A terrible fire in the private shelter "Businka", which is located in Barnaul, occurred on September 10, - told on the local TV channel "Katun 24". This is one of the largest animal shelters in the Altai capital. Volunteers from the shelter itself and the first fire and rescue squad of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia in the Altai Territory immediately arrived at the scene of the fire. When the fire brigade arrived at the scene, the two-storey building was burning with open fire, the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Altai Territory reports. 

"We immediately started evacuating the animals from the building. Two combat sites were created, and significant forces and funds were attracted. In total, more than 40 employees and 12 pieces of equipment of the first fire and rescue squad of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia in the Altai Territory were involved. In conditions of heavy smoke, seven units of the gas and smoke protection service worked," said Denis Kotov, senior assistant to the head of the duty shift of the fire extinguishing service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia in the Altai Territory.

According to journalists, the task was complicated by the fact that many animals were in cages. Some cats were simply released into the street through windows and doors, while others were carried on a run to cars and a neighboring building. The animal rescue operation lasted more than two hours.

The fire area at the time of liquidation was about 150 square meters, a significant part of the property was saved from the fire, the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations reports. Unfortunately, it was not without losses. Nine cats could not be saved, twenty more got scared and ran away. But the main result of the operational work of the Ministry of Emergency Situations fighters is saving the lives of 963 cats and 108 dogs.

Photo of the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the Altai Territory.

The most ordinary walk of Vitaly Nikolaev and his dog Irbis almost ended in a terrible tragedy. This story happened near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in early autumn," MIR 24 journalists told. 

"My husband was walking the dog near the house as usual. Suddenly, four bears came out of the forest belt. The husband and Irbis tried to retreat slowly, but they could not avoid the attack. The animals rushed at the husband and the dog, but at that moment the Irbis distracted the predators. He rushed to the side and took the bear away from my husband, giving him the opportunity to run to the neighbors," says the wife of the rescued Vitaly Tatyana Nikolaevna.

Thanks to the reaction and determination of the brave dog, the predators were forced to retreat. According to Tatiana, her husband immediately called her, and together they went in search of Irbis by car to protect themselves from a direct attack by bears. The dog was not found. But after a while, a miracle happened.

"When we arrived at the house, we saw that the bear was calmly walking nearby, and passers-by were filming him on video. Irbis could not escape from the predators. After an unequal fight with the bears, he miraculously survived. Bleeding, the dog was able to return home on his own. If it hadn't been Irbis, it's scary to imagine how it would have ended," the wife of the rescued Vitaly shared.

Locals say that something wrong is happening in Kamchatka this year, bears are walking freely everywhere, in the streets, feeling as if they are at home in the forest. They do not hibernate. Perhaps the lack of food and hunger are affecting.

Irbis is four years old, before the fight with an unequal opponent, he was an impressive and strong dog. Protecting his master, he suffered very badly, most of all to his head, neck, chest and ribs.  After the incident, the man had a nervous breakdown, journalists write, and the condition of the brave Irbis was assessed as severe: he lost a lot of blood.

"Now my husband is fine, he feels well, he is proud of the devoted Irbis," Tatyana Nikolaeva continues, "and we are engaged in the restoration and rehabilitation of the Irbusha.  The shunts and stitches have been removed, the ribs are fusing. Unfortunately, serious neurological problems remained, Irbis has a paralyzed right side of its muzzle. According to the doctors, the prognosis is favorable, but rehabilitation will take a very long time. We are doing everything possible to speed up the recovery.  He runs, eats, and is active.  He's a real good guy!"

Photos and videos from Tatyana Nikolaeva's personal archive.

Milana Petruk has loved turtles since childhood and has been caring for these reptiles at the Moscow Zoo as a volunteer for 10 years. Since Milana is also a specialist in web design, it was not difficult for her to create her own website about her favorite freshwater fish, which in a few years became a full-fledged platform for communication and coordination of the work of volunteers from all over Russia and beyond.

Currently, the Turtle Rescue Team is a group of turtle lovers and owners from different cities and countries, more than eight thousand users are registered on the site's forum. It would seem that the most ordinary users, but hundreds of saved turtle lives are behind their work.

There are 4 species of turtles in Russia: Nikolsky's red-book Mediterranean turtle and 3 species of aquatic turtles: marsh, red-book Far Eastern and Caspian. Most often, people encounter Nikolsky's turtle in nature in the Krasnodar Territory and the marsh turtle in central and southern Russia.

One of the activities of the Turtle Rescue Team is precisely the return of reptiles to their natural habitats. For several years, Milana Petruk and her team have returned more than 400 turtles to nature, Zooafisha writes about the work of the Turtle Assistance Team.

"Someone picks up a turtle because they do not know that they are found in this region, and thinks that they are saving it, while someone specially collects turtles and sells them for profit. In both cases, natural populations suffer. When kept in captivity, turtles are unlikely to bring offspring, but they will certainly "earn" a curved shell due to improper conditions of detention and lack of wintering, as well as many other diseases from beriberi to kidney failure," says Milana Petruk.

The Milan team is helped to release turtles by many volunteers from different cities of Russia, who collect and send turtles, overexpose them and take them to release.  It is not uncommon for volunteers to ask for help from law enforcement agencies to combat the illegal sale of turtles, including Red Book turtles, in pet stores, on pet markets and on the Internet. Under the careful supervision of Milana Petruk is also the adoption of sick reptiles in good hands.

"Those who want to take an exotic pet, in most cases, have no idea about the proper maintenance of turtles. Therefore, we select potential owners quite strictly, do not give the animals into the unknown, but first check whether our wards will be comfortable in a new place," Milana continues.

Thanks to the Turtle Assistance Team from the Moscow Zoo, where the turtles that were abandoned by their owners lived, 34 Central Asian turtles, 17 red-eared turtles, 4 swamp turtles and two Chinese trionychs found their new home. In total, during the work with the zoo, about two hundred freshwater animals were attached.

"If you meet a marsh turtle south of Moscow and west of Izhevsk and Ufa in nature, you do not need to pick it up and "save" it, it will live perfectly and overwinter itself. And it doesn't matter if it's an adult turtle or a cub. But if the turtle was found in the city or on the road, take it out of the city away from the roads and release it next to a large freshwater reservoir," Milana Petruk shares her experience.

Marsh turtles found in the cold regions of Russia are advised by the Turtle Rescue Team to be sent to more southern and warmer regions for release. This can be done with friends who are traveling south, or contact the Turtle Rescue Team and transfer the freshwater for collective shipment.

Photo from the personal archive of Milana Petruk

The tragedy at the thermal power plant in Bishkek occurred on February 2 at a coal mill. Due to a strong explosion, the iron roof with an area of 680 square meters was literally torn apart. And the fragments scattered for hundreds of meters. Among the injured people in the explosion was a local dog, Ryzhulya, who lived on the territory of the Bishkek thermal power plant. She was found by rescuers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations under the rubble three days after the accident, the journalists of the Russian newspaper told. 

The story of the rescue of the burned poor dog was followed by the whole country. Volunteers from the charity fund of Kyrgyzstan "Good Hands" immediately came to the rescue.

"The head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations called me and said that a burnt dog was found at the thermal power plant and asked if we could take her in? I took the dog from the vet clinic, where she received first aid, and immediately took her to our very experienced veterinarian Guahar Alpieva. She saves all our animals. The dog was badly burned. Her lungs were burned, her ears, mouth mucous membranes, and eyes were damaged, and we thought she would remain blind. On the first day, we gave Ryzhula drips and oxygen through a concentrator. We treated all the burned areas,” said Larisa Slobodskaya, director of the Dobrye Ruki (Good Hands) charity fund in Kyrgyzstan.

The veterinarian began to treat the Ryzhulya for free, provided with all the necessary drugs. At night, Larisa took the dog to her home, and in the morning she brought her for treatment. On the third day, the burned skin literally began to peel off in layers. Three times a day, veterinarians treated wounds, applied healing ointments and foam to heal burns. She was on IVs from morning till night. And so it has been for three weeks in a row.

"Many people responded to this disaster, brought drugs for burns, saline, antibiotics, diapers, baby food, and even bought an inhaler to treat burned lungs. Volunteers came to watch the dog. Veterinarian Gauhar fed Ryzhulya with baby food, she ate only from her hands. On February 16, two weeks later, she was able to take the first steps and began to eat herself," Larisa continues.

When Ryzhulya fully recovered, she was sterilized and is now looking for a new home for her. When the treatment was taking place, there were many people who wanted to, and then the enthusiasm subsided, " the Good Hands Foundation says. And Ryzhulya is a dog with a character, distrustful, but very loyal to the owner.

Photos and videos from Larisa Slobodskaya's personal archive.