on the roads or in shelters, when animals give hope

In their painful exodus, thousands of Ukrainians have left everything behind, but not their pets. These faithful friends are for many a last link with the life before. “I took my hamster”, says a little girl. Some, for lack of space or time, had no choice. The Odessa zoo (Ukraine), now closed, has become the refuge of dozens of birds left behind by their owners. “[Ils] entrusted them to us temporarily. I stayed to take care of them while they were gone. On each cage, we have indicated their name and telephone number”says Olga Pavlova, veterinarian at the Odessa zoo.

Through the destiny of animals is written that of their owners, and of a country. Some stories end well, like that of a cat from Kharkiv (Ukraine), who became a star on the Instagram social network. In Odessa, abandoned cats are taken in to an Orthodox monastery, where volunteers look for a new master for them. Hope, always. “Her eyes were sad. We loved her right away”, comments the new mistress of a light-eyed cat. According to an NGO, at least 900,000 pets have been left behind by their owners in Ukraine.