The horror of the war in Ukraine also strikes animals: the lucky ones have been locked up in carriers or wrapped in makeshift blankets and taken away from their fleeing masters.
But for many others, fate will be cruel: many are abandoned, without water or food.
And many are those who, after spending their lives in cages, will now be shot down because their zoos have been bombed.
In the Kharkiv eco-park, destroyed by Russian attacks, tigers, lions and bears will be killed, because there is no way to transport them,
had to announce Ecopark founder Alexander Feldman in a video message, quoted by Ukrainska Pravda.
"The Ecopark is gone. Today a decision is being made, we have an hour until evening, or to kill everyone, put them to sleep, or think about transport. But there is nowhere to send them."
In the Chernihiv region, in northern Ukraine, on the other hand, there have been real massacres of dogs and cows
.
Meanwhile - as reported on Telegram by Tetiana Didenko, director of the veterinary center in Chernihiv - since the beginning of the war, 26 animals have died from heart attacks caused by explosions and one died from a rocket splinter.
Didenko, reveals that he has looked after 250 animals, without electricity, heating and connection, and with minimal quantities of water and feed.
During the Russian occupation in the territories around Kiev, the children's zoo in Yasnohorodka, on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital, was also bombed.
In the biopark, while some animals died of starvation and others were attacked by stray dogs, some, as reported by the Daily Star, appear to have been used as "target practice" by Russian troops.
Some ostriches appear to have even been beheaded for fun.
Akim Akimenko, owner of the Yasnohorodka Eco Park, told local broadcaster MyKiev: "Our zoo is almost entirely destroyed. We have great difficulty in feeding and keeping the animals. We are trying to evacuate them and are asking for help to organize an evacuation corridor." .
Meanwhile, as Ukrinform reports, a rescue mission has been organized in an ecopark just outside Kiev.
Volunteers managed to evacuate llamas, several alpacas, rare pink pelicans, camels, buffaloes, Scottish cows, donkeys and ponies.
Finally, the International Fund for Animal Welfare also reveals the other emergency: that of undernourished animals waiting for the trains to safety with their owners.
"When we arrived at the Przemysl train station - on the border between Poland and Ukraine - we found that the vets were completely exhausted," said the organization, adding: "Every day the team looks after 200 cats and dogs. arriving by train in Poland ".
Before the war, pet food company Kormotech estimated that 8 million domesticated dogs and cats lived in Ukraine.
