As the war against Ukraine has progressed our hearts have been with the people under siege and we’ve been profoundly concerned for their well being as well as their pets and aquariums. The video shared below is from Pleco Ceramics shortly after the war began describing the outbreak of the war which prevented them from reaching their fancy pleco farm in Kharkov which has since been completely destroyed by Russian bombs.
With so many people being needlessly killed we didn’t want to make light of the human suffering by even talking about the pets and animals but we just received an email from COLLAR that we are compelled to share with the world. Makers of unique aquarium products under the AquaLighter brand the COLLAR company employs more than 500 people and we’ve been deeply moved by stories of citizens staying with their aquariums, hunkering down in their shops, and generally doing everything possible to look after their non-human companions.
Below you can read the entire email from COLLAR’s Company media manager Lesya Nevolko, who has spent 12 days at the bomb shelter in a kindergarden with 120 other people.
COLLAR Company feels great pain as we talk about everything happening in Ukraine. You could see images of destruction and violence from besieged Ukrainian cities and towns which are under attack right now. As you know, the main office of COLLAR Company is located in Chernihiv, a small city in the north of Ukraine with a population of about 300 000 citizens, it borders Russia and Belarus. And from the first day of war Chernihiv was under heavy russian attack, our police offices and civil infrastructure objects such as houses, hospitals, hotels, shopping centers, cinemas were shelled and hit with ballistic missiles.
On the 24-th of February all employees received a message from Company management to stay home and do everything possible to stay safe. As russian troops passed the border and attacked airports and military objects, martial law was imposed. Sadly, COLLAR Company had to stop its operations and manufacture. Regarding these circumstances, the Company understood all the importance of providing pets with food and other necessities. As well as taking care of employees and paying salary to them so that our team could go through difficult times.
Under shelling and air raid alerts COLLAR’s pet shops worked and pet owners in Chernihiv had an opportunity to buy food for their pets. For those, who couldn’t visit pet shops because they have been hiding at the bomb shelters from the very beginning until now, Yuriy Sinitsa, founder of COLLAR Company, with our team left packages with food at the entrance. As some animals were kept at our pet shops, Yuriy moved them to a safer place after destruction and shelling. 50 birds, 20 rats, 3 reptiles and 200 fish were moved and they survived. War couldn’t stop the love that Ukraine feels for the animals.
The Company also donated pet food to dog kennels in Chernihiv. Many people had to leave their houses because of destruction and bombing, and arrived as refugees to other countries, animals were left and taken to dog kennels by volunteers. Imagine that the whole dog kennels were left and no one stayed there to take care of animals.
COLLAR Company’s team worked until we had pet food in the shops. One shop was destroyed by airstrike, another one was in the center of heavy fights and after the shopping center was ruined looters stole all surviving goods. In fact, the sports complex “Chernihiv-Arena” built by Company was partially destroyed by bombs and airstrikes.
As the war started, Yuriy Sinitsa and his family decided to stay in Chernihiv and hide from attacks on the territory of the main office. They had a water and diesel generator, and Yuriy Sinitsa managed the company’s operations from the kitchen. After this region was shelled, they moved to the basement and spent 2 weeks there, including all family members and his 9-month old daughter. Family slept on the floor using wooden pallets and pet mattresses as a bed. Two cats and Lilu, a canine-assisted therapy dog, stayed with them. Yuriy Sinitsa celebrated his 45-h birthday with his family at the bomb shelter.
COLLAR Company does everything possible to stay in touch with a team of 596 members and support them using all possible ways. 255 people stayed in Chernihiv (43 %), 160 people temporarily moved to the Western part of Ukraine (27 %). We still couldn’t reach 158 people (26 %), because at the moment there is no water, gas, electricity, heating supplies in Chernihiv, and the main objects of civil infrastructure and supplies were under heavy attack.
19 employees (2 %) joined army forces to protect our land and Ukrainian independence. 10 people (2 %) left the country. Yuriy Sinitsa says, the safety of employees is the Company’s priority now and he will do his utmost to keep the team.
Yuriy Sinitsa believes that Ukraine will stand and our country will be prosperous. Ukrainians will rebuild destroyed buildings and houses, and Ukraine will recover in economic and technological ways after the war. Yuriy admits that COLLAR Company can start everything from the beginning with our team. Ukrainians express their courage to love and protect its independence, we are united as have never been before and Ukrainians will stand.
If you want to support our team and Ukrainian pets, who were left and became stray, please contact us at collarglobal.com. Thank you for your support! Stand with Ukraine!
