The Impact of our Appeal for Ukraine

Your gifts to our Appeal for Ukraine have made a huge difference to dogs in need this year.

Thanks to the support of thousands of dog lovers in the UK and further afield, since March 2022, our Appeal for Ukraine has raised in excess of £250,000 to help dogs and their owners in Ukraine and surrounding countries. This has included supplying food and shelter to those who need it most.

Given the war in Ukraine shows no signs of halting, we are keeping the Appeal open for the time being, with a special auction being held at Crufts in March 2023 when the Appeal will close.

The Kennel Club Charitable Trust, has channeled all gifts through the FCI (Federation Cynologique Internationale) which is in the best position to help through its network of kennel clubs in Ukraine and neighbouring countries.

Working with the FCI also ensures that money donated to the Appeal for Ukraine is spent in the best way possible and will have the biggest impact possible. The FCI conduct due diligence on all organisations it is helping with our Appeal monies so we can rest assured that gifts are being spent as they were intended. Every request made to the FCI is carefully considered and must be validated by the National Canine Organisation of the rehoming country, ensuring reputable organisations are receiving the funds.

In particular, the FCI has been working closely with the Ukrainian Kennel Union (UKU) and Atibordeaux (World Association for Dogue de Bordeaux), with reports coming in that food and medicine, but especially food, is the main challenge for dog owners – disrupted supply chains mean that simply feeding their dogs is a major challenge.

Thankfully, we can report that your money is having an impact on the ground in Ukraine right now.

Over 55 clubs have been supported in Ukraine, along with others in Spain, Poland, France, Italy and San Marino where people have fled to other European countries for safety.

We are delighted with feedback from Leif Kopernik, the Managing Director of VDH (Verband fur das Deutsche Hundewesen) in Germany, who has reported that given the value of financial support received from the FCI, they were able to negotiate an extraordinarily low price from premium dog food supplier, Fressnap, due to the volume they were buying. As such, in June the VDH set off to Ukraine with 400 pallets (each with 550kg of food) to distribute to those in need, meaning over 35,000 bags of food reached our canine friends and eased their hungry tummies.