.

They are the same as us.

I think that for the first time,

it became visible how much animals are affected by war conflicts.

I think that the care of Ukrainians just showed everybody

that animals are individuals who also experience fear,

they experience happiness when they're saved and rescued.

They experience bonding and attachment towards humans and other animals.

And it was something very beautiful among all the horrible things happening.

A total of 222 dogs died in the shelter.

We managed to save 263.

MISHA ONE OF THE SURVIVORS FROM BORODIANKA

Having learned that many animals survived, our volunteers started messaging,

"If this or that dog is alive, I'm taking it home."

"No, I'm taking her!" "No, I will take her!"

I also had my favourite dog. Her name is Burulka.

Someone called me and said, "Lena, your Burulka is alive!"

She was in an awful condition, but she was alive.

No words can describe this.

So she lives with me now.

Burulka, Burulya!

This may sound sad or cynical,

but these dogs would've never found their homes

if it wasn't for the tragedy.

Unfortunately, this was the only way they were able to leave that shelter.

Did you put some hay?

The lions that I had are now in Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands,

Germany, the ones I know about, also in South Africa, and even in America.

I follow them on Facebook because I'm curious.

Many people send me photos, videos. "Look, here is your lion."

And I don't recognize them at all,

because I saved so many during the war, and I don't remember all of them.

They show me, "Here is your lion rescued from Ukraine."

I realize it's probably him, but I don't recognize him.

It turns out that our lions also become emigrants.

Well, in fact, it's good for them because the Ukrainian climate does not suit them.

This is an African animal.

That is, for the lions who left, everything worked out.

One can even say that they were lucky.

6 MONTHS LATER

ALICANTE SPAIN

From our experience here in Spain,

we saw that not only humans are refugees of the war, but animals are refugees, too.

BELLIE DAY DIRECTOR OF THE AAP SPAIN RESCUE CENTER

During this last year, we received 11 lions from Ukraine.

There are a lot of animals that need our help.

His name is Bretzel, and he is one of the four lions who arrived from Ukraine.

All we know about Bretzel's story is that he was kept, I would say, as a pet.

And he was abandoned.

We know that bombs fell near him, and that's why he had wounds.

In the beginning, he was pretty aggressive every time we came closer to him;

whenever someone came close to the box, he acted aggressively.

When we saw him the first time, he was full of injuries.

In his face, he had like really big injuries.

He probably tried to escape somehow and hit his face really hard.

In the beginning, he was responding really poorly towards every movement and sound.

He was so annoyed by everything.

Right now, I think that Bretzel is another lion, totally.

You can see how he behaves,

going around his enclosure, observing his neighbors,

and how he behaves with us.

We can see that he is starting to act like a normal lion

without all the stress that he arrived with.

Sometimes, it is difficult to understand that they are animals,

but their minds behave a bit ours when they have traumatic scenarios.

I think they deserve a second chance

to have a normal, calm and not stressful life.

In fact, this war helped many animals

to find a comfortable environment and live their normal, natural lives,

as much as it is possible in captivity.

For example, the lions that are now in South Africa live in enclosures,

four hectares each, on natural soil, in their natural climate.

You can't think of anything better as far as captivity is concerned.

Would you like to see your lions in South Africa?

Of course. I think I will see them. After the war ends, I will definitely go.

This is probably the first thing I will do when the war is over.

What is better for the animals? To evacuate or to stay in zoos?

Of course, evacuation is the right decision

if you have such a possibility, and sometimes, it happens.

For example, this year, one French zoo was evacuated because of a forest fire.

The Kyiv Zoo decided not to be evacuated

and it was a right decision in our situation.

Proper preparation requires at least two months.

There is a big chance that they won't make it.

The animals can die from stress.

Evacuating animals is very difficult. These are complex logistics.

Giraffe transportation is probably

one of the most difficult types of animal transportation in general.

Nobody moves adult giraffes at all. Clearly, because of their height.

An adult male can be up to six meters tall.

These are already four and a half, up to five meters.

It's all about logistics.

The height of a giraffe, the height of car wheels,

the height of the transport cage.

This cargo cannot pass under every wire or every bridge.

Even when these young giraffes were being transported,

it was already more than two years ago, they were preparing special logistics,

in order to drive through the city with tram and trolleybus wires.

Of course, if you decide to evacuate animals,

it can be a depressing factor for people,

because it's like admitting failure.

You cannot ensure the safety of the city.

Today, animals are safer here, on the zoo premises,

than if we took them somewhere and placed them in some other zoo.

For the first several weeks, people called constantly,

and they offered help.

Some people from Kyiv were even ready to take a crocodile into a bathroom,

but of course, we needed money.

We opened the system to sell tickets online.

And people from different countries, not only Ukraine, bought tickets.

People would buy tickets to the zoo that wasn't working.

Tickets were bought in England, America, Japan, and the Czech Republic.

Thanks to this help, the zoo is now alive,

and we have the opportunity to feed animals, pay taxes,

care, clean, and do everything else.

Vasya, good boy!

His name is Vasya. He is a corn snake.

His owners evacuated and left him with us.

Yes, he is tame. Of course, he is tame.

He's a pet. More like a child, actually. After all, he's just nine years old.

He used to live like a cat or a dog, watching TV on the owner's lap.

And now they put him in a box, and he sits here

because we don't have volunteers who would come and calm the pets down.

On the first day, in a small box at the zoo entrance,

we would find a python.

Or a parrot.

Or some kind of lizard.

I am showing you the animals given away by their owners.

This is a veiled chameleon. He is so angry. His name is Ihoryok.

Yes, handsome. Handsome man.

During this time, we've sheltered 150 animals,

but those weren't dogs or cats.

They've brought us 11 monkeys.

Eleven turtles…

Well, we've sheltered about 450 animals here in the zoo.

This is a huge fish.

Her owners also gave her away because they left.

This is a very expensive fish.

Given its size, it could cost seven, eight, even ten thousand.

We have a couple of ponies living here in the enclosure.

The little horses were brought to us by our soldiers

from the village of Posad-Pokrovske:

"We will definitely come after the war and take these animals.

Please, rescue them, help them for now." That's what we are doing.

There were a lot of dogs in my home.

I think five or six hundred.

This is…

I have, I believe, ten of these folders, and these are all adopted dogs.

These are all the dogs from Ukraine, all of them.

I put them in my home,

and I teach them to walk on the leash, like the car, and like people.

That is, I think, the main thing I live for.

As of today,

1161 dogs would like to be adopted.

I make an ad on special websites for dogs.

I take pictures of the dog; I make a story.

And people have to pay, of course.

Never give a dog away for nothing, for free.

And then people visit me

when they like to meet the dog.

And then we go for a walk, talk to each other

and some people are okay.

And if they're not, I say, "Sorry, you're not the right person for him."

And if they are, they can adopt him.

Personally, I adopted eight dogs from Ukraine.

But I'd take ten dogs from Ukraine if I had money and enough space. Or more.

Come here, my dear!

This is Lady. She is my favourite dog.

We've rescued her from Bucha.

Her eyes popped out because of explosions.

She was in great pain, so the vets had to remove her eyes.

They couldn't save her eyes. We've found her a family in the US.

Soon, she'll go to the American senator in Washington.

We have a lot of animals that need temporary homes

while we are looking for a new family for them.

And I had this idee fixe:

I wanted them to wait in decent conditions.

We've been working on this for seven months.

We invited the celebrities, the press,

and people who also cannot live without four-legged friends.

Hello!

And we also invited Gloria, Shafa, and her whole family.

The cat Shafa, whom we rescued,

became our springboard into the construction of this shelter.

I feel like Shafa built this shelter, basically.

She became so famous

that many donations came in just because of that story.

People saw it. It touched people. And they said, "I want to help that cat."

They had so many donations that they said, "Let's make a shelter."

Dima always wanted to make a shelter for this community, for Irpin.

And so he made it happen.

Actually, we've rescued her, and she continues rescuing

other homeless animals.

The war radically changed the life of every Ukrainian.

Including mine. It changed my life radically.

Before the war, I could not have thought that I'd be involved in rescuing animals.

I might say, this is the meaning of my entire life now.

I can confidently say that I will spend

the rest of my days rescuing homeless animals.

I realized that this is my mission.

Sometimes we think we rescue animals, but the animals are actually rescuing us.

PEOPLE

KATERYNIVKA DONETSK OBLAST

The dog has been following us since yesterday.

Followed us down the street.

And we couldn't leave him on the street. We took him in.

Gave him a warm welcome. He slept next to me all night.

We hope he will stay with us.

My wife loves animals very much.

She says, "Don't you hurt anyone! Not even a mouse - no one!

Take care of the dog, take care of the cat."

So he will live with us.

We also have two cats.

This is Turtle. She is a mother.

She gave birth to four kittens just three days ago.

There was an exclusive jar of chicken stew.

We fed her right away.

We kept it for ourselves, but then gave it to her.

I'm a tactile person, so I always have to touch something.

The cat is very helpful.

My wife says this is a stress reliever.

This is heart-warming because animals can always calm you down.

That is, even when you hear barking of dogs in the distance,

it is very reassuring that apart from these explosions,

this silence of the night, there is still something living, and life continues.

It feels as if you are at home,

somewhere cozy and warm.

You feel care, you feel responsibility.

You feel like a human being when there is someone to care for.

They came to us, so what can we do?

This is a living creature. An animal.

This is an animal, and we are people.

A symbiosis.

Viktor.

I'm listening.

- How is the situation? - Everything OK here.

Plus.

Fire.

CHERNIHIV

My son wanted to have a dog for a long time.

We chose a dog that would be practical to take on a travel.

It doesn't take up a lot of space. It is compact, so to speak.

Of course, we looked at small breeds.

With pedigree, with all the accompanying documents,

because we planned to take part in exhibitions.

We did not have time to achieve that, because the war started.

MYKHAYLO ILYEV LT.-COL., STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE

Since I'm constantly at work,

I didn't want to leave Patron at home, so I always took him to work with me.

We used to joke about him with the guys because he is an active dog

with a keen sense of smell.

Let's test it on different types of explosives.

While working with various explosives, we would make him smell them.

Sometimes, I would hide it somewhere and let him find it.

PATRON

After our army drew the aggressor out of Chernihiv oblast

we started actively working together with Patron.

We searched for the anti-tank mines and landmines.

He is an active participant of our team.

He even wears a fashionable vest.

This is a custom-made vest with a carrying handle.

When we see tripwire, I can just grab Patron

and take him to a safe place, so that he doesn't trip.

He is lightweight,

and I can take him into the car, where he won't occupy much space.

If it were a German shepherd or some other breed,

someone should've stayed at work

to give a car seat to the dog.

Patron weighs 4.5 kilos.

For landmines, the trigger weight is five kilos and above,

and for anti-tank mines - above 150 kilos.

Of course, if he steps on a mine, it won't detonate.

This is his superpower, almost like Superman.

Sappers are real heroes for the local population,

because they risk their lives away from the frontline.

We try to demine the territory as fast as possible,

so that people can return to normal life.

Let's get to work.

Roger that.

I have my mom's phone.

8 MONTHS LATER

And there, I have a photo of you with my dad.

ZAPORIZHZHYA

I used an app that added a crown on your head,

and my dad was wearing a funny hat.

- I still have that photo. - Show me.

Sure, if mom gives me her phone.

Excuse me for this question, but I have to ask what happened to Artem.

Artem got a shrapnel wound. The injury was critical.

ARTEM'S WIFE

He fought for his life for several days, but he died in the intensive care.

Fang, will you sleep with me tonight? All right.

The kids kept nagging: dad, bring us a dog.

We fell in love right after we saw it.

He would constantly make videos with the dog for us.

So we first became friends in virtual reality.

They've spent almost a year together,

which is more than we have seen him lately.

This is why we've decided to take the dog.

At first, I wasn't sure this is the same dog.

My husband always made photos with the dog's teeth out,

and on this photo, he looked so positive and smiling.

So I said, "He was supposed to be a serious military dog

and this one is such a cutie."

I called Kateryna, who is in charge of these animals,

and she confirmed it's him.

He is the only one with such a Hollywood smile.

However, some family already decided to adopt him.

I am grateful that they gave him to us.

Let me put his on.

Fang helps us a lot.

It was hard at first, because it's a new family member, but now?

He actually takes up a lot of time.

We have to care for him, walk him at 6 am,

feed him with something tasty and so on.

This kills a lot of time and distracts from sad thoughts

This is awesome. Indeed, the dog is a real savior.

- Fang, let's go! - This is a memory about my husband.

A recollection of the person he was, of his humanity.

We have his photos and videos where he addresses kids.

Children even quote some phrases from those videos.

For instance, he said on the video, "Will you sleep with me, Fang?"

When my daughter goes to bed, she also says, "Will you sleep with me?"

His presence always reminds us about our father and husband,

as if he is still with us.

He came home and brought the dog, just as he promised.

He's in bed.

Are you sleepy still?

You were still sleepy.

We are in the basement of our headquarters.

We were here during the airstrikes, when they hit our city.

Right in this basement, in this place,

we sat with Patron and created an Instagram account for him.

We took some pictures. Ge was sitting in the pose of a rabbit.

And people liked it. Then, we started taking photos and videos.

Patron!

Hello everyone!

Do you know who is here with you?

- Patron! - Patron.

A grenade can be hidden in an unexpected place.

It can be hidden between books, in a closet etc.

You should keep a safe distance, call our number 101,

after which the specialists will arrive.

To explain something very complicated to a child,

such as how to behave with explosives,

you have to find the words and the form for it to be appealing.

For that reason, we were thinking about nominating a human firstly,

and then we shifted towards.

TETYANA KAZANZHY UNICEF UKRAINE

"Who's the most famous here after the president?"

And we understood it was a dog.

MURAT SHAKHIN UNICEF UKRAINE (2021-2023)

It's important day because we have for the first time in the history of UNICEF,

announcing good will ambassadog.

Globally, UNICEF has given this title to David Beckham,

Orlando Bloom, Katy Perry, Hugh Jackman, and Liam Neeson.

Now, among them, there is Patron the Dog from Ukraine.

We are very proud of it.

When he is demining, he is decreasing the risk of injury.

On the other hand, he's teaching children what actions to follow

when they are in the minefield or see suspicious objects.

We do remember wars in Somalia and Ethiopia,

but I don't remember any kind of animal even close to becoming so popular.

Or who has been used to articulate the voices of society.

I guess it's a real phenomenon of Ukrainians.

People give anthropomorphic traits to pretty much everything around them.

For example, when I teach my course, I usually ask,

"Do you have a robot vacuum cleaner?

A small one. How many of you gave a name to your robot vacuum cleaner?"

Most of them say they did give the name and thought it was unusual.

You also have a washer, a dryer, a regular vacuum cleaner, and a toaster.

Which of them has a name?

None.

This is probably because people treat this vacuum cleaner like a pet.

They look at it as something very human.

We all are influenced by someone.

This is the nature of humans,

and it's hard to withstand and not become a victim of manipulation.

But you have to trust someone, and there is no manipulation from the dog

because the dog is communicating through its actions.

His behavior says only 100 percent of what he's thinking about.

I would say phenomenon is more or less there.

People look at those animals also through the lens of them being humans.

They probably give this Patron the Dog some human traits.

This is a dog that helps soldiers. And the dog is a soldier itself.

We're creating a legend of this war right now.

We are all writing this legend, which will be told to millions of people…

TETYANA KREMIN ARTIST

…to the next generations, and so on.

Animals are like the usual heroes of the legends.

Someone had a dragon, and we have a super dog, Patron.

Good boy. Such a handsome boy.

We were working in Izyum, responding to calls from locals residents.

SERHIY LENYUK SAPPER, STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE

There was a scatterable mine,

which was covered by sand.

This is why I've skipped it.

The detector wasn't working properly because of a metal fence nearby.

So I've skipped it.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion,

16 sappers of the SES lost their limbs due to mine detonations.

The Patron Foundation, which launched in the beginning of 2023,

helps them with prosthetics and rehabilitation.

I still had half a foot,

but the doctors advised to remove it

and prepare for a full-fledged prosthesis instead.

It will allow me to walk properly. Patron will help as well.

In body and in spirit.

Patron has shown the public who the sappers are.

Who are the sappers in the State Emergency Service,

and how important their work is nowadays.

Boxes with trotyl, saltpeter…

Hello there. Isn't this the famous Patron?

- That's right. - Really? Oh, I'm so happy!

I am glad that we have trainers of such wonderful animals who save our lives.

Thank you.

Of course, when we are on duty, we act as a single entity.

He is my partner and assistant, who always helps me.

Sure, he is still a normal dog.

When we are off duty, he enters the normal dog mode.

He also needs some time off to relax and play,

to dash around on the grass,

fetch a stick, chew something, and so on.

Come on.

Still, still, still.

Wait, wait.

This is the second time in half a year when we simply went on a walk in the city

to breathe some fresh air,

look at people relaxing and eat something in peace.

Because we are always in an extremely busy mode,

and we almost have no time to go for a walk and live a calm,

normal life as before.

- Patron? - Yes.

Is it Patron?

- Really? - Yes!

For real?

My dream is that all of this would be over soon,

and we could just return to normal, calm life.

As of 2023, Patron the dog has found around 500 explosive items.

His namesake foundation helped 90 injured sappers with recovery.

One of them was Serhiy Lenyuk, who resumed his service after prosthetics.

Petja Petrova continues to evacuate animals from the frontline.

She plans to open a rehabilitation center for cats with PTSD in Kyiv soon.

Nataliya Mazur was fired.

The dog Burulka, rescued from Borodianka, died six months after the filming.

Asya Serpinska retired at the age of 79.

Her granddaughter Maria runs the shelter in Hostomel now.

Joanna continues helping Ukrainian dogs find families in the Netherlands.

She's found a new home for Bakhmut, who now lives in Rotterdam.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion,

Nataliya Popova rescued 50 lions.

She is still in Ukraine, ready to start a new evacuation at any moment.

Nastya, Ruslan, and Gloria live in their relatives' house in Borodianka.

The remains of their house, where Gloria spent 65 days without food or water,

were demolished in summer 2022.

Artem Demeniy was posthumously decorated with 3rd degree medal of courage.

This film is dedicated to his memory.