In another extraordinary week, our Ukrainian veterinary team and volunteers – made possible by the generous support of the Marchig Animal Welfare Trust – spayed 289 dogs in Izmail – a city that has endured relentless pressure since the start of the war, both as a frontline logistics hub and as a place of refuge for people and animals fleeing towards the Romanian border.

Despite drone attacks, blackouts, damaged infrastructure and constant uncertainty, the team worked tirelessly from 22–27 November to deliver one of the most challenging sterilisation events we’ve ever supported.

By the end of the week, 289 female dogs of breeding age had been sterilised, preventing thousands of future puppies from being born into suffering.

A campaign delivered under fire

November brought intensified attacks on Izmail, with repeated strikes on energy infrastructure leaving much of the city without electricity or internet access. This made reaching low-income families particularly difficult, as social media – normally our primary way of advertising free spay appointments – was often unavailable.

To adapt, local volunteers went door to door with printed flyers, placed posters in shops across the city, and even introduced a small raffle (dog food prizes) to encourage word-of-mouth sign-ups. These creative solutions ensured strong attendance, even in an unstable and frightening environment.

Although the campaign was forced to finish one day early due to a scheduling conflict, no families were left behind. Nine low-income owners who missed their appointments had their dogs sterilised afterwards at a discounted local clinic, with the additional cost covered by private donations.

Who the team helped

During the November campaign, the veterinary team sterilised:

• 🐶 224 owned dogs from low-income households
• 🚛 21 dogs from the Reni customs post on the Romanian border
• 🪖 19 dogs living around a military unit
• 🗑️ 10 wild dogs from the landfill site
• 🏭 9 dogs from a local closed factory
• 🐕 6 village strays

➕ 10 post-event spays for families affected by the shortened schedule

Every one of these dogs was sterilised safely, humanely, and free of charge to their carers.

Watch the team in action 🎥

The video below is around 10 minutes long, and we’ve deliberately chosen not to shorten it.

Why? Because this film shows the real work behind the numbers.

You’ll see the incredible vets from Affordable Sterilization, their professional dog catcher (whose services they generously covered themselves), and the amazing volunteers of Izmail – all working side by side to reach dogs most people never see.

Many of the non-owned dogs were caught using handmade blow-pipe dart systems, which require volunteers to get within around 10 metres of a frightened, often feral animal — no easy task when working at landfills, border posts, or military zones. Our volunteers, all women, worked tirelessly alongside the vet team’s experienced catcher to safely sedate and transport every dog shown.

It’s not polished. It’s not easy viewing at times. But it’s honest — and it shows the sheer determination, teamwork and compassion that made this campaign possible.

☕ Grab a cuppa, take a moment, and watch what prevention looks like in real life 👇

A year of unprecedented impact

This November campaign brought Izmail’s 2025 total to an extraordinary milestone:

• March: 205 dogs sterilised

• June: 268 dogs sterilised

• September: 285 dogs sterilised

• November: 289 dogs sterilised

• Plus over 110 chain dogs sterilised through local vets

That’s 1,157 female dogs sterilised in Izmail this year alone, plus additional cats.

Local volunteers are already reporting far fewer abandoned puppies than in previous years – clear early evidence that focusing on owned female dogs works.

As local lead volunteer Lena shared publicly following this, our final campaign for 2025:

“This year, more than 1,150 dogs and around 260 cats have been sterilised in Izmail and the surrounding district. Never before has our city achieved anything like this. These dogs alone could have produced over 11,000 puppies in a single year.

There is no more important work in animal welfare than sterilisation. No shelter can house thousands of animals, no charity can feed them all, but we can stop them being born into misery. For many years, we only dreamed of this. Now it is reality.”

A Small Raffle, A Big Impact

To help spread the word during power cuts and communication blackouts, our volunteers introduced a simple raffle: every owner who brought a dog for sterilisation was entered into a draw to win dog food. What started as a practical outreach idea quickly became a moment of joy for families already under immense strain.

The reactions from the winners say it all:

🥉 3rd Prize – 10kg of dog food
Anastasia Yakovlyeva, whose dog Simka had recently been sterilised, shared:

“And yesterday there was an unexpected call…
Do you remember my Simka recently had surgery…
It turns out we automatically became participants in the draw.
On St. Nicholas Day, Simka received 10kg of food!
Thank you very much for your work, care and love for our four-legged friends.”

🥈 2nd Prize – 2 × 10kg of dog food
Irina Goloborodko’s reaction was simple and joyful:

“Oh my, how sweet is this! Thank you!!!”

🥇 1st Prize – 2 × 10kg dog food + 6 tins of Brit wet food (800g each)
Anelia Marchuk, who cares for five dogs and eleven cats, was overjoyed:

“Thank you very much! I am happy and very grateful to you for everything!
For high-quality sterilisation and a generous gift!
Health to you, dear volunteers! You are doing a good thing! 💐💐💐❤️❤️❤️”

Moments like these remind us that compassion doesn’t end with surgery. In a city living under constant uncertainty, small gestures – a bag of food, a kind word, a moment of celebration – can mean everything.

With heartfelt thanks to:

• Affordable Sterilization veterinary team for their skill, professionalism and generosity

• Their professional dog catcher, for going far beyond his role

• The volunteers of Izmail, who never stop – even under fire

• And our supporters, whose belief in prevention makes all of this possible

Sterilisation prevents the cycle of suffering before it begins – and in Izmail, that cycle is finally starting to break.

Thank you 💙💛

Made Possible by Marchig Animal Welfare Trust

This life-changing project was made possible with heartfelt thanks to the generous grant from the Marchig Animal Welfare Trust. Their support has enabled us to deliver real, lasting change for animals and real hope for a kinder future.

👉 Donate here to help the next sterilization campaign: