Security Guard Stabbed by Mob While Protecting Dog Orphanage
- by Laura Simpson
- September 16, 2014
- 5:30 pm
Just weeks into his new job as a security guard for the Ukrainian animal shelter in the city of Kiev, Petro Dibrova was forced to become a human shield when a mob of angry men appeared with the intention of killing the animals and taking the compound for themselves.
“The attackers tried to enter the heart of the shelter but Petro would not let them,” Shelter founder Tamara Tarnawska explains from Petro’s hospital bedside. “Then they attacked him and inflicted several stab wounds. Staff at the shelter had to call the police and they managed to detain one of the attackers.”
The attack happened in the evening hours and was the second in a series of attempts to harm the animals at the shelter. Back in February Molotov cocktails were thrown over the shelter wall, causing extensive damage to the puppy zone, but thankfully no animals were harmed. Yet this ambush was bolder and far more hands-on.
“In the evening Petro heard the barking of dogs and some shouting in the street,” Tamara explains. ”Our shelter is located in a field, not near people’s homes, so Petro went over to see what was happening. He saw several of the dogs behaving very hectically. Petro did not see anyone so he went to get them some food, assuming the dogs were hungry. When he started to feed them, several men ran toward him shouting, ‘There are many war refugees and destruction, and you feed the homeless animals!’”
“The men started beating the dogs on their paws and Petro immediately threw himself at them,” Tamara continued. “The men were punching Petro and stabbing him with a screwdriver. They knocked out one of Peter’s teeth and stabbed him in the cheek and leg. The shouts and the barking of the dogs alerted the women employees at the shelter who came forward instantly. Then the men started screaming more and threatened to burn down the shelter with all the dogs in it. Our female employees managed to call the police who arrived pretty quickly and arrested one of the attackers.”
The timing of this event is simply uncanny. For the past 20 years the shelter, known locally as the dog orphanage, has never had a guard. Petro was hired by the Harmony Fund just weeks before the attack.
“Had Petro not been there, the animals would be dead today and we fear for what may have happened to our female workers,” Tamara continues. “This one man single-handedly protected more than a thousand lives.”
Female workers at the shelter are afraid for their lives.
Petro (Peter in English) is expected to fully recover and to return to the shelter later this month. At his own home, Petro cares for several dogs he has adopted from the shelter, and now he is compelled to defend them all. He has vowed never to leave the dogs.
“Now the shelter is very tense situation,” Tamara continues fretfully. ”Shelter staff are afraid to come to work, afraid that they might ignite in flames along with the animals.”
The dogs seem to be on alert now, always watching for intruders.
Food Drive Underway for the Animals Here – Take Action
The Harmony Fund has put additional security measures in place and a second guard will now be on duty at all times. And although these sporadic violent attacks on the shelter are chilling, the threat of hunger and cold are of equal concern.
A full scale mission is underway to raise funds to continue to pay for the guards here and to provide food, electricity and heating fuel for this shelter and two others under considerable threat here in the Ukraine. Because the supply of food and goods are already sporadic, there is a real urgency here and the goal is to gather sufficient supplies to be ready for the worst. Nearly half of the funds to complete this effort have been raised. To learn more or to participate in this effort to care for the animals in Ukraine’s warzone, click here.
Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/security-guard-stabbed-by-mob-while-protecting-dog-orphanage.html#ixzz3DjlVl5d1
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