22 November 2018

Volnoe Delo, a foundation supporting social innovation, has opened dog shelters in Naro-Fominsk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk and Abakan. These well-equipped shelters include veterinary hospitals and employ professional handlers and animal experts.

All Povodog shelters provide examinations and medical treatment, tend to the psychological needs of the dogs and provide basic training. All dogs are microchipped, sterilised and vaccinated as required by international vet standards and rules. Records are kept on every animal and are stored in the database common to all dog shelters, which helps dogs find loving families.

Povodog shelters employ experienced handlers and zoopsychologists, whose job is to rehabilitate and train the dogs before they are rehomed. Dogs from Povodog shelters make wonderful family pets — they are healthy, vaccinated, follow basic orders and are friendly to people and other animals. People who have adopted from a Povodog shelter can always contact the shelter personnel with any questions or problems they faced when giving a dog a new home.

Staff at the shelter do their best to find owners for dogs as quickly as possible. However, dogs may stay at the shelters as long as is needed — Povodog is opposed to the mercy killing of healthy animals and never gets rid of its dogs. Shelters are always ready to take dogs back if new owners decide to that owning a dog is not the right choice for them.

The shelters not only rescue stray dogs, they also work with the local community building a culture of humane and responsible animal treatment. The Volnoe Delo Foundation plans to conduct special campaigns and educational programmes, give lessons to school children, hold training sessions for volunteers and introduce highest operational standards for animal shelters across the country.

Volnoe Delo opened the first Povodog shelter, initiated by Oleg Deripaska, in Sochi in the run-up to the 22nd Winter Olympic Games. Over the last five years the dog shelter has rescued over seven hundred and fifty dogs from the streets, tended to them and found new families for them. The Volnoe Delo Foundation plans to expand the animal protection programme further — in 2019, the construction of another shelter will begin in the Krasnodar region.