The Best Friends shelter, which suffered from air raids and numerous shelling after the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, has been rebuilt. The reconstruction took place thanks to the Suziria Group, which donated about UAH 2 million to give a new home to thousands of pets.
According to research by the Save Pets in Ukraine initiative, the number of homeless animals in Ukrainian shelters has increased by 60% since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. On the other hand, some shelters were either damaged or destroyed as a result of military operations. Thus, shelters all over the country experience a severe shortage of space for keeping pets, as well as fodder, medicine and professional staff. Suziria Group, which has been developing the pet market in Ukraine for 30 years, is deeply aware of the scale of the problem and, therefore, systematically invests in the direction of adoption and helps shelters.
At the beginning of this year, Suziria Group, together with UAnimals, launched the charity project, Tails Changes, and donated nearly 2 million hryvnias for the reconstruction of the Best Friends shelter. As a result of air raids and numerous shelling by Grad rockets, a large part of the main building and enclosures was destroyed, so instead of more than 1,300 animals, it could accommodate only about 800. Moreover, Best Friends got an additional burden because it saved more than two hundred cats and dogs evacuated from Bakhmut, Kramatorsk, Kharkiv and Donetsk regions.
The reconstruction of Best Friends lasted almost four months, and it is happy to announce that it has finally been completed. During this time, it built a veterinary complex on the territory, which required the largest investment. In addition to extra places for animals, it is equipped with an operating room, an infectious disease, a therapeutic and rehabilitation department, as well as a doctor's office, which will function on a permanent basis. It allows for providing almost full treatment for animals and reduces monthly costs by UAH 120,000. Also, the vet complex is a guarantee of systematic work with sterilization and vaccination, which positively affect the problem of increasing the number of homeless animals and significantly facilitate the process of their adoption into families.
The rebuilt shelter was decorated by the creative group, Kailas-V, which has created more than 70 murals in Ukraine and abroad since 2002, including Saint Javelina, Hrushevskyi, and Kruty in Kyiv.
The Tails Changes charity project, with the reconstruction of the Best Friends shelter, is part of the regular charity activities of the Suziria Group. "We believe that our investment in Best Friends is the beginning of larger-scale structural changes among all shelters in our country, on the one hand, and the popularization of the conscious "adoption" of four-legged friends, on the other. We will continue to do our best to give as many pets as possible a chance for a full-fledged life and are ready to cooperate with public organizations, other interested businesses, and the state," says Polina Kosharna, co-owner and head of the supervisory board of the Suziria Group
