Fido in Ukraine

By Arden Moore

NARIAN, feels as comfortable treating a dog in a veterinary exam room as he does settling into a seat on a plane bound for a foreign country. He has practice veterinary medicine for more than four decades. And, he has traveled to more than 85 countries in all seven continents.

But when war broke out in Ukraine earlier this year, he instinctively knew his worlds of veterinary medicine and love of travel would unite. But his abrupt decision caught his family off guard.

“My wife, Teresa, and I have been married 45 years and we are very close,” says Dr. Becker, from his home in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. “I mention this because she went to lunch with our granddaughter, Reagan and when she came back two hours later, I had booked a trip to Romania to help out animals at the Ukraine border. Seeing all the trauma happening on TV to the people and their pets, I felt I was called to do it.”

Dr. Becker is the founder of Fear Free Pets (www.fearfreepets.com), a game-changing program that helps veterinarians, pet parents and others learn ways to effectively reduce FAS – fear, anxiety and stress in pets.

He packed four suitcases full of dog toys and only one small bag of clothes and headed to the Romania-Ukraine border in April. He arrived in a small town called Galati in the fog at 2 a.m. He teamed up with veterinary leaders from Romania and a local group there called Save a Safe Haven.

“I arranged to talk to veterinary schools about Fear Free because they were seeing a lot of dog bites and injuries at the border,” says Dr. Becker. “So much of that is due to fear-based aggression. Think of pets here with noise phobias to the sound of a loud vacuum cleaner or fireworks. The pets at the border were traumatized by the sounds of military artillery and bombs.”

Dr. Becker, who serves on the board of World Vets (www.worldvets.org), was stationed in a blue veterinary tent at the border.

“I have never been to a war before and did not know what to expect,” he says. “But what I saw and what I was able to do to help was life changing.”

He then begins to share what he experienced. He helped a man in his 60s who crossed the border in a wheelchair, cradling his two cats.

“He told me that his apartment had been bombed and he threw himself on his two elderly cats to protect them,” says Dr. Becker. “He took shrapnel in his back and was in bad shape when he arrived. He was crying out of joy more than pain because his cats were safe.”

He also helps a woman crossing the border with 10 leashed Jack Russell terriers.

“She also somehow managed to pull a wagon with dog food, water and medicine and had been walking for 10 days straight with her dogs,” says Dr. Becker. “She told me she had drank water, but had not eaten. She fed her dogs. She no longer had shoes and her feet were frostbitten, but she was so thankful that she and her dogs made it to the border.”

And, Dr. Becker did share one moment that made him smile and even laugh with joy.

“At the border, volunteers had trays of sandwiches and bottles of water they were handing out to those coming across and I saw something I never think I will see again in my lifetime,” he says. “They started to limit five dogs per person to enter into Romania. I spotted a medium-sized car with five people and 25 dogs! It looked like a canine clown car. The volunteers came by with the sandwiches and the dogs smelled them and all the dogs raced over to one side of the car and it actually leaned over. One dog stuck his head out the window and grabbed a bunch of sandwiches because he was so hungry.”

Dr. Becker has traveled the globe. He has spoken at many prestigious conferences and he is a best-selling pet author. All of these accomplishments pale in comparison to the life-changing impact he experienced by volunteering to provide veterinary care at the border.

“I ask that we take a look at that affection connect we feel with our pets and then look deeply at people in Ukraine who are willing to risk their lives to save their pets,” he says. “All of us can help in some way. There is a real need there and I will definitely go back.”

PHOTO CREDIT: DR. MARY BECKER

Dr. Gary Weitzman, DVM, serves as the president of the San Diego Humane Society. When the war erupted, he felt called to action. So, he quickly made arrangements with two organizations, Greater Good Charities and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). Within days, he landed in Warsaw, Poland and headed immediately to the Ukraine border.

“I brought suitcases filled with medical supplies and equipment and was stationed in tent number two – the veterinary tent – at the border,” he says. “There was a mile-long corridor at the border of people giving to other people – food, supplies whatever they needed. And, we were right there to help their pets.”

He witnessed displaced families coming across the border with dogs on leashes and cats in their arms while holding on to a single suitcase.

“These people had to leave their possessions behind to escape the war,” he says. “Seeing family pets being part of the exodus is proof that companion animals are so important to people, even in bleak situations like this.”

Dr. Weitzman also has Ukrainian roots. Both sides of his family are ancestors who lived in Kiev and Odessa.

“I wish I learned to speak Ukrainian, but we had interpreters there,” he says. “Each day, I drove two hours from my hotel to the border. It was pitch black, snowy, and very cold.”

He shares a small victory. It took a few days, but he helped catch a scared, lost shepherd mix dubbed Slava who got separated from his family while crossing the border into Poland.

Fittingly, Slava means victory in Ukrainian.

Like Dr. Becker, Dr. Weitzman is planning to return to help.

“And, I hope to bring some of my staff from the humane society with me,” he says. “I have never done anything in my life that has felt better than this. I will be back.”

To learn more, please visit www.sdhumane.org.

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