GTA vet heading to Poland to aid in animal rescue

A local Toronto-area veterinarian is heading to Poland next week to help care for animals impacted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Dr. Cliff Redford and his daughter will be volunteering with the ADA Foundation – a no-kill animal shelter – located just 30 minutes from the Ukraine border.

“I’ve done a lot of travelling and volunteer work around the world in under serviced areas but my daughter and I have never gone to a neighbouring a country at war,” said Redford.

And with that comes its own set of challenges. Dr. Redford says this rescue mission will be hard to prepare for.

“There’s going to be some simple cases, some simple vaccines and paper work so the animal can go on to the next country,” said Redford. “But then there’s going to be a lot of pets that are hungry and dehydrated, just like their human owners. And unfortunately, there’s some animals that have suffered injuries, broken bones.”

Over the past five years, Redford has been volunteering worldwide in countries like India, Greece, Jamaica, Egypt and Panama. He says the decision to go to Poland was a spur of the moment booking within a day of thinking about it.

“The stories of what the people in Ukraine are having to deal with and the wonderful work the surrounding countries are doing in receiving these people, it tugs at everyone’s heart string and it’s given me a sense of peace once I made that decision. Here’s a little bit of something I can do to help them with their suffering”

Dr. Redford says right now he plans on going to Poland for two weeks but will stay longer if needed. He also plans to share updatedof his journey rescuing the animals on his Instagram page.