THANK YOU SO MUCH to those of you who have followed this blog and our efforts at the southern Romania-Ukraine border these past 12 plus days. I am now back home with my family in Colorado, but the work continues… Please follow Jesse Adams and the Rain Coast Rescue Society (@raincoastdogrescue) for more updates and contact me if you’d like to volunteer or learn more. #WeStandWithUkraine #NoOneLeftBehind

Trucks with supplies along and more ferries with refugees have arrived in Isaccea. It is busier today because of bombings near Odessa, but our vet check station is actually pretty controlled and mellow right now, as we have everything set up efficiently. Featured here is a young boy named Nestor with his cat, Austin. Also, our blue tent has inspired a nickname for our volunteer crew: The Blue Vet Group.

Thanks to all the news networks and publications covering this SDCI story. The more people who read, watch, and talk about the work we’re doing over here, the better. Please share this news article/video by KDVR’s Courtney Fromm as well as this story by KRDO’s Natalie Haddad and continue to keep every pet and human experiencing homelessness--be it a war refugee or someone struggling down the block--in your thoughts and hearts and do whatever you can to right a wrong situation.

Shout out to World Central Kitchen, feeding volunteers and refugees on the border of Ukraine and Romania. WCK is an amazing organization providing meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises. They build resilient food systems with locally led solutions. As they say, "Wherever there’s a fight so hungry people may eat, we will be there – we must be there."

Maximilian, another volunteer I’m working with on the border, is trying to build an animal rescue near Isaccea named Anim All Delta. Here is a link to their website: https://animalldelta.com/ Yes, it is in Ukrainian, but photos speak louder than words, and Google will translate the website to English if you click this link: https://animalldelta-com.translate.goog/?_x_tr_sl=ro&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc. They are also on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Animalldelta/

This man from Ukraine worked on a fishing boat in Russia, and his credit cards were from Russian banks. He was cut off and out of gas and had no currency. A veterinary nonprofit gave him several hundred dollars cash so he could at least make it to Germany, where his wife was. He was so crazy about his dog! We also treated a stray that was badly injured.

Day two wrapped up lots of excitement. We lost our lights and heat for a while, but we now have our own tent.

This is a photo of our vet team at the border. It's cold here! There is an amazing group of volunteers from all over the world. We are collaborating with several other groups that we have met here, and being supported by two local vets. We are hoping to find other DVM's to follow up and make our vet station somewhat continuous. Ideally they would have an assistant of some kind and one of them would speak Russian or Ukraine.

Currently things are relatively quiet, with about 300-500 people crossing a day on the ferry. This is the only crossing for South Ukraine, and numbers are expected to grow dramatically when Odessa is invaded. There were several bombings there today. Pet numbers vary widely, but generally see 10-30 per day. It is icy cold here with the wind blowing across the Danube from Ukraine. Tomorrow we will have our own tent.

We are setting up a vet check station at the Romanian-Ukraine border to provide veterinary care and pet passports to pets of refugees. In addition, we are collaborating with several other organizations, and a local veterinarian, to set up an emergency pet shelter and transport plan to get them to a large shelter in Bucharest. We may also be setting up an adoption program for any abandoned pets to get them to new homes in Canada, the US and UK. Isaccea is located in the far south of Ukraine, and refugee passage is expected to increase as southern cities like Odessa come under attack.

I am packing my bags to leave for the Romanian-Ukraine border, and our efforts there are a perfect opportunity to launch SDC International. This was not part of our strategic plan, but it is now, as we continue to build the plane while we fly it! The refugees who are crossing with their pets are indeed experiencing homelessness, and we can hopefully provide any needed veterinary care and paperwork to allow them to keep their pets with them on their ongoing journeys.