Since the outbreak of war in February 2022, over a million animals have been abandoned across Ukraine — many left starving, injured, and without shelter. K9 Rescue International has been there from the start, working on the frontlines to bring urgent help where it’s needed most.

Our Frontline Feeding Program began in the devastated regions of East Ukraine, where we evacuated animals from active war zones and delivered vital food and medical aid to both abandoned and owned animals left behind in destroyed villages. In many cases, families who stayed behind lost everything – their homes reduced to rubble, no electricity, no shops, and no transport. In some villages, the only thing left standing was the will to survive – for people and their animals.

Every month, we deliver food and supplies directly into the hands of those who have nothing. These aren’t just one-off deliveries – they are lifelines, repeated month after month to keep animals alive in places few others can reach.

In Pokrovsk, a city now heavily affected by ongoing hostilities, we’ve been supporting aid missions for both animals and their guardians. Working alongside local partners, we help provide food and veterinary support to ensure animals caught in the crossfire aren’t forgotten.

In Kramatorsk, our feeding program supports the many stray dogs and cats struggling to survive amid the devastation. This war-torn city has seen heavy fighting and relentless destruction, but thanks to your support, each meal we deliver is a symbol of hope and compassion, a small act of mercy in a landscape of hardship.

Beyond the frontline cities, we also supply feed to our shelter partners in the East and South of Ukraine, where the ongoing economic crisis has drastically reduced donations, making survival even harder. These shelters are often the last refuge for animals evacuated from war zones — and your support helps keep bowls full and tails wagging through the darkest days.

We couldn’t do any of this without the unwavering dedication of our incredible local rescuers – Olga, Lena, Evgeny and others — who navigate military checkpoints, bombed-out roads, and constant danger to bring aid to those who need it most. Their courage and your compassion are what make our Frontline Feeding Program possible.

Please consider supporting this lifesaving work. Every meal matters. Every life counts.

Our work is full of challenges, hampering the work of our rescue partners delivering our #frontlinefeedingprogram – it’s a dangerous mission, Evgeny and his team who transport our aid to the contested city of Pokrovsk are continually targeted by drones whilst delivering aid to the city and surrounding  villages.  They need to be constantly on high alert not to trigger trip wires or step on one of the many air dropped tiny toy-like ‘butterfly’ mines that are indiscriminately spread everywhere by the aggressors – killing and maiming people, children and animals – it will take years, if not decades, to get rid of them – the mines are a direct threat to both people and animals; particularly children and free roaming animals who are constantly subjected to death or losing a limb to a hidden mine, requiring us to evacuate many dogs and cats to tend to injured limbs due to mines.

The villages have been cut off for a long time and for the first time now they see animal rescue rolling in. The hugs, the smiles, the thank you’s, they are very real.  We were in Lyptsi today, which is 13 kilometres from the Russian border. This village was very recently liberated. They were under occupation for 200 days. The damage we see on the roads is massive. It’s not like I haven’t seen damage here in Ukraine before, but this, this is total annihilation. And this is all civilian territory. There is nothing to gain here for Russia but a body count. And they did. Missiles are sticking out of the ground everywhere. Burned out tanks and APCs litter the roads. There is a lot of heavy artillery sounds in the background, not too close luckily. Before we go in, a stern warning. DO NOT step in the grass (this zone has not been fully demined yet) DO NOT pick anything up and DO NOT open any gates or doors (potential boobytraps) There is zero room for errors here.

~ Angela Stoop, Veterinary Technician Volunteer, September 23, 2022

Yet more funds are desperately needed – by donating today, you will help us continue these critical services and literally be saving a life – just 50 cents pays for one meal for a dog or cat, so every cent really does count.

Please support our vital work today, thank you