Russia’s attack on Ukraine has been immensely unwarranted and has displaced millions from Ukraine. A lot of people are fleeing violence and finding refuge in foreign countries.
And of course, in these difficult circumstances, they had to leave behind some things which were precious to them such as their very own pets…
Life was perfect for 10-year-old Ahnessa and her family. She lived with her two older sisters and parents in Odesa, Ukraine. The family had a beloved cat Arsenii, to who little Ahnessa was the closest because the pair had literally grown up together.
When the war in Ukraine started, the family had to quickly flee Odesa and find safety elsewhere. They initially escaped to Bucharest, Romania and stayed there for a while till they were granted safe entry into the United States.
The Bezhenar family was featured on an app where Americans could match with and sponsor Ukrainian families fleeing the war. Geoffrey Peters was on the app, looking to do his part for refugees when he matched with the family.
“When the invasion happened, I felt like we needed to do something to help people,” Peters recalls.
“Maria sent an email saying we’ve been matched and we have a family of six,” Peters added. “And so I went to my son and I said instead of renting this house, which he was planning on doing, would you be willing to donate it for two years?”
The Bezhenar family finally reached their new home in Sonoma County. The home was completely empty and they had to start from scratch but fortunately the Cloverdale community stepped up and chipped in to help furnish the home with everything the family might need. While the community gave to the family, they claim, they learned something from the Bezhenars as well.
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“The whole community has learned a few lessons. They learned about Ukraine and about the situation with refugees in Ukraine, but they also learned how to be a community,” Peters said.
As the family started settling into their new home in a new country, the youngest of the group, little Ahnessa was having a hard time. She couldn’t sleep well at night and be constantly upset. She missed her cat Arsenii and this caused the family a lot of distress to see their youngest miserable.
This is when an international animal rescue mission for little Arsenii was set into motion. Ahnessa’s mom had bonded with her flight attendant to America, Dee Harnish. The women kept in touch and Ahnessa’s mom asked her for help to get Arnesii to America. The flight attendant knew another colleague who worked on rescuing animals. With their help, they were able to further the plan.
Ahnessa’s uncle was taking care of the cat back in Ukraine, he had him vaccinated and microchipped after taking him on a bike to Maldova. The cat was transported with a refugee family to Bucharest where he stayed for a month.
After that an American tourist in Greece, Mimi Grace was tasked with bringing the cat to America. Arsenii traveled from Greece to Montreal and then to Seattle from where he was finally reunited with his family in California.
Now Ahnessa finally has her beloved Arsenii and can get a good nights sleep snuggled in with her beloved cat.
There is a GoFundMe page set up for the family to help them with expenses as they settle into a new life in America.
What a beautiful story of people coming together to help a little girl reunite with her beloved pet. There is still some good in the world.
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