When I was told we’d participating with “Zoo-patrol” today, I thought pretty much what you’re thinking right now. Wow, that will be fun – giraffes, elephants, tigers, etc. When I was in South Florida I vetted a “roadside” zoo (mainly gators, but Florida Panthers, Bears, Otters, rhinos, and a few others) owned by the Seminole Indian Tribe. It’s been 20 years, but in a pinch I could pull it off, if I had experienced helpers. We’d seen on the news the horrors of war including the keepers running for their lives and actually fleeing, as well as the bombs going off, destroying fences —> resulting in zoo animals on the lam. Sounds like a fun day.
Let’s just put this in the category of cultural/language differences. In this context zoo = pertaining to animals, (eg. zoonotic disease can spread from animals) <chinese bats? to humans>. So in this context, “Zoo patrol” actually means volunteers who go out on a regular basis and gather up the animals left behind by those who left in an (understandable) panic. Perhaps a bomb scared the crap out of everyone and the dog/cat/etc simply ran off, when they were trying to evacuate, or through a now gaping open, burning house. Or perhaps they hiked for miles carrying the children and the cat, only to find the bus or train absolutely would not allow animals, only mom and her children- there simply wasn’t room. There were so many refugees, and so the pets would be left on, or tied to the bus bench, etc, etc.
The zoo patrol knows the bus and train schedules and so would go gather up the abandoned pets on a regular basis. Sometimes even assuring the refugees that they’d see “Boris” or “Anton” at a pre-arranged place in Poland, or where-ever. However there have also been even more heartwrenching stories – a dog left with a bucket of water and an open 50# bag of food, with a promise to be back … someday. Or maybe the cat just ran off and they couldn’t collect them. And the enemy tanks were (literally) 100 meters away, blasting away.
It’d be easy to criticize, but until you wear someone else’s shoes…
Anyway “zoo patrol” responds to Facebook pleas to check on “Boris” or a phone call about “Nikki,” or the military personnelle hearing nonstop barking from a partially destroyed house. These animal rescuers are almost considered “paramilitary” with their traffic jam evading abilities, given a secret daily code word allowing them to pass an otherwise 2 hour wait barricade – a TSA pre-approval, if you will.
And so on “zoo-patrol” we’d have these duties and take the rescued pets to a “sanctuary,” or shelter to gather/treat/comfort terrified, confused and often hurting animals.
Clearly I missed the first, most important wave, because I’m here 2 months after the war started, and the massive amount of work was in that initial couple of weeks. I got here for the stragglers, and to treat the ones that survived but weren’t quite right yet.
This is a boxer with an indolent corneal (eye) ulcer in dire need of a “burr keratectomy.” However, triage/field medicine dictated a bit more crude approach; not having the thousand dollar diamond burr with me, I opted for the standard “grid keratectomy.” Easy enough, although typically requires anesthesia – no gas, so we used a propofol continual drip with pre-med of dexdomidor. Nothing fancy, but should work fine, as long as they are able to heep the collar on him and use the medications I left for them.
Little smash face bully dog needed an entropion (eyelid) correction, and some kitties almost definitely had a bad case of Calicivirus, probaby secondary to the stress of the times, and full of parasites. I left medicines which will help immensely, and off we went.
This is a good time to give credit where it’s due. I am eternally indebted to Marharyta (Meg) Syvachenko the local Elanco Animal Health Rep, who drove me around and was an infinite help to me. Her boss Elena Moskalenko, and her boss Antoni Hulas, regional head of Elanco Animal Health for this part of Europe not only allows her to spend her time as a humanitarian, he personally saw to it that arrangements for me were intact, and that I was actually an asset, instead of “volunteer” baggage in the way. She and local vet Gaylyna Chernichko kept me busy every day. They are the true heroes – they ran towards the fire as everyone else fled. I am in awe of them and proud to call then collegues and new friends. Gaylyna left her position as owner of her practice and immediately drove back and forth from Poland on almost a daily basis to gather donated provisions from the blessed Polish people and delivered it to folks in the villages who simply had nothing to eat, much less feed their pets. She still does this several times a week. Two of the days, I saw some of her patients so she could be the incredible humanitarian that she is, and be gone to distribute food to people/pets who won’t have a market in walking distance for months.
As local pharmaceutical rep for Elanco Animal Health Meg (who also has veterinarian credentials) performed similar humanitarian gestures. For instance, she paid out of her own pocket for food and supplies for a local veterinarian who had been beaten brutally and taken hostage. His office destroyed and looted. An entire blog post will be devoted to him. And my loyalty to Elanco products has become profound.
Again, these are the true heroes. They say there’s a special place in Heaven for people like them, and there may be. But working with them has once again exemplified that Heaven is also in fact here, and we are happiest when we serve others. Through the tears they smile, knowing they’ve made a difference.
“He answered them and said, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
Luke 12:20-21
Not Alone on my Camino 
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