Healing Together: Our Veterans Rehabilitation Programme in Ukraine
In September 2023, as the war in Ukraine dragged into another year, we launched a project rooted in both compassion and healing—a veterans rehabilitation programme designed to support wounded Ukrainian soldiers through the powerful connection between humans and animals.
For over a year—from September 2023 to December 2024—this programme provided a unique space for recovery, comfort, and peace.
Where Animals and Healing Meet
Our shelter, already a sanctuary for animals affected by the war, opened its doors to a new kind of visitor—veterans coping with physical injuries, emotional trauma, and the long road to recovery.
Inside the facility, we created an environment designed to soothe and support:
- A communal downstairs area where soldiers could interact with friendly, well-socialised dogs.
- An upstairs cattery, offering quiet time with affectionate cats.
- Disabled-accessible bathrooms, a therapy room featuring a cutting-edge Shiftwave chair for advanced physical and mental therapy.
- Recreational amenities like a pool table, dartboard, and Xbox, providing moments of joy, distraction, and laughter.
Outside, a designated play area allowed soldiers and dogs to run, play, and bond under the open sky—a reminder of freedom, movement, and simple joys often lost in war.
More Than a Shelter—A Refuge
Running Monday through Friday, the programme provided:
- Hot meals from local restaurants.
- Therapeutic sessions with visiting doctors, psychiatrists, and physiotherapists.
- Opportunities for social connection, mental relaxation, and a change in environment for soldiers who were otherwise confined to hospitals or treatment centres.
Here, the dogs became more than just companions—they became therapy partners, helping to ease anxiety, build confidence, and offer unconditional affection to those who needed it most.
A Programme That Made a Difference
This initiative was never about fixing what couldn’t be undone. It was about offering moments of peace, about restoring dignity, hope, and human connection through the healing power of animals.
For many veterans, those days at the shelter became the highlight of their week—a space where they weren’t just patients, but people. People surrounded by compassion, joy, and life.
A Difficult Goodbye
Sadly, in December 2024, the programme came to an end. With limited staff and our teams stretched thin across various locations, we no longer had the capacity to operate it the way it deserved.
It was a painful decision—but one made with the hope that, one day, we’ll return to it. Because we’ve seen what it can do.
Thank You for Helping Us Make It Happen
This programme was possible because of you—your support, your donations, your beliefin what we do. And though it has ended for now, the impact it left behind will remain, both in the lives of the soldiers and the animals who walked that journey with them.