Image credit: Submitted

By Marty Hastings

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

Turned away from joining the armed forces, Savona retiree helping injured animals of Ukraine

Nov 13, 2025 | 5:06 PM

KAMLOOPS — Bruce Perry, an Animal Rescue Kharkiv (ARK) caretaker in the war-torn northeastern region of Ukraine, has become accustomed to unsightly inhumanity.

“The injuries are horrendous. A lot of amputated legs, broken limbs, eyeballs missing, burned right down to the skin, shrapnel wounds – it’s despicable, it’s heinous, it’s criminal, it’s terrible,” Perry said, noting ARK headquarters are about 30 kilometres from the Russian front.

“I came to visit the clinic and, bingo, I knew right from the first time I walked in here that this is what I want to do. They say when you’re old, you have to find a sense of purpose in life, right?”

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Perry, 76, went to Ukraine to fight, leaving retired life in Savona a few months after the Russian invasion in February of 2022.

He was 73 when he arrived in Kharkiv in May of 2022 and made three attempts to join the Territorial Defence Forces.

“I have military experience, I have first-aid training, I’m retired, I have no dependents and my grandfather is Ukrainian, so I thought, ‘Well, I’ll go,’” Perry said. “And I did go.”

Rejected due to his age, Perry switched course and joined Eurokharkiv, a volunteer group that delivers supplies to frontline soldiers.

“Sunglasses, cigarettes and iPads — we’d find it and bring it to them,” Perry said, noting his grandfather was a blacksmith in the southwestern Ukrainian town of Soroky.

Perry worked for Eurokharkiv until August of 2022, going home to Savona that summer to avoid breaching maximum-stay, visa-related rules.

He returned to Ukraine in December of 2022.

“I found this (ARK), which gives me a reason to get up every morning,” Perry said. “It gives me satisfaction. There’s nothing like seeing an animal coming in here nearly catatonic, shellshocked, working with them for a week or two to get them back to trusting people.”

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Perry said there were 1,039 dogs and 389 cats under ARK’s care as of Wednesday (Nov. 12), noting about 300 surgeries take place in the clinic each month.

“They’re post-op or pre-op and I take them outside to do their business so they can get some fresh air,” Perry said. “I feed the puppies. They all know it. The place goes crazy. ‘Take me! Take me!’”

ARK takes calls from families, many of whom are unwilling to leave combat zones until their pets have a safe haven.

“But they have no place to take them,” Perry said. “Imagine this: the whole population of B.C. has to leave within a week or two and find a new place to live in Canada. It’s almost impossible for everybody to find a dwelling where new residents set up a rental that will allow them to take their family and their pets. We provide the service of going to specific locations to get animals and shelter them temporarily.”

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ARK conducts about four or five rescue missions per week, according to Perry. The organization is always scouting for strays and is often contacted by the Ukrainian military, which offers locations for animals.

“They’re injured, they’re bleeding, they’re infected, they’re sick, they’re starving, they’re cold and they’re alone, so they can’t help themselves,” Perry said. “We go to help them.”

Perry said the military provides clearance for the ARK rescue missions, but safety is not guaranteed.

“There will be Russian drones flying overhead,” Perry said. “We’ve had our vehicles bombed, strafed with shrapnel. We’ve had associates killed because of Russian shelling. These people are dedicated. We go in with helmets, full body armour. We have a drone detector, handheld devices.”

Perry said air raid sirens howl near ARK headquarters up to 20 times a day.

“It’s only a problem if you get hit,” Perry said. “And that’s the attitude here. We’re not letting Putin ruin our day.”

One of Perry’s brushes with danger took place while taking a dog for a walk.

“It was the first day with this big German Shepherd … and then it happened, a big missile struck maybe 150 yards from me,” Perry said. “And I heard the second one come and it sounds like a freight train coming out of the sky. So I grabbed this dog, threw him up against the tree and covered him up with myself. I only knew him for 10 minutes. He’s big enough to bite my arm off. Most of these dogs have never been on a leash. A lot of them used to be guard dogs. When I get a dog on the first day, I don’t know if this dog is going to bite my face off or not. The second [missile] landed about 200 metres away, completely destroyed an apartment building. People were killed and this dog was just terrified.”

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Perry does his best to avoid attachment with the animals at ARK, knowing their stays are often fleeting and many do not survive.

“Imagine having to be in the position of having to decide which dog or cat gets rescued, evacuated, treated and which ones die because there’s not enough medicine or clinic supplies,” Perry said.

“We try to get them back to their owners, but in the majority of cases, they’re going to new forever homes. There is a small percentage of cases where they are reunited with the family.”

Those rare occasions are special.

“You haven’t seen your dog for two or three months, maybe even half a year,” Perry said. “You thought maybe he was killed or lost forever. And here he is. It’s absolutely heartwarming. They see their people coming. They can smell them coming and they just go berserk. The people will be crying. To the person, everyone that I’ve seen, they start crying.”

Attachment is hard to avoid.

“My favorite dog, Tika. I sent you a picture of Tika. She’s the one with the little wheelchair we built,” Perry said. “She had her back crushed and she’ll never walk with her back legs, but we built her a kind of wheelchair. She can go along with her front paws. Man, can she ever go.”

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Perry said ARK needs money, veterinarians, vet assistants, animal health techs and nurses. Those willing to help can go online to animalrescuekharkiv.org.

“There’s a limited number of supplies and assistance which dogs are going to get,” Perry said, noting ARK can be found on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. “You fix them up the best you can. We do everything in our power to save these animals, from the tiniest little puppy to the oldest dog, we do everything that we can do.”

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Perry was asked about his mental health and his future with ARK.

“You can probably see it in my face – this old guy’s getting a little bit stressed and worn out,” he said. “I basically spend six months here and six months back home… I’m going to stay [in Ukraine] this winter. This winter is going to be just the worst ever. I’m not leaving these people behind. I’m staying here to do what I can to help these animals.”