The nomination "Responsible for those...": Elena Voinova sterilizes the tailed ones alone and is looking for a new home for them.
Pet volunteer from Sevastopol Elena Voinova is known by many locals who have at least once encountered stray animals or those who wanted to get a pet cat. For more than eight years, the Lukomorye eco-park in Sevastopol has been hosting a so-called "crisis center" for cats who find themselves in difficult life situations. Journalists from IA SevastopolMedia told about how Elena helps the tailed and striped ones. Elena has always loved cats, and she started working closely on their treatment and housing about 10 years ago.
"Unfortunately, we don't have an organized team in the city. There are several groups, but each one is on its own. Meanwhile, there are more and more stray animals. And if the authorities pay attention to dogs: they are captured, sterilized, then cats remain out of sight. Of course, cats don't flock or attack. Alas, they only appear in creepy stories of murder," said Elena Voinova.
According to the volunteer, mistreatment of our younger brothers is far from uncommon. And it is cats, as more defenseless and small creatures, that often become victims of fiends.
"Now we have managed to organize something like a shelter, I call it a bunker, in one of the city parks. But in fact, we are here without any right, at any moment they can ask for an exit. But in any case, it's better than nothing," Elena is sure.
Elena Voinova currently has about 120 cats in her care. The unhealthiest, weakest purrs that require treatment and care live at her house. Last year, the founder of the NGO Center for Assistance to homeless animals "Koshkin Dom" from Sevastopol won a grant for free sterilization of cats.
"During the year, we sterilized 576 cats. You know how much we've managed to reduce the number of future suicide bombers, otherwise we can't name discarded kittens. Moreover, not only stray animals were sterilized, but also domestic ones - not all owners have money for the operation. I believe that even a few years of total free sterilization at the expense of the state could, if not completely solve the problem, then significantly improve the situation," Elena Voinova believes.
She says that people who want to take their pet to the doctor still cut off her phone. The volunteer has now applied for a presidential grant and is very hopeful of success. But Elena's crystal dream is to create a full-fledged shelter for cats left without an owner, a preferential sterilization center with a temporary overexposure center, and a platform for educational work. And so that people can choose a pet here.
"But I can't do it alone. We only survive with a tiny bit of help from kind people and my pension. Therefore, there is no way without the help of the city. There are suitable buildings, but it is necessary that the authorities give the go-ahead. And, of course, it is necessary to educate people's consciousness. Stray cats, alas, live very little on the street. But their numbers are not decreasing. And it is people who replenish it," says Elena Voinova.
Photos from SevastopolMedia and from the personal archive of Elena Voinova.