When Pet Food Becomes Humanitarian Aid

When people are forced from their homes by war, their animals can be displaced with them.

They take their dogs.

They take their cats.

Suddenly, finding food for an animal becomes part of getting through displacement. For many people in Ukraine, their animals are family. They provide companionship, routine and comfort at a time when almost everything else has been taken away.

The Ukrainian Red Cross has recognised this as part of its humanitarian work. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the Ukrainian Red Cross, working with Humane World for Animals, has supported more than 72,000 internally displaced pet owners and more than 155,000 animals across 22 regions of Ukraine. The programme has distributed more than 544 tonnes of pet food, alongside more than 79,000 essential items, including pet carriers, grooming supplies, litter trays and other basic necessities. The Ukrainian Red Cross describes support for pets as an important component of comprehensive humanitarian assistance.

This isn't an abstract idea. It is already happening.

Keeping People and Animals Together

When people flee their homes, leaving an animal behind is not always an option.

A dog may be the only familiar thing left.

A cat may be the reason someone refuses to leave without their belongings.

And keeping an animal fed can help a displaced person maintain some of the routine and connection that has been lost.

The Ukrainian Red Cross specifically notes that remaining with their pets can support the emotional wellbeing of both adults and children coping with the effects of war and displacement. So providing food for the animal is not necessarily separate from helping the person. Sometimes it is part of the same act of humanitarian support.

The Need Doesn't Stop With Family Pets

Ukraine's shelters are caring for animals abandoned, rescued or evacuated from areas affected by the fighting. Some have been brought from frontline communities. Others have lost their owners. Many are now dependent on people and organisations that are themselves operating under extraordinary conditions.

The Ukrainian Red Cross and Humane World for Animals have also supported shelters caring for animals left without their owners, including shelters in frontline regions. And the quantities involved are enormous.

Food arrives by truck. It is stored. Sorted. Transported again.

And hopefully, it reaches a bowl.

Then the Warehouse Burns

This brings us back to the supply chain. The people caring for animals need food. The food needs to move. The supply chain gets attacked. The food is lost. And the people caring for those animals have to start again.

In June 2026, 2,100 kg of pet food destined for shelters and animal rescuers in the Sumy region was destroyed when the Nova Poshta sorting terminal holding the shipment was hit. The food was intended for animals including 584 cats and 664 dogs.

The animals did not suddenly need less food because the shipment was destroyed. They needed the food replaced. That is the problem.

Resilience Means Keeping the Food Moving

In a war, resilience is not about preventing every disruption. Some disruptions cannot be prevented. It is about being able to respond when they happen.

Finding another source of food.

Finding another route.

Finding another warehouse.

Getting another truck moving.

And making sure that an attack on one part of the system does not become an empty bowl somewhere else.

That is why the people and organisations already working on the ground matter so much. They know which animals need help. They know which shelters are struggling. They know where supplies are needed. And they can respond to circumstances that can change from one day to the next.

The Food Is Only Useful When It Reaches the Bowl

A pallet of dog food sitting in the wrong place is not much use to a hungry dog.

A shipment destroyed before it reaches a shelter is not much use either.

The important part is everything that happens between those two points.

Buying the food.

Moving it.

Storing it.

Finding a route.

Getting it to the people who need it.

And doing it again when something goes wrong.

That is the part of animal welfare that is easy to overlook. But in Ukraine, it can be the difference between an empty bowl and a full one.

Mission 1 — Ukraine

The Higgy Dog Fund was created because we believe animal welfare does not stop at the shelter gate. Sometimes animal welfare is veterinary treatment. Sometimes it is getting an animal out of danger. And sometimes it is simply making sure that food reaches the animals who need it.

The dog does not know where the food came from.

The dog only knows that it arrived.

That is enough.

And that is where our work begins.

To support Mission 1 — Ukraine, contact HDogz here.

Harrison O’Neill  

CEO, HDogz