More than three thousand lives saved - CRC USAU celebrates its birthday

In November, the Animal Rehabilitation Center, which operates on the basis of the USAU Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Expertise, celebrates its ninth birthday.

During this time, thanks to the efforts of students and university staff, more than three thousand homeless animals were cured, most of which found a new home. All of them had diseases and injuries of varying severity, resulting from road accidents or ill-treatment.

During 9 years of work, among the wards of the CRC were not only cats and dogs, but also such exotic inhabitants as: crows, bats, muskrats, hedgehogs, minipigs, squirrels, iguanas. In the winter of 2021, the staff of the Animal Rehabilitation Center even had to look for a home for a piglet, which was abandoned by the owners due to threats from neighbors. Now he lives in an apartment in a family with children as a pet.

“Our center is unique in its specifics - we work only with sick and crippled stray animals, providing professional medical care. Animals often come to us in a very serious condition - after accidents and abuse. Future veterinary students help to treat animals. I want to thank all those who have been helping us to solve the sore social problem of neglected animals for 9 years,” said Elizaveta Valerievna Skorynina, Head of the USAU Animal Rehabilitation Center.

CRC patients receive comprehensive assistance from surgical operations to socialization and placement in new families. All animals admitted to the Center must undergo the procedure of vaccination, deworming, treatment for parasites, castration, as well as a full range of examination and treatment, depending on the doctor's prescriptions.

Each year of the Center's work is a series of touching stories about the rescue of abandoned animals. And 2021 is no exception.

In February, caring citizens brought a cat with frostbitten ears and limbs to the Animal Rehabilitation Center. The legs had to be amputated. Despite the stress he had experienced, Biscotti (as the cat was named in the CRC) remained affectionate and friendly. As if not noticing his peculiarity, he tried to crawl, play, caress and purr. Upon completion of the course of treatment, the unusual cat found new loving owners, and has been living in a new house for a month now.

In March, Zoozashchita employees brought a dog that had been hit by an electric train to the CRC. The dog lost one front leg. He had an operation, but Elik refused to walk on three legs out of fear.

“Elik had to be taught to walk again. Physiotherapy was used for rehabilitation, muscle tone was restored. The difficulty was that the dog is large, it was hard to lift it. We had a similar situation this year with our dog Zina, who was hit by a car and received a severe spinal injury, as a result of which she lost sensitivity in her hind legs and could only move in a special wheelchair. The rehabilitation of the dog is still going on, only today it is already being carried out by new owners. Zina now lives with chinchillas and another dog. She is trying very hard to recover and from time to time she manages to run on all 4 paws,” said Elena Sergeevna Vasilko, an employee of the USAU Animal Rehabilitation Center.

Today, the Animal Rehabilitation Center has more than 50 wards. Mostly cats and dogs. Some of them were simply thrown out into the street, some were brought into the hands of veterinarians by an accident. One of the most difficult patients today is a cat found in the basement of a house. The animal is emaciated, with coprostasis and a neck wound, presumably as a result of an open abscess. The CRG has the necessary medicines, but the animal needs a certain therapeutic food (Royal Canin Gastro Intestinal) all the time.

The USAU Animal Rehabilitation Center exists on donations from caring citizens, so it welcomes any help. Animals constantly require specialized feed, ammunition, medicines and medical supplies. In addition, any volunteer help will be welcome here (walk, scratch, play with animals).

You can bring what you need during the opening hours of the LRC, or transfer any amount to an online wallet, as well as donate unnecessary waste paper (100 kg of waste paper provides one animal with food for a whole month). For more information, please visit the ARC website www.arc-ekb.com and call +7 (912) 667-00-70.

Text - Yulia
Filimonova