Brave man travels to Ukraine to save 35 German Shepherds and help them get new homes
Chris Jimenez is one of many people helping Ukraine’s animals during the war. There’s been more than a handful of stories about these rescues, and this one is a happy addition to that list.
Chris, the latest Ukraine animal helper, hails from San Diego, California.
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He owns a business called K-9 Connect, which should paint a good picture of how much he cares about dogs.
Chris recently saved 35 trained German Shepherds from Ukraine.
Here’s how he did it.
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The 27-year-old was corresponding with a contact of his in Ukraine. Then, his contact simply texted the words “We are being bombed.” It was prompt, unexpected, and sudden. Anyone who was following the news that day would know it was no exaggeration
There was a lot to make of this news, and none of it was good. But Jimenez didn’t plan on just sitting around and waiting to see how things played out.
While people like his contact could get up and head to safety on their own, the story was different for Ukraine’s four-legged residents.
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He booked a flight to Warsaw, Poland, which is where he planned to operate and relocate the dogs.
He arrived in Ukraine via train and hitchhiked to Kyiv where the dogs and his contacts were waiting.
All he had to start with was a small hatchback car. Compact and convenient in any other scenario, but it proved too small to carry many dogs at a time.
Chris could only fit 3 dogs a time in the car with him, so he tried to make do in the meantime.
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Though thankfully, he was able to get a temporary upgrade to aid his efforts. He borrowed a van which streamlined the process considerably.
He took the dogs to Poznan, Poland, where it was safe.
There’s an old animal shelter there that could accommodate all 35 of the German Shepherds.
But he couldn’t stay there long. As happy as the City Council if Poznan was to help, Chris couldn’t just leave all the dogs in the shelter and call it a day.
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He needed to find proper homes for each and every dog – and that presented just as much of a challenge as rescuing them from the warzone in the first place.
He’s currently corresponding with a K-9 handler in Maine named Tim Davis. Davis is affiliated with Knox County Sheriff’s Office. With his help, Chris’ goal is to raise money to help fly the dogs to new homes.
“Everyone here is taken care of, right now my only concern is getting the dogs back home.” – he said
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Chris has used social media for help, and he made progress.
The GoFundMe he set up has raised $40,000 when his goal was $38,000.
Donations weren’t the only significant form of help he got.
The citizens of Ukraine helped him find his way around the city too.
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“In all these terrible places, people saw me and they’re like this guy looks lost, he’s going to get himself killed, we should help this guy. We don’t speak the same language, never met, will never meet again, probably. Complete strangers took me in every single step of the way and just helped me get here.”
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To keep up with Chris and the dogs or to donate to his GoFundMe, click here.
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Source: @k.9connect on Instagram, News Center Maine, German Shepherd Country