Drowned zoo animals and rescued pets: Ukraine counts 'catastrophic' environmental cost [View all]

[LetMyPeopleVote]

I really admire the Ukrainian people. In the midst of a war, these people are rescuing pets and other animals. The way someone cares about animals and pets says a great deal about them as people.

Link to tweet

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-ukraine-war-kakhova-dam-blast-environment-cost-pets-zoo-animals-rcna88095

— A woman who braved checkpoints and dodged shelling to care for abandoned pets during Russia’s occupation of her hometown is now warning about the recent flooding’s devastating impact on the region’s animals.

Iryna Tutyun said it was “difficult to cope” with the number of animals in need of help after huge swaths of the southern city of Kherson and its surrounding area were inundated following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam Tuesday.

“I still have about 30 dogs and a dozen cats in my care. Every morning I go to them, feed them and see if everything is OK with them,” Tutyun, 43, said, adding that some of the animals had been injured.

On a wider scale, experts are also warning that the impact on the region’s wildlife could be “catastrophic,” as millions of fish have already washed up dead and other animals and plant life likely have been affected.

Tutyun said she had also heard of goats, chickens and other animals being plucked from the waters that spilled from the reservoir behind the dam, which was 150 miles long and around 14 miles wide.