I am sure that everyone is closely following the war in Ukraine and the abhorrent devastation which continues to unjustly rob innocent civilians of their homes, lives and country. If you are like me and have delved into the chatrooms of Ukrainian pet owners then you are well aware of the dire situation facing both they and their beloved animal companions, if unaware then I shall spare you the unsettling details and simply say that these people are desperate for basic supplies to care for their animals (‘saved the last container of water for the baby and the dog’ remains vivid in my mind).
While there is little which Oregon Weimaraner Rescue may do to right this humanitarian wrong, we can offer financial support to those brave persons and organizations which are currently bringing aid to the thousands of dogs, cats, pets and animals which are also being impacted by this Russian offensive. The physical and financial logistics of acquiring and supplying animal aid to Ukraine during a war are immense, but there are good people and organizations across Europe and within Ukraine itself which are risking their lives to provide the support that is so needed by so many. As of a few days ago, Oregon Weimaraner Rescue began providing financial assistance to ad-hoc networks of good samaritans who were purchasing available supplies in their respective countries and driving them to Ukraine.
Today, March 3rd, the board of directors of Oregon Weimaraner Rescue would like to begin a campaign where our organization will match the next $3,000 in donations received via our PayPal, any and all of which will go towards benefitting Ukrainian animals.
We will do our best to continue to identify those persons and organizations both within and outside of Ukraine who can and will carry out the objective of animal welfare, but I want to be clear that there are unlikely to be happy photographic rewards of smiling Ukrainian people or their pets coming back to us to share with our supporters, we will collectively need to take our good faith gift of charity for what it is, a hope that humanity and decency still survives.
Sincerely,
Garrett Abbott
4/9/2022: We met and exceeded our initial $3000 goal!!!
$3100 received and $6700 given since the beginning of March
(we gifted funds to Ukraine prior to beginning/advertising this matching fundraiser)
Amazing job everyone. After exceeding our initial $3000 goal we are able to conclude our initial Ukrainian fundraiser at this time. Thank you to every single person who entrusted Oregon Weimaraner Rescue with their donation so that we could pool our collective resources and make significant donations to support the animal victims of this unjust Russian war. Our collective contribution to help alleviate some of the animal suffering in Ukraine has certainly made a difference for those whom we were able to give. Our final contribution, in the amount of $1000, was made to 'Have A Heart Equine Sanctuary' whose volunteers very recently stepped up to sort out a truly horrific situation at a shelter in Ukraine which had been abandoned for roughly 30 days while "housing" some 420 dogs and 80 cats...what this group shared in photo and video posts is awful.
The photos in the post linked below are not for the faint of heart:
https://www.facebook.com/haveaheartequine/posts/1081585945753099
4/6/2022
$2600 of $3000 goal reached. $5200 given to Ukraine animal welfare entities
Please excuse the tardiness of the update on our Ukraine animal fundraiser but frankly it is hard to read through the daily posts of unbelievable torture and torment occurring in Europe and then write anything other than an expletive laden rant...which it feels like I may have already begun so I will get to the point. Thank you to everyone who has donated to this special fundraiser, to date we have taken in $2600 in private donations and supplied $5200 to animal welfare persons/entities/networks/groups operating inside of Ukraine including, most recently, a woman named Yuliya who was collecting funds to build a kennel to house, at that time, the 39 dogs she was caring for which included her own Weimaraners and a litter of their puppies born during the Russian war. Below is a post from her dated March 24 2022:
"Exactly a month ago, at 4 am I woke up my family, with the words "wake up, the war has begun" I will never forget these words and my feelings ... at first there was shock, rejection, tears ... but you get used to everything ...
Thank you to all the people who support us with humanitarian aid and just kind words, prayers. We really appreciate it. I believe that in the future we will still have a peaceful spring and everything will be fine. But I will never forgive all those bastards from Russia and Belarus who supported the war and the killing of our people in peaceful cities.
My husband and I are staying in Ukraine. We continue to accept refugees and somehow help those who have lost everything they had.
What's next?
I believe in our victory. The truth is on our side. The savages will never defeat the 40 million Ukrainians who hate them with every cell of their body.
Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the Armed Forces!"
Thank you for all of the support,
~Garrett
3/8: $2100 of initial $3000 goal achieved
$4200 donated
3/4/2022
As of noon today we have received donations totaling $900 and have initiated bank transfers to Ukraine based entities totaling $1800. Below is an excerpt of a conversation had with one of the very grateful recipients who is herself in Kharkiv helping others in her community.
3/6/2022
Since our last update we have raised just shy of $900 in new donations which our rescue will match on Monday when bank transfers can once again commence. It is our intention to continue giving funds to people and entities within Ukraine itself so that they may direct their own community level support. If supplies within Ukraine dwindle to the point that local support no longer makes sense, we will begin giving to the numerous groups supporting Ukrainian animal rescue outside of the country. Donate to us or donate elsewhere it doesn't matter, the people of Ukraine need the support to save their animals and their country. We can't stop the war but we can help ease the suffering.
3/8/2022
Thank you to everyone who has donated! We have thus far raised $2100 in private donations and after matching that sum Oregon Weimaraner Rescue has given $4200 to people and organizations who are risking their lives to provide food, medicine and care to animals across Ukraine. The good news is that there are numerous entities providing aid to animals once they are out of country, the unfortunate part is that many of those in the most dire situation are stuck in country and cannot leave. All of our collective donations have aimed to assist those persons/groups/entities who are active inside of Ukraine. We are only $900 away from our initial goal of raising $3000 in private donations, please consider donating today so we can assist where able
*****Below is a translated excerpt from a group requesting support who we directed funds to*****
"Day 11 the struggle continues.
Darlings, to be honest, it's dramatic here. Scary. We just don't know what's next... 😢 😢 😢
They keep shooting, killing people, destroying buildings, robbing shops. Peacock everything closed, and if something works, there is hardly any food on the shelves. The humanitarian corridor in our city has been denied for now❌
We are looking for any ways to find food for our two shelters with 794 animals💔
We were blocked in this town (Oleski), without any possibility to leave, so no one can come in to help us... they don't let into the city, they fire up transports. SOMETIMES WE JUST NEED TO SURVIVE❗️
Oleski - it's a village, we have very few shops where we can find something in these times of war. The owners of a small pet store agreed to open a store briefly to give us pet food on loan and only because we urgently needed it. We buy food from a distance because we can't leave the shelter, friends who live in Oleszki helped us get this food at a time when they didn't shoot for a moment. So far, we've made a partial transfer to the store, as much as the money we had... To feed 794 animals we need a VERY BIG FOOD❗️So, we have to keep looking for opportunities and come up with something to find food."