A Week of Life-Changing Impact
Stopping the Cycle of Suffering Before it Begins
Thanks to the generous support of the Petplan Charitable Trust, we’re thrilled to share the incredible success of our most ambitious spay/neuter campaign to date: a 7-day sterilization June project in Izmail, Ukraine.
Over the course of just one week, our team and the outstanding veterinary professionals from Affordable Sterilization worked tirelessly to sterilize 268 dogs, including 267 females and one very large male Alabai, whose sterilization was a requirement for his adoption.
Reaching the Most in Need
Our goal for this campaign was to reach both the owned and stray female dog populations contributing most heavily to overpopulation in the region. Targeting unsterilized female dogs of breeding age, the team reached:
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🏡 215 domestic dogs from local low-income families
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🌾 20 stray dogs from surrounding villages and the city outskirts
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🐕 24 dogs living in and around a nearby military unit
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🚛 8 dogs found at truck parking lots
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🐶 1 male rescue dog as a pre-requisite to his pending adoption
When there were delays in animals arriving, often due to transport difficulties, our team didn’t pause. Instead, Marina from the vet team and volunteer Elena headed out themselves to remote areas and military bases to catch dogs, ensuring every sterilization slot was filled.
🎥 Watch the video highlights of this powerful week of compassion and action 
Tireless Work and Unmatched Dedication
This campaign was as intense as it was impactful. The dedication was extraordinary – the veterinary team and support staff worked 12-hour days in challenging conditions, not only performing sterilizations, yet also providing urgent veterinary care. Several dogs received tumor removals or began treatment for TVT (transmissible venereal tumors). One stray dog with advanced TVT was taken in by Marina for recovery and, hopefully, adoption.
Beyond the surgeries funded by our programme, the veterinary team also generously sterilized additional animals outside the core scope of our project, including dozens of military cats and male dogs, as a goodwill contribution, driven purely by their compassion and commitment to the cause.
Behind the scenes, a dedicated group of volunteers transported animals, washed cages, and carried dogs for hours each day. From admin support to hands-on care, their contributions were vital, and we are endlessly grateful.
Caesar’s Story
Among the 268 dogs helped during this week was one very special patient – a two-year-old Alabai named Caesar.
Alabais are powerful Central Asian shepherd dogs, bred to guard livestock and property. When Caesar lost his home, his size and strength quickly became a danger to him. He was friendly with people, but reactive to other animals – a combination that, in Ukraine, often leads to a tragic outcome.
Local volunteers learned that Caesar was at immediate risk of being destroyed simply because no one knew what else to do with him.
A local man stepped in and took him temporarily, but he could not keep him. Caesar needed a real chance – and for that, he needed to be neutered. Without neutering, rehoming a large, male dog like Caesar is extremely difficult.
Normally, our mass sterilization programmes focus on female dogs, because preventing unwanted litters is the most powerful way to stop suffering before it begins. But in Caesar’s case, neutering was a lifeline – the condition that would make adoption possible and keep him alive.
So K9 Rescue funded his surgery as well.
Lena, our lead volunteer in Izmail, wrote:
“Caesar went to be castrated today. The new owners asked to help him, because he can be aggressive. Males are not included in the free programme – but K9 agreed to pay for him. I don’t know what words of gratitude I can find anymore. Thanks to this, almost 600 dogs will soon be sterilised in our city.”
Today, thanks to his neuter, Caesar’s life is no longer in jeopardy.
He is a dog with a future.
And that is what this project is really about:
not just numbers – real lives redirected away from tragedy.
Preventing the Cycle of Suffering Before it Begins
So what’s the true impact of this campaign?
In Ukraine, with government sterilisation programmes largely suspended due to war, unwanted litters often end up abandoned or facing starvation. By supporting owned dogs directly, we tackle the problem at its source.
🐾 At least 3,200 puppies prevented from being born into suffering – in just the first year alone.
This figure is based on an average of six puppies per litter and two litters per year, for each sterilized female dog. Without access to sterilization, many of these puppies would have added to the growing stray population, facing starvation, disease, and an uncertain fate.
“Thanks again to our sponsors who made our dream come true – the dream shared by all the volunteers in our city. Previously, we could only dream of sterilising animals in such large numbers.
Thanks to K9 Rescue International, more than 565 dogs have now been sterilised in our city and surrounding district so far this year, including dogs spayed through these mass campaigns and additional dogs spayed via local veterinary clinics supported by K9. We truly hope for continued cooperation with the foundations and the Affordable Sterilization veterinary team. We want our city to be free of stray animals, and for this problem to be solved in the only humane and effective way: catch, sterilise, vaccinate, and return.”
– Lena, Lead Volunteer, Izmail
Made Possible by Petplan Charitable Trust
This life-changing project was made possible with heartfelt thanks to the generous grant from the Petplan Charitable Trust. Their support has enabled us to take real, proactive steps in addressing the root causes of stray overpopulation in war-affected areas of Ukraine.
On behalf of our team, our volunteers, and every single animal helped – thank you! 🙏
🙏 Support our next spay-a-thon:
Every £20 donated helps spay one more dog – preventing hundreds of future lives from being born into suffering.
