Due to Russia’s full-scale invasion, the situation with homeless animals has become even more critical. Today, animals lose their owners and homes every day due to enemy shelling. Most of the four-legged ones are rescued and taken to shelters by volunteers, where they wait to be adopted into new families.
Contents:
- Hostomel Animal Shelter
- Cats on Mars
- “Good Hands” Animal Aid Center
- “Sirius” Animal Shelter
- Gaia Animal Shelter
- Temporary Animal Shelter “Exhibition Center”
- Best Friends
- “Revival”
- SOS
In this compilation, we have gathered verified animal shelters in Kyiv and the surrounding area. If you are looking for a pet, visit the shelters’ websites and choose your furry friend to bring home.
Hostomel Animal Shelter
Established in 2000 in a former cow barn, Hostomel Animal Shelter is home to over 700 animals. It also houses the largest veterinary hospital and clinic in Ukraine, where stray animals undergo sterilization.
Until 2021, the shelter was part of the Kyiv Society for the Protection of Animals but now operates as an independent organization, “Hostomel Animal Shelter.”
During the full-scale invasion, the shelter was at the epicenter of the fighting for five weeks. On February 24, enemy troops landed near Hostomel, and at times, shelter staff had to negotiate with Russians to save the animals from starving.
According to the staff, the shelter did not suffer direct hits from shelling, but some animals were injured by deadly shrapnel. Almost all of them experienced stress, especially the dogs. From the first days of the invasion, the shelter accepted abandoned animals, though. Unfortunately, they could not take them all.
Today, the shelter’s owner, Asya Serpinska, and her colleagues hope for one thing: that all their wards will find families and never experience such fear or hear explosions again.
Location: Kyiv Oblast, Hostomel, Svyato-Pokrovskaya Street, 213.
Cats on Mars
Right after the Kyiv region was liberated from Russian occupiers, Yevhen and Marina began rescuing animals from cities and villages destroyed by the war. In the spring of 2022, they evacuated and sheltered over 100 cats from the liberated towns of Bucha, Irpin, Borodyanka, and Horenka. They continue this work as the war continues, and many animals still need help.
Cats on Mars is a shelter they created in Kyiv. Yevhen and Marina call it a cozy planet where the cats undergo rehabilitation, receive attention and care, and gradually get used to people again.
To adopt a four-legged friend from Cats on Mars, visit the shelter’s social media pages or contact the owners directly.
Location: Kyiv (exact address to be confirmed with the owners).
“Good Hands” Animal Aid Center
The “Good Hands” public organization started its work in 2012. Over almost 10 years, they have found homes for over 1,000 dogs and 900 cats. More than 2,000 animals have been operated on and saved. Every day, the staff devotes their time, energy, and soul to each pet.
The activists hope that, through their years of work, they have saved countless animals and nurtured a sense of responsibility, care, and love for animals in people.
You can choose your furry friend directly on their website, where pictures of dogs and cats are published with complete information.
Location: This will be confirmed with the owners.
“Sirius” Animal Shelter
“Sirius” is currently the largest animal shelter in Ukraine. It was founded in 2000 and has been operating with donations ever since. Initially located in Yasnogorodka, Kyiv Oblast, it moved to the village of Fedorivka.
Since 2000, over 10,000 stray animals have found families thanks to “Sirius”.
Like the Hostomel shelter, Sirius was under Russian occupation. The shelter’s founder, Oleksandra Mezínova, risked her life daily to find food for the animals. Fortunately, Sirius survived, and the animals survived.
Today, the shelter houses over 3,000 sterilized dogs and cats. Sirius also assists low-income families in the capital and region with sterilizing stray and domestic animals.
If you’re looking for a companion, visit the shelter’s website and choose your furry friend.
Location: Kyiv Oblast, Vyshhorod District, Fedorivka Village, Myru Street, 2.
Gaia Animal Shelter
Gaia is a true family that helps animals. All the animals here were rescued from the streets or complex conditions. The dogs and cats are sterilized, vaccinated, and have veterinary passports. Cats are litter-trained, and dogs are accustomed to walking.
The organization’s website provides more information about the pets. Adoption requires meeting certain conditions, which can be found on the website.
The shelter has a trial period: if something doesn’t work out, you can return the animal or adopt another one.
“Our task is to give them a chance for a better life; to prove that a person is capable not only of cruelty but also of feelings such as love, care, and patience”, – say the shelter workers.
Location: Kyiv, +380676568433 (Viber/Telegram/WhatsApp).
Temporary Animal Shelter “Exhibition Center”
A temporary shelter for cats and dogs was established in late March last year at Pavilion 16 of the VDNH. It was created by volunteer organizations, the Kyiv City State Administration and the Kyiv City Veterinary Assistance Hospital.
The shelter houses several dozen animals that lost their families or went missing during the war. Its goal is to socialize the animals and help them find families.
Each animal has a profile, which helps potential adopters choose their pet. To adopt an animal, you must go through an interview process. Pets are given to new families only if the shelter staff approves the living conditions proposed by the potential adopter.
Location: Kyiv, Pavilion 16, VDNH.
Best Friends
Best Friends is a private shelter in Fasova that was founded in 2014. It is based on the public organization Zoo Center Ark. The shelter’s owner, Halyna Fedorivna, built the premises and animal enclosures at her own expense. Today, about a thousand animals live here, including cats, dogs, horses, goats, wolves, and foxes.
Since the first weeks of the full-scale invasion, Best Friends rescued over 200 cats and dogs evacuated from Bakhmut, Kramatorsk, Kharkiv, and Donetsk regions.
The shelter was not designed for many animals and needed financial and material support. The situation was dire even before the war. In the spring of 2022, Best Friends was hit by Russian shelling, which destroyed enclosures and killed some animals. However, many animals were rescued. After the deoccupation of Kyiv Oblast, some enclosures and other buildings were rebuilt with the help of donors.
Location: Kyiv Oblast, Fasova Village (exact address to be confirmed with the owners).
“Revival”
The “Revival” rehabilitation center and animal shelter was founded in 2010 by Viktoria Nyzhnyk. They care for animals suffering from human actions or other circumstances.
Revival also engages in educational work and helps create animal accounting services, medical cabinets, and control over the number of animals, among other things. It also provides veterinary assistance not only to shelter animals but also to those whose owners seek help.
The shelter currently houses almost 250 cats and dogs, including many elderly animals and puppies and kittens.
If you wish to adopt a pet from this shelter, contact the staff through their social media pages. They regularly post information about animals seeking families.
Location: Kyiv Oblast, Deremezna Village, Haharina Street, 14.
SOS
The SOS animal shelter in Pyrohiv has been around for 26 years and has a unique history.
Before 1997, the site housed a “death house” where thousands of homeless animals were destroyed. In December 1996, a German journalist Kristi Shehtel and Tamara Tarnavska managed to film a documentary about the brutal killing of homeless animals and broadcast it across Western Europe, shocking the public.
Under pressure from European politicians, the Kyiv City Administration shut down the “Animal Disposal Workshop” and leased the site to the SOS Animal Protection Society for 49 years.
In a short time, the society built the first actual animal shelter in Ukraine, including a veterinary clinic and stationary care for sick and injured animals, and began a systematic sterilization campaign.
Today, the shelter houses nearly 1,000 dogs and 300 cats.
If you wish to adopt a pet from SOS, contact the shelter through their social media pages or call +38 063 63 06 066 (Natalia Andriyivna, Director of the SOS Shelter).
Location: Kyiv, Pyrohivskyi Shlyakh Street, 186.
