A pair of Dublin dog rescuers have travelled to Ukraine to save pups in danger at the border.
Andy Cullen and Darragh Bracken - the two men behind Husky Rescue Ireland - flew out to the Ukrainian border with Poland on Thursday.
Originally, they had the idea of bringing food and blankets over to the border.
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But that plan quickly expanded into saving the dogs - even if there’s danger involved.
Andy told Dublin Live: “I decided to do an appeal for food and bring it out, then when we were here we decided to get some dogs out. We arranged to pick up some rescue dogs.
“We’ve 16 dogs at the moment in a rescue centre in Poland.
"And when they’re paperwork is done, the guys from Sweden are going to pick them up at a later date.
“We’re trying to go back to the border today to collect more dogs, and they’re the ones we’re going to bring back to Ireland.
"To enter Poland, you can only have five dogs per person. There’s three of us hoping to get 15 back."
The group were trying to get dogs from Lviv, but they were nearly caught up in a missile attack in the area.
"We were out the other night before the attack just before it," Andy said.
"I don’t think we would’ve been in direct fire but God knows.”
Andy saw videos of people fleeing their homes while carrying dogs on their backs and in their bags on social media, and Immediately started thinking about helping them.
He said: "The people are going to be helped by so many organisations - but who’s going to feed the dogs?
“The only people who’d feed them are humans with human food, they’re not going to let their dog starve.
"If you’re sitting with a sandwich and it’s the only thing you have, you’re going to give half of it to the dog.
“The dogs haven’t a clue, you can see the trouble they’re going through, they’re so confused.
"They were in a house with their families and all of a sudden they’re being put in the back of a van by strangers. Although we know we’re doing good, they don’t know what’s happening.
“It’s one of the hardest parts of the job, not being able to explain what’s happening to them.
"Hopefully they can pick up the vibes that we’re not going to harm them.
"Dogs do read your emotions and body language which is hopefully a bit of comfort for them.”
You can find out more about Husky Rescue Ireland and how to donate here.
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