How in the Silicon Valley rescue dying dogs from Russia
'29.01.2019'
Inna Mikhaylets, Emma Bessonova
The dog, which was found half-dead in Volgograd, now lives in a house worth $ 3 million. And this is not the only example of how stray animals from Russia are “adopted” in California.
We, in Silicon Valley, have people who are not indifferent to the fate of homeless animals roaming the streets of Russia and the former CIS countries in search of food and shelter. One of these is Elena Gaffney. She, like many immigrants, read on the Internet and saw in the news stories from her homeland stories about animals that die of hunger and cold. But, unlike many others, she found the strength and ability not only to lament and scold the system, sitting under the palm trees by the ocean, but to act!
Last year, fate brought Elena to the Volgograd orphanage volunteers to rescue stray animals. This shelter was organized by such kind and caring people as she. On the account of the orphanage “Tail House” hundreds of rescued dogs and cats. Elena simply could not take her eyes off a puppy photo, literally recently rescued from death. She decided to negotiate the shipment of him and another dog to America, in the hope that she would be able to find a new owner.
On the offer to shelter Lola (so now the name of the dog), many respondents have responded. As a result, Lola, having flown to California, immediately moved to live in the house of a Google employee.
The puppy, who stayed with Lena, quickly got stronger and turned into a beautiful woman named Angel. Lena herself decided not to stop and continue to save the dogs.
“Over the past year, the situation with homeless animals has worsened even more in connection with the preparation of Russian cities for the World Cup,” she says. - Instead of finally thinking and taking care of the fate of the unfortunate cats and dogs, building shelters and implementing the SALT program (Catching, sterilization, vaccination, return) everywhere, the authorities did not come up with anything else how to issue tenders for the destruction of animals.
Dogs began to be shot at night and also scattered poison, from which suffered and continue to suffer not only homeless mongrels, but also pets. Volunteers, students, private shelters at home, and just compassionate people are exhausted to save, warm, cure, neuter and, if possible, find a home for the unfortunate cats and dogs, whose fault lies only in the fact that they were born and very they want to be a friend of a person, but there are too many of them, and those who want to adopt are too few ... ”.
Elena Gaffney, inspired by the hope that it was possible to attach our mongrels here in America, organized the flight of three more dogs in the spring of 2018 of the year. All three lucky women were saved from the inevitable and painful death by volunteers of the shelter of the city of Volgograd. One was hit by a car and she lay in a carton box in the cold for two days, waiting for her death, the other was left at a bus stop in a bag in a winter bus stop, the third, being a two-month crumb, wandered through the frozen streets, and she was almost hit by a car.
Mishka, Reilly and Eva flew to Los Angeles on an Aeroflot flight. Lena spent 12 hours driving to Los Angeles airport and bringing the dogs back to San Jose. With the help of a great team of volunteer dog announcements, the happy trio found loving owners in less than two weeks!
“This instilled even more hope,” says Lena. “I even created an Animal Rescue Group, which will be based in San Jose and bring animals from Russian shelters.
On your page in Facebook Elena shares projects and publishes “happy stories”.
“The next flight with the rescued dogs will land in California this summer,” says Elena. - Of course, I couldn't have done it alone. Flight Volunteers play an important role - volunteers who are ready to bring one or more dogs in their luggage, volunteers who bring dogs from Los Angeles and San Francisco airports to local overexposure, volunteers to overexpose dogs while searching for new owners.
Elena is not the only one who rescues dogs in her homeland and helps them find a new home in the USA. Around 200, stray dogs rescued from the territory of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exclusion zone in Ukraine will be sent to the USA, where they will be found new owners. The organization of the export of dogs will take the staff of the Clean Future Fund of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and the company NOVARKA, according to Facebook report of the State Agency of Ukraine on the management of the exclusion zone.
12 puppies were transported from the territory of the nuclear power plant and flew to the USA, where they found their permanent housing.
“All the necessary permits were obtained to carry out the work on the removal of puppies. All dogs underwent dosimetric control, they were washed and taken to Slavutich to a pre-organized shelter for puppies, which is located on the territory of the equestrian sports base, ”the Foundation said.
It is noted that at the base of the shelter there are specially trained instructors for the daily care of animals.
