Officials in the Shebekinsky district have declined a request to evacuate a dog shelter, leaving approximately 150 animals exposed to imminent danger. The development was reported to 7x7 on June 5 by the owner of the shelter, Irina Kharitonova.
The Angel shelter was once located in a former cowshed in the town of Komsomolsky near Belgorod. After the war began, the cowshed was occupied by Russian troops, and the owner, Irina Kharitonova, was forced to relocate the dogs to her home in the town of Grafovka, Shebekinsky district.
When the troops left, the owner attempted to return to the cowshed and launched a fundraiser to repair the building. Meanwhile, Shebekino began to be shelled regularly.
The head of the administration of the Belgorod District, Vladimir Pertsev, denied the request to allow the animals back to Komsomolsky. The shelter's owner linked the refusal with the fact that all land around the village has been sold for individual housing construction. Therefore, the dogs were left under daily bombardment in the Shebekinsky district, the woman told 7x7.
“A few dogs are in enclosures, but most of them are in the house because they have fear in their eyes. My house is destroyed. I don't know, [it's easier] to tear down the house and start over [to build]. We run out to feed, quickly distribute [food], pour water for everyone. If shelling starts, we run straight home," the shelter owner says.
Irina Kharitonova still intends to take other abandoned animals out of Shebekino. This could be done, if someone from Belgorod would agree to temporarily provide her with accommodations.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Angel shelter has been rescuing animals abandoned by their owners who left because of shelling, as well as stray dogs coming from Ukraine. In February, the authorities demanded that the shelter be closed. The administration of the Shebekino district sent instructions to Irina Kharitonova to return the animals to their former habitat, but first to vaccinate and sterilize them. The animal rights activist refused to let the dogs go, saying it would put them in danger.
