We are looking for an opportunity to provide stable electricity—and heat—to 400 inhabitants of the Zoopatrul shelter near Kyiv. The shelter is located in the city of Irpin, which survived the Russian occupation in the spring of 2022.* A few months after the city was liberated by the Ukrainian Army, a group of caring donors and volunteers started building a shelter for animal victims of the conflict.

This is a one-of-a-kind operation and the first European-style shelter in Ukraine dedicated to animals who are facing difficult circumstances because of the war. Many of the cats and dogs they cared for were wounded or had lost limbs. As soon as the Kyiv region was liberated, local organisers decided in collaboration with the local authorities to start building a shelter with a full cycle of animal care and protective services.

The shelter survives on charitable donations and, now, those donations have become catastrophically rare.

Winter is the toughest time for homeless animals and zoo shelters. Enclosures for cats and dogs need to be insulated against the cold, and they need to be heated uninterruptedly. In addition, the shelter has special wards where they keep newborn puppies and kittens—and those need to be heated throughout the cold season.

There is no central heating in the shelter and, unfortunately, the only source of electricity is a nearby power plant that charges the shelter at corporate rates per kilowatt hour. The resulting cost is unbearably high; in the winter, the heating bill shoots through the roof.

It goes without saying that the animal shelter in Irpin has many other needs—volunteers continue to rescue, treat, and care for cats and dogs 24/7—but the need to cover its electricity bills is truly urgent. To be frank, it is a matter of animal survival.