‘Animal-loving’ Ukrainian sniper rescues abandoned pets from battlefield

An “animal-loving” Ukrainian sniper and her husband fighting on the frontline have rescued dozens of pets after discovering them abandoned on the battlefield.

Oksana Krasnova, 27, uses her wages to pay for food and supplies to nurse the animals back to health before arranging for them to be transported on military vehicles to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, to be rehomed.

Ms Krasnova had previously worked as a lawyer in the capital until Russia invaded the country six months ago and she joined the Ukrainian frontline defence, fighting in the Donetsk region.

In between working as snipers, Ms Krasnova and her husband Stanislav Krasnov, 35, have rescued almost 30 pets they have discovered when passing through abandoned villages.

Speaking to the PA news agency from the frontline, Ms Krasnova said: “I love animals a lot and I used to help rescue animals with my husband even before the Russian invasion.

“I come across a lot of abandoned pets when I am going about my duties and I can’t just leave them.

“It’s hard to evacuate animals from the frontline but these poor pets have been used to living with humans so they can’t survive on their own.

“I have my own pets who are being looked after by my parents in Kyiv and I could never dream of abandoning them.”

Ms Krasnova said her most memorable rescue to date was the first abandoned animal she saved on the frontline.

The couple had heard “some strange sounds” while walking through an abandoned house and found a small, black dog trapped in the building.

Ms Krasnova said the animal was “clearly traumatised” and had been surviving off raw potatoes when they discovered her.

“I think she had been there for about a month – it was awful,” she said.

“She was just lying on the floor and we placed a pillow under her head while she was barking and crying and foaming at the mouth.

“We had to push her into a box and transport her in our military vehicle.

“She was having seizures and we didn’t think she would survive.”

Ms Krasnova fed the dog every hour and cared for her around the clock until her health began to improve.

“We have a friend who has some volunteers out in Kyiv who work with traumatised animals and he took in the poor dog,” she said.

“Months on, she’s now okay and she lives with a foster family.”

Ms Krasnova said she mainly rescues dogs and cats but has occasionally helped smaller creatures like birds and rabbits, which she tends to release into the wild once healthy.

“At the moment where we are based we have a herd of pigs with us from one of the nearby villages,” Ms Krasnova said.

“Obviously we can’t rescue them as they won’t all fit in our military vehicles but we are making sure they are okay and have enough food.”

The rescued animals have become a huge part of the couple’s life and even when Mr Krasnov was wounded, he was joined by a small kitten while he was strapped to a stretcher receiving medical treatment.

“The animals we rescue are really very grateful and loyal,” Ms Krasnova said.

“Sometimes it’s really hard (to say goodbye to them) mainly because I spend so much time treating them.

“But I feel relieved because I know that they won’t starve and suffer again,” she added.

‘Animal-loving’ Ukrainian sniper rescues abandoned pets from battlefield (msn.com)

Regards Mark

Dog shelter worker cries over dead animal after Iranian regime ‘raids property and slaughters 1,700 canines taken in as strays’

• Authorities allegedly massacred up to 1,700 dogs at a shelter this weekend
• Heart-wrenching footage showed a volunteer crying as she held the dogs 
• Ebrahim Raisi’s regime is looking at a law which would ban pet ownership
• The bill initially proposed in December would also see fines dished out for the ‘import, purchase and sale, transportation and keeping’ of many common pets
• Bill authors see the practice of keeping pets as a ‘destructive social problem’

Iranian regime ‘raids property and slaughters 1,700 canines taken in as strays’  | Daily Mail Online

Dog shelter workers are protesting President Ebrahim Raisi’s regime in Iran after authorities allegedly stormed their compound and slaughtered up to 1,700 dogs.

Heart-wrenching footage shared on social media showed one volunteer in floods of tears as she clasped one of the dead hounds in her arms.

‘This was the most vulnerable and obedient one,’ she cried, before the camera panned to show several canine corpses strewn across the roadside and a nearby valley.

Masih Alinejad, an Iranian journalist who shared the footage, said of the slaughter: ‘The ruthless rulers of the Islamic Republic of Iran spare no-one. 

‘In addition to repressing women, ethnic and religious minorities, LGBTQs, they also annually kill countless stray dogs. Animal rights activists in Iran need your attention.’

The massacre comes with Iranian lawmakers set to pass a bill which would restrict pet ownership without possession of a special permit.

It would also see considerable fines dished out for the ‘import, purchase and sale, transportation and keeping’ of many common pets, which some parliamentarians believe is a symbol of decadence which could ‘replace’ healthy family relationships.

The bill, initially proposed in December, pits growing numbers of people with pets against those who consider the practice a symbol of decadence and hold that, under Islamic law, dogs and other animals are unclean.

Authors of the bill condemn the practice of humans living under one roof with domesticated animals as a ‘destructive social problem’.

Dogs are a common animal in Iran and have been kept in rural areas for centuries, but more urban dwellers began to develop an affinity for raising pets in the 20th century.

The middle eastern nation was once one of the most tolerant with respect to pets, passing animal welfare laws as early as 1948 and pushing for the development of animal rights. 

But the 1979 Islamic Revolution drastically altered daily life for millions of Iranians, and dogs are now held in contempt by ultraconservative lawmakers.

The bill proposed late last year aims to rid Iranian society of the practice of keeping pets.

Anti-pet lawmakers say the practice could ‘gradually change the Iranian and Islamic way of life’ by ‘replacing human and family relationships with feelings and emotional relationships towards animals’.

Their proposed law would prohibit ‘importing, raising, assisting in the breeding of, breeding, buying or selling, transporting, driving or walking, and keeping in the home wild, exotic, harmful and dangerous animals’.

It lists the animals to be banned as ‘crocodiles, turtles, snakes, lizards, cats, mice, rabbits, dogs and other unclean animals as well as monkeys’.

Offenders would risk a fine equivalent to 10 to 30 times the ‘minimum monthly working wage’ of about £80 and the ‘confiscation’ of the animal – though it is highly likely the animal would simply be killed.

However, there have already been reports in Iran of police officers making arrests on those walking their dogs or carrying pets in public.  

Tehran’s police chief General Hossein Rahimi announced on July 8 that entering the parks with dogs will be forbidden and police will consider and deal with it as illegal action.

Regards Mark

Dear all;

You can read all of our past posts relating to Yulin by clicking on the following link:

Search Results for “yulin” – World Animals Voice

11/6 – we are not really able to get any positive news about what is happening this year; but it does look likely that the Yulin festival WILL go ahead.

I am providing a few links here for you to read if you wish:

Dog Meat Trade – Humane Society International (hsi.org)

Controversial 10-day Yulin Dog Meat Festival set to kick off amid cancellation, rescue efforts (yahoo.com)

Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2022: When Is It, Why Is It Held and What Happens? (msn.com)

Rescuers save dogs from being sent to Yulin meat festival to be ‘made into soup’ – Daily Star

Regards Mark