Pete the Vet: What about the pets of Ukrainian refugees?

Peter Wedderburn's friend Tetiana is a Ukrainian vet. She had to flee her home with her Dachshund, Basya, and her elderly mother.

Pete the Vet: Ukrainian vet, Tetiana. She had to flee her home with her Dachshund, Basya,and her mother.

The images and stories are shocking. Ukrainian men are not allowed to leave their country, obliged under martial law to stay and defend their homeland. Meanwhile, women, children and the elderly have been fleeing in their millions, seeking safety in other countries. They travel mostly on foot, taking only their most valued possessions. And for many, those possessions include their pet animals. Refugees don’t see their pets as possessions: they are family members who could no more be left behind than children.

From cats in the type of carrier cages that Irish people use to take their pets to the vet, to dogs being carried through busy crowds in their owners' arms, the inclusion of innocent animals in the Ukrainian war emphasises the fact that the victims in these situations are completely blameless. The wide open eyes, the trembling bodies, the obvious fear: these are so apparent in the refugees’ pets. They can have no understanding of why they have been taken from the comfort of their homes and normal routines. Their ordeal means that they now live life on the road, moving from place to place every day, with no security, no regular diet, none of life’s reassuring daily habits.