Russian Animal Shelter Linked to Stolen Ukrainian Pets Faces Probe After 200 Deaths

Editor’s note: This article may contain sensitive content related to the death of animals.

Animal rights activists have reported a mass death of animals at the “Forgotten Hearts” shelter in Bataysk, in Russia’s Rostov region, after discovering at least 200 bodies of dogs, cats, and several wild animals on the premises.

The findings were unveiled by volunteers on the Telegram channel “Aksai—Helpers to Animals,” on December 21.

The volunteers said the animals’ remains were found both outdoors and inside shelter buildings, with varying stages of decomposition. The cause of the deaths has not yet been determined, despite the presence of food and medical supplies at the site.

“More than 200 animal corpses. I honestly still can’t process this. As for what they died from, I don’t know—hunger, illness, infection. Why this happened?,” animal welfare advocate said.

According to the channel, volunteers were able to rescue around five cats and five dogs, which were removed from the shelter.

The inspection was triggered by the disappearance of several animals under volunteer supervision in Bataysk, including a dog named Bublik. As reported by The Insider, in 2023 the dog was “pierced through with a metal rod” and had been undergoing treatment. After shelter representatives declined to provide video confirmation of the animals’ condition, volunteers decided to visit the shelter in person.

The “Forgotten Hearts” shelter is run by local activist Tatyana Makarova, who has previously collected donations for animal welfare and given media interviews. In one such interview, she said that following the start of the war in Ukraine, by July 2022 she had taken in around 100 animals evacuated from Mariupol and other settlements in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory, The Insider reported.

Earlier, it was reported that Russian forces started employing animal carcasses as makeshift explosive devices, delivering them by drone to block terrain or strike specific targets.

Images shared by Militarnyi indicate that explosives are hidden inside the bodies of wild animals, with the charges wrapped in fabric and deliberately positioned within the remains. The devices are then mounted on drones and dropped onto designated areas.

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