The death of our dear Dog of War
Close readers of The Counteroffensive will recall that last December, we tried to raise funds for our journalism by selling Dog of War calendars.
For our June photo, we had Goldie, a pup who we found at the Hostomel dog shelter. A beautiful canine with some trust issues (well, who among us doesn’t have that?), she made the perfect portrait for the start of summer.
When we printed the calendar, we had no idea that the late spring and early summer would see rapidly-escalating Russian attacks throughout the country, terrorizing civilians on a far more frequent basis – and killing, injuring more too.
The strain is not just acute, but cumulative and chronic. It is the feeling of perpetually not knowing whether you are safe. It is the concept that you are always one moment away from danger. The unknown plays like a shadow on the mind.
The vulnerable and innocent suffer the most. The elderly, the children – and the dogs. A lot of times, the unbearable noise of explosions can be too much for a horrified animal.
On Tuesday, Goldie was killed by Russia, the victim of yet another attack.
"Our sunny Goldie is gone. The beauty could not stand another shelling, got scared, lost consciousness, and never woke up again… Light clouds, our incredible girl," the shelter wrote in a post on its Instagram.
Goldie spent her whole life in the shelter and got there as a little puppy almost nine years ago with her sister Jane. She never had an owner or some constant figure in her life to get affection from, so she had some trust issues. Despite this, she was the ambassador of the shelter, as they referred to her in the memorial post on their Instagram.
"[She was] a ray of sunshine who met and saw off guests. The dog that always pleased with her presence and gentle attitude towards visitors," the shelter wrote in the post.
The Counteroffensive reached out to get the specifics on what happened to Goldie.
"She died of a heart attack. It happened instantly," said Maria Vronska, the owner of the shelter. The staff didn't even have a chance to help her. Goldie was a healthy dog, with all the necessary vaccines, according to Maria.
It’s not the first time a dog in this shelter has died during a loud attack. Some older dogs died throughout the years of war, too, from the noises of Russian terror.
“The shelter suffers quite a lot from the shelling, from the fact that it is very loud around, and we can't do anything to help the animals,” Maria said.
The Counteroffensive is not immune from the pressures and strain of seemingly-constant attacks. On Wednesday I asked our entire team to take the day off – the news about Goldie, combined with a sleepless night for the entire team, meant that everyone could use a breather.
Meanwhile we are trying to enhance our safety posture. We are covering the windows of our office in plastic to reduce its chance of shattering during an explosion; I’ve issued every person on our team a medical kit; and we will soon make sure that we have blow-up mattresses and ear plugs so that our team can get a reasonable night’s rest in their hallways.
The Counteroffensive also covers the full cost of the team’s therapy sessions, which have become more necessary as the pressures of the war have increased.
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