Dr. Katsur didn’t know how long Lenny had been out on the streets of Ukraine, caught in the crosshairs of war. But she’d seen firsthand how the war had left so many dogs hungry and looking for food. By the time Lenny found his way to an animal shelter, he’d been injured and was starving.
Just a few short weeks before Dr. Katsur met Lenny, she was watching the war unfold from her home in Virginia. But seeing videos and images of dogs roaming the streets inspired her to travel to Ukraine to help out.
Her heart broke for all the pet parents who had to leave their BFFs behind, and the dogs and cats who were stranded when animal shelters were destroyed.
So, she decided to take her veterinary skills straight to the front lines.
“It hit me that I can help, you know?” Dr. Katsur said. “I’ve never tried harder to get somewhere where people didn’t want to go.”
She worked alongside the UK-based grassroots organization Breaking The Chains to provide animals with food and medical care during her two-week trip. Dr. Katsur helped so many animals during her time in Ukraine, and they all deeply touched her. “I cried when I left them,” Dr. Katsur said.
But Lenny is one dog she’ll never forget because of how dramatically he changed right in front of her eyes.
As Dr. Katsur and the other volunteers began to take care of him at their shelter compound, they eventually earned his trust and watched as he warmed up to living with people.
“[He] jumped and laid in my suitcase,” Dr. Katsur said. “He would jump and lay on my cot to snuggle, when before he didn’t even want a human to touch him.”
In fact, Lenny has since become “the compound dog” because he loves living at the shelter, and everyone there loves him right back.