Life-threatening events often push people to rethink what's happening around them. In Ukraine, those who can't take up arms try to do what they can.
UkraineWorld talked topoet and civil society activist Lala Tarapakina, the inspiration behind the 12 Guardians project.From the tourist initiative Found in Ukraine, her team moved on to saving historical monuments, and with the outbreak of a full-scale war, to preserving nature and animals that suffer along with people.
The team made humanitarian mission trips to the East and Kharkiv Oblast. There was a problem that literally "stood out": dogs left tied up, packs of stray dogs, lots of puppies and kittens. Animal protection teams were already working in this direction, but for 12 Guardians, this was a completely new, toxic, and tough challenge. But that didn't stop them.
Lala started by volunteering for sterilisation missions with other foundations to learn and understand how it worked.
"I focused on front-line regions where the occupied territories had a catastrophic problem. Primarily, it was all about sterilisation. I travelled with a German foundation and Ukrainian volunteers to learn, and later, I gathered my own independent team, focusing on catching and capturing stray, wild, frightened and stressed animals that wouldn't come near people. We started focusing on working with "difficult" animals, and now we are trying to be a full-cycle rescue team - from evacuation to adoption."
Since the team worked in front-line areas, they were constantly asked to rescue and evacuate animals. These missions continued until the Russians blew up the Kakhovka Dam on June 6, 2023.
"On the 6th, I went straight there. On the way, I called the Kyiv Animal Rescue Service — surprisingly, for some reason, they agreed to go together, even though we didn't know each other. I'm still grateful to them for that. We carried out large-scale rescue missions, coordinating everything together. We managed to rescue from the water and relocate around 2000 animals."
Today, 12 Guardians is a veterinary and rescue team that takes care of stray or abandoned animals from the frontline regions. Evacuation, rescue, sterilisation, treatment, vaccination and adoption are the main work areas.
The process of saving lives
Evacuation involves simply transporting an animal from a dangerous area to safety. The animal is either handed over by neighbours, the owners themselves before they leave, or already secured for transportation. Evacuations are especially active during massive enemy attacks. They often find animals tied up or locked up.
The team cooperates with other organisations and often receives calls about specific animals.
"We usually work together with the NGO Kharkiv Animal Rescue, our partners and friends, an experienced animal rescue team. We work on the basis of their hotline, which is a coordination base. Concerned locals, volunteers or soldiers sometimes call and ask to evacuate the animal. They give the exact address or the area where they saw it".
Rescue, on the other hand, always involves a story.It's about saving a dog that's fallen into a well or evacuating a stray that roams aggressively through a village, attacking people and refusing to be approached. It could also mean saving an animal on the brink of a combat zone, where conditions make it almost impossible to catch them.
"Most rescue requests come from military personnel stationed in the Donbas region. Many have taken in dogs, cats, donkeys, or other animals but are forced to leave due to unstable conditions, making it impossible to care for them. We also take in countless puppies and kittens — there's no end to it".
The team carefully decides what to do with each rescued animal and where it will be sent for further care or relocation. While navigating areas with reported cases, they often discover additional animals in danger. For example, while heading to a designated address to free a dog from a kennel, they may encounter several other houses where animals are visibly distressed. In such cases, the team also rescues these animals, even if there is no formal request for them.
For 12 Guradians, having veterinarians on every rescue mission is a priority,as this ensures the safety and well-being of the animals. They set up a temporary medical station near the frontline with experienced proffesionals and special equipment.
Many of the animals are in critical condition, suffering from serious wounds, missing fur, or even have exposed skin. "After the mission is completed, which usually lasts one, two, or three weeks, and after the temporary station has gathered a certain number of animals, we organise a nationwide delivery. We transport the animals to families who submitted requests, meaning the families they originally belonged to or where they lived before. If the animal is sick, it receives the necessary treatment. Afterwards, we focus on finding a family — a family is always the ultimate goal."
The biggest challenge
The main challenge and the most complicated issue is with animals, which are extremely hard to relocate and find a home for. These are sick animals that require lifelong medical care or large and mixed breedsthat people don't want to adopt. For months, these animals stay at the base hospital, where there is the necessary infrastructure to care for them. However, maintaining this setup is incredibly expensive and a pressing issue for the team. Aggressive or unsocialised animals are given to a dog handler for socialisation and adaptation.
12 Guardians' missions in data
"On average, we handle around 1,500 animals every month. This includes sterilisations and local rescues, even along the road or within Kyiv itself".
Over the past year, 12 Guardians:
"We performed many surgeries to save lives or provide critical care for animals whose owners couldn't afford or manage it for various reasons. In total, about 20,000 animals came through our hands last year. It's a staggering number, and the financial and human resources required to sustain this level of operation are immense. We chose to work on a full rescue cycle because we believe rescue means giving an animal a better future than it had before. There's no sense in evacuating 20 dogs if the only option is sending them to a shelter where they will live their lives in overcrowded enclosures. That's not a solution. However, in critical cases — where animals are dying, tied up, locked away, severely injured or dangerously underweight — we intervene regardless of circumstance, even if we don't know where we're going to take them."
Systemic changes are required
The long-term solution lies in legislative changes and systemic approaches to addressing displaced animals. As long as displaced people with pets have no safe place to go, abandoned animals will continue to multiply in industrial numbers.
Caring for those left behind
"We don't have any judgment towards people who abandon their animals, and this is a fundamental decision of our team. Because if people feel guilty or fear contacting us, they won't signal for help. And somewhere, an animal or many animals could die".
So, the only request the team has for those who move is to find a way. Or ask for help finding housing, specifically for families with pets.
"People don't abandon their animals because they're cruel, inhumane, or dishonest. They leave them because, at the moment, they see no other way or no one gives them another option.
Our foundation, our team, isn't about saving cats or dogs. It's about saving humanity in people."
And one more request from Guardians: don't leave animals tied up or locked up, and don't leave them in the care of neighbours for long periods.
"Animals should only be left tied up when they wait for evacuation and only for one day so that rescuers don't waste time looking for or catching them. That's the most dangerous thing. In that case, releasing and giving them a chance is probably better".
Everyone can make a difference
Financial support is always needed becauseexpenses in any animal rescue organisation are huge.
However, there are a lot of things anyone can do without money.
"You can support us by walking our animals at the temporary shelters in the clinic, by helping us find homes and writing, sharing posts, getting to know them, socialising with or even taking them in for temporary care or as a guardian. "
The main thing is to get involved — to have the desire to help.
All photos are courtesy of 12 Guardians team.
This publication was compiled with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation. It’s content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the International Renaissance Foundation.
