Dr Lachlan Campbell: Gold Coast vet rescuing animals in Ukraine with animal charity Nowzad
An Australian vet rescues abandoned and injured animals on the front lines of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Dr. Lachlan Campbell, from south-east Queensland, joined British animal welfare charity Nowzad in October after previously volunteering in the war-torn country.
In Australia, Dr Campbell, 43, works as a vet in Bundall on the Gold Coast, helping to provide free veterinary care to pets of the homeless.
He has so far helped save hundreds of terrified and injured dogs, cats, goats and even deer in Ukraine, with up to eight air raid sirens going off around him every day.
Often the pets are found with no trace of their owners and no idea whether they are alive or dead.
Dr. Lachlan Campbell (pictured), from the Sunshine Coast, joined British animal welfare charity Nowzad and rescued abandoned and injured animals in war-torn Ukraine
A woman hugs ‘Ewok’, the poster boy for animal welfare organization Nowzad, during a fundraising event
Dr. Campbell performs surgeries and gives vaccinations to abandoned and injured pets whose owners are unfortunately often nowhere to be found
His work includes performing emergency surgery on animals, providing rabies vaccinations and other essential treatments such as deworming and flea prevention.
Recently, Dr. Campbell and Nowzad, founded by a former Royal Marine Pen Farthing, built a shelter for 80 dogs in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine.
The city has been shelled several times since the invasion began in February 2022.
He shared shocking images of a destroyed unit block in Kramatrosk, which he said was hit by a Russian missile.
“Many of the people who used to live in Kramatorsk have left the city in search of safer places to live.”
Anyway, Dr. Campbell and the Nowzad team continue to treat and rescue animals close to the fighting.
In one video, Mr Farthing and a local woman who runs an animal shelter, Natalia, speak to a cat owner who refuses to leave her home despite being two kilometers away from the battle.
Mr Farthing is a polarizing figure in Britain. Adored by animal lovers, he also angered the British government when he evacuated 173 cats and dogs on a charter flight from Afghanistan in 2021.
Dr. Campbell said many of the dogs rescued in Ukraine exhibit war trauma “including blindness, loss of limbs and severe anxiety (PTSD).”
Nowzad founder Pen Farthing with Natalia (pictured center), who runs an animal shelter in Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine, with a cat owner who refuses to leave her home.
Recently Dr. Campbell and Nowzad, founded by a former Royal Marine Pen Farthing, a sanctuary for 80 dogs in Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine.
Dr. Campbell managed to lure a scared Rottweiler out of a cage in a video on his Instagram
Dr. Campbell wrote on a fundraising page that he would never forget the suffering of innocent animals and people in Ukraine.
“(They) suffer unspeakable cruelty, desolation, hunger, thirst, explosive mines and rocket attacks,” he wrote.
Dr. Campbell also donated an ultrasound machine to the Lviv Veterinary University.
He said donations to his GoFundMe page will be used to purchase “medicines, instruments, equipment, food, blankets, pain relief and other essential supplies needed to meet the welfare needs of war-affected animals in Ukraine.”
In December he plans to volunteer with Vets Beyond Borders in Fiji.