We recently responded to desperate appeals from Havin, a young Kurdish animal lover and rescuer, to save 3 dogs in a war-torn zone in the Middle East. One of them had been badly injured in a car accident and another had been attacked by youths.
Havin is an artist and animal welfare activist. As a Kurd living in this region, her life is a daily struggle after more than 10 years of war. Unable to continue her university studies due to the fighting and with minimal shelter, food and work, she dedicates most of her days to caring for the stray animals in her ravaged town. Her stance as a defender of animal rights makes a difficult life even harder in this part of the world.
About Havin: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ymUrgT1ZZQE&feature=youtu.be/
She had been living alone with two dogs, Zere and disabled Shero, both rescued from the street and who she considered to be her family. Shero was her main concern, having lost a leg after being hit by a car. Zere had been abused and abandoned by her owner, becoming loyal to Havin when she started looking after her.
This alone would be too much to bear for most of us considering the lack of food, veterinary care and compassion in the face of such daily hardships. Despite all this, Havin made her voice heard with heart-felt pleas for the suffering animals in her area. You can follow her here
https://instagram.com/protecttheanimalsrojova/
We heard her constant appeals to save injured Shero, but could not see a way to help, the tragedies were too many, the facilities non-existent and the location too inaccessible. But she never gave up, posting and messaging frequently, begging organisations around the world to help her injured animals and we knew we had to try.
After many calls and emails to numerous international organisations, amazingly we found one who we cannot name for security reasons, but who was able to handle the logistics and put a rescue plan in place, if we could raise the funds retrospectively.
Unbelievably, two days before the mission, disaster struck when devastating earthquakes shook the region. Havin’s home being close to the epicenter was further damaged. The small rescue team decided to go ahead regardless.
Taking five days and navigating difficult terrain, damaged roads, blockades and rebel factions, they crossed the border, found Havin, collected the dogs and made it back to base in a neighboring country. They are all heroes and we will never be able to thank them enough.
Giving up Shero and Zere, she told them “goodbye my son and my daughter, they will take care of you better than I can” and it broke our hearts.
Soon after, Havin rescued an injured puppy that had been a victim of abuse in the streets, she named him little Kuzu (lamb) and he has now joined the other two in their safe haven.
What’s next for the dogs? The rescue team has started treatment plans for the dogs, including for parasites, eye infections and vaccinations. Once funds are in place, Kuzu and Zere will be neutered/spayed and Shero will be neutered as well as having his leg stump amputated to make him more comfortable. We will keep you posted and share invoices and details of the treatments.
What do we need? We urgently need funds to pay for the drivers, medical treatments and procedures, food, boarding, documentation, and flights to Europe, where they will be fostered and found forever homes.
PLEASE HELP US TO HELP HAVIN, KUZU, SHERO AND ZERE, BY DONATING ANY AMOUNT, NO MATTER HOW SMALL, THANK YOU!
UAE Animals International
https://www.uaeanimalsinternational.org
https://www.instragram.com/uae_animals_international