Local donations for Ukraine’s family pets have been paused temporarily with the first trucks from Northern Ireland already filled to capacity and awaiting border access permission by Polish Embassy officials.
Businesses and the public have gathered food, bedding, coats and safety crates for families fleeing from Ukraine under Putin's bombardment.
And with the Polish Embassy requesting donation items for human use and consumption cross into their country as a priority, the pet donations are now in a queue.
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Co Armagh pet food firm Mackle and Jollyes The People across Nothern Ireland, jointly donated what is believed to the single largest contribution of pet food being sent from the West.
And it has been bolstered by vast donations from the public left into 24 centres across the country and will be shipped to Poland by drivers from Northern Ireland’s Polish community.
From there it will be distributed by a Romanian charity Casa lui Patrocle - Animal Rescue, a non-governmental and non-profit organisation on the ground with refugees.
The following drop-off points for Ukraine Appeal only, are now closed to Ukraine donations until further notice:
- Jollyes, Coleraine
- Jollyes, Enniskillen
- Jollyes, Omagh
- Animal Support Trust, Omagh
- Tyrone Husky Rescue
- Pets at Home, Craigavon
- The Potato Bar, Lurgan
- Jollyes, Lurgan
- Pet Warehouse NI, Hillsborough
- Grosvenor Tropicals, Lisburn
- Jollyes, Lisburn
- Jollyes, Belfast
- PetzZone, Crumlin
- Firmount Vets, Antrim
- Aldergrove Boarding Kennels
- Antrim Pets
- Jollyes, Ballymena
- OhDoggy, Newtownabbey
- Absolutely Barking, Newtownabbey
- Jollyes, Newtownabbey
- Eastside Vets, Belfast
- Printed & Pawfect, Donaghadee
- Jollyes, Bangor
David Foster from PlayforStrays charity stepped in to helped co-ordinate the donations delivery after donation drives by Belfast cafes Gusberts and the Smokey Deli. All donations are now on pallets in Mallusk, Co Antrim waiting to be transported to Poland as soon as possible.
He said: “Very rarely does any charity ask for a pause on donations but we have been overwhelmed by the speed and volume of donations and the support has been incredible thanks to the help of DogsLive and Belfast Live getting word out there to a vast amount of people.
“The donations will be making their way to Poland and from there they will be distributed by Casa
“However the Polish authorities have had to put huge set of logistics in place to handle in the influx of people and the massive amount of donations coming into their country for those people who have fled Ukraine.
“We had hoped the pet food and other donations would have been moving this weekend but we are now in a queue to meet the requirements of the Polish Embassy and as such we must put a pause pause to the donations. There are so many, there is literally nowhere to store any more for now.
“But the lorries will be leaving Northern Ireland every Tuesday for as long as donations are available to take over.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, to everyone for your absolutely overwhelming support over the past few days. It has exceeded every expectation and blown our minds at the response.
"The outpouring of support and love for the animals of the displaced and refugees has proven what a truly wonderful world we are really.
"Multiple local animal rescues have chipped in too as well as businesses and of course the general public. I was even stopped in a car park today by a wonderful couple and given a donation, plus an extra three bags of cat and dog food they bought there and then at the pet shop we were at.
"But for now there is a physical limit that can be transported, and with the best will in the world we can only store so much at a time. Our storage space is very limited and full to bursting.
"Right now we have more than £5,500 raised and thousands upon thousands of individual items. The money raised via this appeal is going to be used to purchase even more goods and I will be speaking with the teams in Poland personally to ensure we purchase only what they need on the ground.
"We will not be sending any cash donations to anyone, for any reason. This is fundamental to our own charitable purposes.
"So, if you were going to donate physical items soon, please wait for us to catch our breath first. Most of the drop-off points cannot hold items for us and it's unfair for them to do so too.
"We want to ensure that this first load gets away as soon and as smoothly as possible, and with that in the bag we can perhaps move on to the second one with some ease.
"Thanking you all in advance for understanding I know we at PlayforStrays are truly humbled by the generosity. And whilst I don’t speak for anyone else, I think I am safe in saying that Gusberts and the Smokey Deli, Casa lui Patrocle - Animal Rescue and the people and the pets of Ukraine think the same.”
