Estonian Society for Protection of Animals has helped send EUR 170,000 in aid to Ukraine

TALLINN – The Estonian Society for the Protection of Animals (ELS) has helped to deliver aid worth altogether 170,000 euros to Ukraine to date.

Ukrainian animals have been helped both here in Estonia and in Ukraine through several local organizations, spokespeople for ELS said on Wednesday.

ELS has received donations to help animals in Ukraine from a major donor in the United States as well as from people in Estonia. It has provided assistance to several animal protection organizations in Ukraine: UAnimals, Happy Paws, UPAWS and Kharkiv "Together." In addition, ELS has been collecting donations for the Ukrainian Small Animals Veterinary Association (USAVA).

"USAVA is currently the only organization to which ELS has collected donations separately. Mostly, we have directed people to donate directly to Ukrainian organizations, as the aid will reach those who need it more quickly then. To a large extent, we have been helping Ukrainian animals with the support of a major donor from the US, who has no contact with Ukrainian organizations and who therefore asked us to act as an intermediary for their donation," ELS board member Geit Karurahu said.

In addition to cash donations, ELS recently dispatched a parcel to the organization Kharkiv "Together," containing items such as cage traps for catching cats and loops for catching dogs, protective gloves, surgical threads, as well as a number of other items necessary for spaying and neutering animals.

The biggest item donated for the animals of Ukraine to date is a car for the organization Happy Paws. ELS succeeded in finding a local intermediary who was able to place an order for the vehicle and have it delivered to Ukraine.

"It took a long time to order, but now the car has been driving around Ukraine and taking food donations to shelters for a whole month," Karurahu added.

Several thousand euros have been spent to help pets that have come to Estonia with refugees. In most cases, ELS has helped pay for pet vaccinations and pet passports, but also for the spaying and neutering of pets, as well as for treatments following accidents and unexpected cases of illness.

ELS said that the need for help, unfortunately, has not disappeared, because the war is not over. Several Ukrainian organizations are still asking ELS for help, and several aid projects are in the works. In addition, ELS continues collecting donations for USAVA for helping animals in need of help in Ukraine.