DONETSK, April 19. /TASS/. Volunteers have transported more than 200 homeless cats from Mariupol, where battles between units of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Russian army against Ukrainian troops are raging on, the head of the organization "Koshkin Dom. Donetsk", Yevgenia Mikhailova, told TASS on Tuesday.
"There are many animals suffering and not a single shelter in Donetsk can keep them, and we can't leave them in Mariupol because there are not enough people, the temperature is rising, there is no water, and they will just die. Our aim is to take them from there and give them to families in Russia. That said, so far, 202 cats have been brought into Russia. They are former strays or abandoned pets," said Mikhailova.
According to the representative, people from all over Russia are responding, but at the moment volunteers can transport animals only in Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar and along the M-4 highway in the direction of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Recently, a British kitten with broken paws was brought to Moscow, where he underwent an expensive operation financed by donations.
The agency's interlocutor said that it is impossible now to estimate how many dogs and cats have weathered the battles in Mariupol. Volunteers search for animals in the left riverbank area of the city, where they have access.
"Animals are often very scared, they hide, and when you call them, they are afraid to come out. Only when a man touches it with his hand, a cat, remembers that it is a pet. It's the same situation with dogs," said Mikhailova.
She added that the animals taken to Russia, in most cases, need veterinary aid because they had been starving for a long time and could have caught various infections.