Oksana Durova and Yulia Dezhnova have created an effective system of housing "retired dogs," says https://www.forbes.ru/forbes-woman/496725-zelenyj-pes-kak-dve-podrugi-pridumali-scastlivuu-pensiu-sluzebnym-sobakamForbes Woman. The friends worked together at the Kommersant publishing house, made dozens of media special projects. Once at an exhibition about service dogs Oksana and Julia heard from dog handlers about a serious problem - it is impossible for retired service dogs to find a home. 

Dogs usually serve for about seven years, but sometimes they stay longer because of their unique qualities. However, after a maximum of 10 years they are still written off "by age". Up to three thousand dogs are written off from all special services in Russia per year, only a third can find new owners. 

"In retirement, dogs often "burn out" from lack of movement and their uselessness. When we realized the depth of the problem, a "Green Dog" appeared. Our task is to place retired dogs in good, cool, kind hands, who served faithfully," the founders of the project say. 

The Green Dog is a retired service dog club. The club has its own "dating site". And this is not just a file cabinet, but a full-fledged dog selection service according to criteria, characteristics, content, conditions. On average, the project attaches several dogs per week. 

"It's a pleasure to have one in your house or apartment," they say in the Green Dog. Such dogs follow commands the first time and help out their owners. 

There are unrealistic stories. For example, a man forgot to turn off the pot of broth, sat down at the computer, and the dog sits next to him and starts pulling into the kitchen. It turned out that the broth had boiled away and there were minutes left before the fire," says Julia.

The project keeps in touch with all the owners: the owners send photos and share news. One woman told how a Labrador saved her in the eighth month of pregnancy when she almost fell down the stairs. 

The geography of the project extends so far only to Moscow and the Moscow region — logistics has been worked out here. Once a woman from Orenburg liked the dog, but the delivery would take three days and cost 20,000 rubles - so far such a decision is impossible. Oksana and Yulia want to make the project federal and find volunteers in the regions.

The founders of the "Green Dog" believe that the village of service dogs will allow scaling the project - an important intermediate stage of the arrangement between the kennel and the family. 

The "Green Dog" is confident that parents with children will be able to come to the village of dogs, young dog handlers and veterinarians will be able to undergo pre-graduate practice. And this, according to the founders of the project, needs to be done urgently, because if the dog does not work, it quickly dies.

Forbes Woman Photos

Maria Ozmitel, journalist, correspondent of the Central Asian Representative Office of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Editorial Office of the Rossiyskaya Gazeta":

Omar Alkhilaev together with adults bought 10 kg of feed and handed it over to the organizers of the charity event, writes the news agency "Stavropol.Media”

“Omar has been very fond of animals since childhood, now we have a beautiful cat at home, its name is Thunder, whom son takes care of and plays with. And the cat adores the young owner, even sits next to him when he does his homework. Therefore, we could not pass by the action,” said Omar's mother Elena Alkhilaeva.

The action “Good people” in Stavropol was organized by the editorial office of the information agency "Stavropol.Media”. After a series of publications about homeless animals and the problems faced by volunteers, caring people began to bring cereals, feed and medicines to journalists. Our nine-year-old hero was among them. 

“Omar collects money for his own needs, he has a wallet where son puts his savings. We'll give it for pocket money, then the godfather. So he saved up.” Omar's mom continues. 

When the boy found out about the action, he asked to take him with and gave all his pocket money. That's what a good heart is called. It's not for nothing that people say that children always give away the most precious thing - everything they have. Omar did not tell anyone about his act except the teacher, even at school they do not know. That's such a humble boy.  

“Omar loves animals very much, he feeds everyone in our area. He always carries dry food with him. He says when he grows up, he will build a shelter for homeless animals, God willing his dream will come true,” shared mom Elena Alkhilaeva. 

Photo from the personal archive of the Alkhilaev family. 

The story of Angelina Strizhenkova, who is rescuing pets from the zone of a special military operation, was told by journalists of the newspaper Strana Kaliningrad. Angelina works as a leading consultant in the Government of the Kaliningrad region. But this is the third time she will take a vacation at her own expense to go to the DPR, because "tailed refugees" are waiting for her there. This is how our heroine calls all cats who have lost their owners and home.

Today, 10 cats, a dog and a lizard live in Angelina's apartment. Six mustachioed pets arrived in Kaliningrad from the special military operation zone.

At the end of last year, Angelina Strizhenkova read on the telegram channel "Koshkin Dom Donetsk" that volunteers were needed at the animal shelter from special military operation .

– It was obvious that there was no queue of those who wanted to go under fire, so I decided that it would be me, – she says. – I took a vacation and was at the place in early December. There I was met by Evgenia Mikhailova, the head of the shelter "Koshkin Dom Donetsk", she travels through the destroyed cities of Donbass, where the animals were left alone for various reasons – exhausted, sick, with hopeless pain in their eyes – and takes them to the shelter.

Besides being on duty at the shelter, the Kaliningrad woman began to do the same. The cities are different: Artemovsk, Mariupol, Soledar, Oleshki.

– Sometimes we meet people, most often they stay because of animals, hide in basements, somehow survive, - says Angelina. – That's what they say,  I have cats, how will I leave them! There is no gas, light, or water. They are interrupted by blanks found in destroyed houses, our military helps in some way, we load not only animal feed, but also cereals and pasta with us on each trip. They share the last piece of bread and a spoonful of porridge with their pets. This is admirable!

- The owner of the 14-year-old sphinx cat Monica, who now lives with me, just before she went on vacation and could not return. I will never forget how we saved this Monica… We came under fire: Evgenia and I – two women in camouflage, with a carrier and shells exploding overhead. It worked out. Now Monica sleeps with me, it's warmer and more reliable," our heroine continues her story.

– It pulls me to save more lives. It's happiness when you "make" a cat out of a lump, in which it's good if there's a glass of blood and there's really no wool, just skin and bones, " Angelina shares her emotions. – 180 cats have already gone to their families, the owners find them using the Telegram channel, where we post photos and descriptions of the animals.

Recently, a cat rescued in Lugansk found a mistress, soon she will go to her in Khanty-Mansiysk. People take animals and just out of a desire to help, to give them a new life. We were friends with tails, both Russians and Ukrainians transfer money for the maintenance of animals, everyone wants only one thing: peace.

Photo from the personal archive of Angelina Strizhenkova.