Paws warm: Ukrainians raised over UAH 2 million to warm tens of thousands of stray animals

Winter is one of the most difficult challenges for stray animals. However, each of us can help them survive the cold. In November and December, a charity initiative called Holidays with a Tail, launched by the EVA chain of stores and the Happy Paw Foundation, was running in Ukraine to warm up the tailed and whiskered animals in shelters. Every Ukrainian could join in, and the results of the project exceeded the organizers' expectations. 

In two months, the initiative raised UAH 2,365,470. Of this amount, almost two million was donated by EVA customers, who had the opportunity to donate from one hryvnia when paying for purchases at the store checkout. Another 260,000 hryvnias were contributed by the company itself, and more than 100,000 were raised online - through the project's website . 

An interactive game was created on the website to help the pets spend the winter warm. Everyone could choose a real cat or dog they wanted to warm, the style of the house for the four-legged friend, and the elements of comfort: firewood, food, or a bed. As a result, Ukrainians made 673 donations through the website. The most popular insulation options were the Modern house and the Kus bowl.

EVA and Happy Paw, a foundation for helping homeless animals, have been launching charity collections on the eve of the winter holidays for the third year in a row. The foundation cooperates on a regular basis with more than 200 shelters across Ukraine. Every month, shelters submit requests for their current needs, and assistance is distributed according to them and the foundation's resources.

The shelters already know that at the end of the year, the Foundation and EVA will launch charitable projects aimed specifically at helping animals in winter. Therefore, they are looking forward to this opportunity to help their four-legged friends.

This time, the Holidays with a Ponytail project aimed to raise one million hryvnias to warm animals in 30 shelters. But thanks to the warmth of Ukrainians, we managed to do twice as much. 

"This year, we almost doubled the results of the previous initiative both in terms of the amount of money raised and the number of shelters that received help. More than twenty-two thousand happy furry animals is one of the best KPIs imaginable. We are extremely grateful to everyone who joined the project and gave their care to the four-legged residents of the shelters," said Oleksandra Hnatyk, Head of PR at EVA.

As a result, this winter has become more comfortable for the residents of 74 shelters in 17 regions of Ukraine, whose "population" is more than 22 thousand cats and dogs.

"This is a colossal project! It's no exaggeration to call it a "Holiday with a Tail". Thanks to the activity of philanthropists, we managed not only to close the requests for help to animals, but also to equip heat centers in shelters and to meet the monthly, sometimes even seasonal, need for fuel. Our task was not just to spend the funds raised, but to make sure that the help will keep the tails warm for many years to come," comments Lyudmila Yenzheevskaya, curator of the Happy Paw Foundation.

The foundation clarified that thanks to the funds raised, it was possible to purchase more than 300 kennels, more than 400 cubic meters of firewood, 14 tons of coal and fuel briquettes, 305 beds, 10 electric convectors, as well as stoves and electric heating mats.

The most active benefactors were customers from Dnipro, Kyiv and Odesa regions.

Tetris the dog and Adalia the cat told us more about the Holidays with a Ponytail initiative from the point of view of the animals themselves. They have been living in the "In Good Hands" shelter in Kyiv region for more than a year. They shared five tips on how to stay warm in winter in the project's reporting video.