BUILDING OUR FLAGSHIP SHELTER
The very first of our Cage Free Natural Shelter projects is in Ukraine, as with no Traces Compliance system in place in the country for homeless animals, the EU borders are currently closed to homeless dogs and cats.
Our Cage Free Natural Shelter will change all of this, and allow the homeless dogs and cats of War to be housed in a EU standard Traces compliant shelter where they can be prepared for onward rehoming in Western Europe.
Through building an EU Traces compliant, state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly Natural Shelter, we will be leading by example how true animal welfare can be achieved with some creative planning of the shelter space, to modernise the whole animal welfare infrastructure in Eastern Europe – abandoned dogs and cats will be spaciously housed ‘at one with nature’ to create a stress-free natural living environment to allow them to fully decompress and aid in their recovery and rehabilitation from both mental and physical trauma.
True animal welfare will be achieved with some creative planning of the shelter space to create a modern, stress-free living space using the following concepts:
sleeping accomodation for up to 6 compatibility assessed companion animals, to loosely create the family groups mother nature planned for dogs and cats
sleeping accomodation created as ‘lounges’ with different sleeping options, sofa’s, beds and rugs, to help residents become accustomed to living in the style of a human home
each accomodation lounge to open out into a large sensory garden with trees for shade, rain shelters and raised platforms to add variety to the residents enjoyment of their space
the whole shelter site to be landscaped in harmony with nature, with play areas and water park for accompanied rehabilitation dog walks and training to introduce dogs to the high expectations of living within society.
cat lounges to open out into secure outside sensory spaces to offer climbing, raised platforms and play areas for peaceful, stress-free enjoyment
Through a stress-free, peaceful natural living environment, the traumatised dogs and cats of war can start to relax and enjoy life again, with a restoration of faith that they are safe from harm and the bombs of war
Why is this needed?
As a direct consequence of the devastating war in Ukraine, animals were spontaneously displaced along with their human families, with the majority of dogs and cats abandoned to the streets by families who could not, for whatever reason, take them with them as they fled the war zones. This mass spontaneous abandonment, added to the already existing large homeless street animal populations, and with no adequate shelter system in place in the country even before the war, the existing private micro-shelters and grass-roots NGO’s in Ukraine, have been unable to cope with this mass spontaneous abandonment of companion animals.
As is often the case in a crisis situation, everyone is fire fighting, saving the animals and feeding them, which of course is of utmost importance, yet to be able to truly help the animals effectively, it is critical to establish a Traces Compliant Shelter so that all these poor abandoned souls can have the chance to be rehomed in Western Europe. Yet without such a shelter currently in existence that is Traces Compliant and able to process these animals, no homeless animals can cross the borders into the EU and rescuers on the ground hit what has already happened in Ukraine; a bottleneck where no more animals can be saved, as there is nowhere for them to go.
Our flagship open-space, cage-free and therefore stress-free shelter, will lead by example how true animal welfare can be achieved with some creative planning of the shelter space
The Concept
Natural, open-space, cage-free living, to reduce the stress typically generated by traditional shelter housing
Large landscaped acreage with trees and grassy areas with large open spaces and distance between each animal housing module
Accommodation pods set up as close to a home environment as possible to ease the stress of rehoming into a home
Accommodation pod interiors will be finished in non-porous anti-bacterial easy wipe down material to aid in biosecurity measures
Self sufficient utility services with alternative wind and solar energy and artesian well for water
‘State of the Art’ modern Veterinary Centre for neutering and all medical care
Separate quarantine area for all new admissions, with modern bio-security provisions
Dog adventure park and water park for accompanied exercise, enrichment and stimulation
Accredited training centre for rescuers, micro-shelter staff and grass-roots establishment volunteers to learn about shelter management with our International Training Programme
Centre of Excellence training centre for Veterinarians to take masterclasses in cutting edge surgery techniques and core disease treatments
