Hastings man gives up business to save dogs in Ukraine and Turkey before setting up own animal rescue

Dave Rogers travelled to Ukraine at the start of the war – closing his business in the security industry to pay for the journey – all in the effort to rescue dogs, along with his best friend Chloe.

Despite the dangers of the war that had just begun, the pair flew to Poland and drove into Ukraine where they started helping rescue animals with a few small organisations already based there.

However, Dave said he found that the organisations were ‘all guts and glory’ and ‘not there for the animals, but the social media side of things’.

This led the pair to return home to Hastings and fundraise to begin their own organisation, Dogs Life Rescue, before returning to Poland. These funds, along with the support from a ‘huge sponsor’ helped them able to fix up an abandoned shelter.

Dave and Chloe have been rescuing injured, abandoned and unwanted dogs from places struck by war, and getting the animals the treatment they need, before finding them new homes. They provide medical treatment, food, shelter and love to the dogs, ensuring that they are given a second chance at life.

With the help of contacts, including their sponsor Big Dog Rescue, the newly-established rescue organisation has saved more than 300 dogs in Ukraine, and has sent some of the animals off to loving new homes in America, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

The experience hasn’t been easy: during their time in Ukraine, Dave and his team had missiles flying over their heads while rescuing dogs and, on his previous visit to earthquake-hit Turkey, Dave experienced one of the aftershocks, which had a magnitude of 4.3, while standing on the eleventh-floor of a tower block searching for a cat.

He said: “That is something I never want to experience again in my life.”

Despite this, the organisation is now heading back to Turkey to continue rescuing dogs.

As a self-proclaimed animal-lover, Dave said some of the sights he’s seen have been ‘absolutely horrendous’.

The first animal the rescue team came across in Turkey – a Caucasian Shepherd – was particularly distressing, as the dog had been ‘crushed by a building’, causing him to lose a leg.

However, the team found a vet who could give the dog the treatment he needed, and he is now ‘living his best life on three legs’, in his new adopted home in Turkey.

Some dogs have even made such a lasting impression that Dave has adopted them himself and brought them home to Hastings, including Cerberus, who was found wandering in Ukraine ‘hours away from death’ due to massive parasites in his stomach.

He was taken back to safety and given vet treatment, while Dave ‘never left his side’, having already developed a bond.

After a brief stay at the vets, and then in quarantine, Cerberus joined Dave permanently at the shelter in Poland, before making the trip back home to Hastings in December.

Dave added: “He suffers with stomach issues due to his complications but is loving his life now.”

Cerberus was then joined by Morpheus, the only survivor of 20 puppies exposed to Parvovirus.

Dave said: “Most of his brothers and sisters died of the virus, despite our best efforts to save them all.

"Morpheus wouldn't leave my side and would cry if I wasn’t near him, so the decision was made for me to have another partner in crime.

“He and Cerberus are inseparable now.”

For more information about Dogs Life Rescue, and to donate to help more dogs like Cerberus and Morpheus, visit: www.dogsliferescue.co.uk.

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