SPCA International partner Clean Futures Fund recently completed a successful visit to Chornobyl, Ukraine. Thank you to everyone who helped make this trip possible through a donation!
Clean Futures Fund supports both the people and animals living in and around the Chornobyl Nuclear Exclusion Zone, but they have been unable to visit because of the pandemic and the Russian invasion.
The area has hundreds of stray dogs that are the descendants of dogs left behind when the area was evacuated after the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear disaster. Clean Futures Fund provides food, veterinary care and sterilizations for these dogs, reducing suffering and humanely decreasing the stray dog population.
Though local citizens persevered in feeding and caring for the dogs to the best of their abilities, dogs living at the nuclear power plant began to starve during the Russian invasion. The workers at the power plant typically fed the dogs daily, but when they were captured and detained by Russian soldiers, no one cared for the dogs for a month.
When the Russians withdrew from the area, Clean Futures Fund mobilized to send dog food as quickly as possible to the starving animals. During their visit, they found the dogs’ conditions to be much improved thanks to the dedication of the power plant workers.
Thank you again to everyone who made this long-awaited and critically important visit possible. We’ll keep you updated on future developments from Clean Futures Fund and their work in and around Chornobyl, Ukraine.