Animal rescue group works to save pets from Ukrainian war zone and reunite them with their owners

FOX 2 – “We travel thousands of miles a day on some days to retrieve these animals,” said Tom of Breaking Chains Animal Rescue Group.

Breaking Chains is the only band on the front lines in Ukraine, rescuing animals from a war zone.

“We bring together people with animals who have lost their husbands, lost their children, lost their homes, lost their countries, lost their jobs – they have nothing left but the love they have for this dog,” did he declare.

Tom spoke with FOX 2 about an hour south of kyiv at a stranger’s house – kind enough to let him shower for the first time in a week.

He and his team are all ex-British servicemen who fought and came to Ukraine when the bombing started. On Tuesday, they rescued 120 animals from a shelter that was hit by airstrikes twice just a mile from the red zone.

“We also had 23 IDF strikes during animal loading and resupply – so that was interesting,” he said.

They work with shelters across Europe to get animals safely across the border and reunite all pets – with refugee families.

“It could be a year, it could be two years, it could be two weeks – we don’t know,” he said.

And now they’re helping a troubled children’s hospital.

“We won’t just ignore people because we’re here to help animals, we help whoever we can,” Tom said.

The children are too sick – and cannot run away. He says supplies are dwindling, some are gone. No medicine to treat children with seizures caused by anxiety caused by airstrikes.

“No matter what happens if it gets to a point where they’re surrounded and they can’t get out, we’ll be there with them to make sure they’re okay, we won’t let them,” he said. -he declares.

This weekend, two American veterans will join the cause, alongside Tom who left behind his own family, including two daughters, for this vocation.

“There is no more compassionate and loving animal than a dog,” he said. “And if we learned and showed that love and compassion on a daily basis, that dogs show us as humans, the world would be a much better place and we wouldn’t be in the position we are in today.”

If you want to help their cause, go to the band’s website HERE.