Hours of death, a three-legged cat from Ukraine now regularly runs a UK pub

Rocket was neglected from much-needed medical care in war-torn Ukraine, but his life changed when volunteer worker Wendy Lloyd set her eyes on him.

original source: UK mirror
Posted at 11:37, Oct 16, 2022; Updated at 11:41, October 16, 2022

A woman has revealed how she traveled to war-torn Ukraine with the aim of helping refugees cross the border into Poland, but “fell in love” with helping “forgotten war animals”.

Wendy Lloyd, from Harbourne, southwest of Birmingham, traveled to Ukraine to join other brave Britons helping refugees cross the border into Poland from Ukraine, but while at a makeshift animal shelter in the mountains around Kyiv, Wendy met a missile.

It was then, when she met the three-legged cat, that Wendy began to wonder how she could help other pets left behind while their owners fled Vladimir Putin’s wrath, Birmingham Live reports.

The missile – named after the bombs that fell around Wendy – was left with little chance of survival. The woman who ran a pop-up cat sanctuary in the Kyiv hills thought it was not necessary to give him the love and medical care he so desperately needed.

Winnie remembered seeing cats for the first time, and said, “He was in a state when I first met him.

“The place where he was staying was very cramped–and there was no fault on her part, this poor lady was inundated with 40 to 50 lost, abandoned, and wounded animals.”

Although Rocket’s life wasn’t off to a good start, as he was released by his owners and hit by another family’s car who were desperate to escape the Russian onslaught, Wendy knew exactly the right people to bring him back to health.

After an emergency trip to the vet and a few months of aftercare, Rocket is now happy and settled in his new forever home – 1,600 miles away in Birmingham.

Wendy admitted that while in Ukraine her love for animal rescue flared up again. She said, “To be honest about the whole animal side.

“I’ve always loved animals and had two dogs in Harbourne, but animal rescue work was never a lifelong passion. It was simply that we went out there to help people, and when we did everything we could, we turned our resources back to the animals.”

Wendy, who owns The Classic Scooter Company in Stirchley, is part of a network of brave volunteers who risk their lives to help displaced Ukrainians fleeing the frontline.

And over the past few months it has helped desperate families in cities such as Kyiv, Chernihiv, Bucha and Lviv, some of the regions that Russian autocrat Putin has brutally targeted.

Once Wendy and her team did everything they could to help people fleeing the war, they immediately turned their attention to the helpless animals that their owners had left stranded in the streets.

She said, “When people flee an area there is no rule book.

“Some people were locking up their pets in their homes, putting as much food and water as possible and laying them down – while others would set them free on the street.

“It’s a horrific decision families have to make – if you’re a mother and you have to choose between saving your children or the family pet, you know which one to take. There’s a lot of work going on as we talk with charities breaking into homes and rescuing abandoned animals.”

The brave woman continued, “The Russian soldiers were distributing food to civilians – as part of their propaganda mission – but the animals wouldn’t get anything. So we set up feeding stations on street corners where dogs and other animals – previously domesticated – could eat.”

“So many strays have now formed packs which is surreal because when you think of packs of stray dogs, you’d think they’d be evil, but they are all the sweetest, most lovable things.”

Near the end of her trip, Wendy learns that she has to bring a rocket with her. She said she was helping the woman in the hills, who had a temporary shelter, and a cat in particular caught her eye.

While he didn’t have a name and was sticking with life, Wendy said she felt like doing something and helping him.

Although she admitted she never came to Ukraine in search of a pet, in the midst of all the death and destruction, she found a lifelong friend in a Rocket that she brought home with her.

Wendy recalled the moment when she rolled her eyes at the missile: “We were in Lviv towards the end of our flight and suddenly the sirens went off to warn us that bombing was imminent.

“The noise cuts through your bones – it’s terrifying.

“Eight rockets fell over our heads and we had to sit tight – the cat was the only one of us who wasn’t panicked. We were in the middle of debating what to shoot it, so we settled on a rocket – it’s also like a Guardians of the Galaxy rocket, so it works in both Both directions!”

Feeling compelled to help, she brought him back with her.

Now that the three-legged cat has settled into his new home, Rocket—who Wendy says “acts more like a dog than a cat—is already starting to make friends with his new neighbours.

She said, “He settled down well.

“He never does things like this, he comes to the pub with me and has become a regular at Twelfth Man in Edgbaston. It only took a few days for his character to emerge, but he’s doing amazingly well.”