Ontario vet travels to Ukrainian border to care for animals of refugees
Standing inside an animal shelter near the Ukrainian border, veterinarian Cliff Redford is holding a baby goat named Mya. Redford says this animal is symbolic of what he is seeing over there.
"It's definitely been more emotional, more heart breaking than I anticipated," he said.
Redford owns an animal hospital in Markham, Ont. He came to Poland 11 days ago in the hopes of helping.
He tells the story of that baby goat, saying she came to the border with an old woman. The woman was fleeing the war.
"This little goat was her only family," he said. "She said in broken English, I will be back when the war is over."
The woman, like so many, had to carry on, while people like Redford are caring for the animals that cannot make the journey.
"They're displaced, they're hurt, they're scared. Just like the people and unfortunately they have nowhere to go so they're ending up in these shelters."
Speaking from Przemsyl, on the Polish side of the border, Redford and his 21-year-old daughter Emily have been working at a shelter nearby.
Redford says some animals have been injured in the chaos as millions flee their homes, others actually injured in Russian attacks.
Recently, the Polish government stopped stray animals from crossing the border as a mean of preventing disease outbreak among all of the refugees coming from Ukraine.
Redford and a few colleagues made a trip into Lviv.
"We ended up actually saying, if the animals can't come to us for us to take care of them, we're going to them," he said.
They brought over 500 pounds of food, basic medical supplies, and antibiotics to a shelter that has 300 dogs and has been cut off from its supplier in Russia.
In Lviv, he saw a city prepared for a possible attack, prepared if the war comes further west.
"It became very very real all of the sudden, where we were and what people were dealing with," he said.
Redford will leave this weekend and through he is overwhelmed by the enormity of what is happening, he is helping. He says he also has found a new calling.
"I'm going to be doing this for the rest of my life," he said. "I'm going to be volunteering and rescuing animals and it's really given me a new passion."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Spring allergy season has begun. Where is it worse in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
'Nonsense:' Doug Ford slams lawsuits filed by Ontario school boards against social media platforms
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Record-breaking N.B. lottery winner kept winning ticket on dresser for nearly a year
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
Multiple bridges in Calgary shut down for police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
A dog and a bird formed an unlikely friendship. Their separation has infuriated followers
Peggy is a stout and muscular Staffordshire bull terrier, and Molly is a magpie, an Australian bird best known for swooping on humans during breeding season, not for befriending dogs. But in an emotional video posted online, Peggy’s owners announced that the animals had been separated.
Tipping is off the table at this Toronto restaurant
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 mm among weather alerts in effect for 7 provinces
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 millimetres, air quality advisories and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces, according to the latest forecasts.