Local Animal Rescuer Tom Bates Returns to Ukraine Fourth Time

Tom Bates of Lakebay, 70, is headed back to Ukraine May 14 for three more months of moving food and supplies to people near the front and evacuating injured or abandoned animals. It will be his fourth trip to the war since the Russian full-scale invasion Feb. 24, 2022. He has spent more than 450 days in Ukraine over the last two years.

Bates and his main working partner, Nick Tadd, formed a Ukrainian nonprofit organization, K9 Rescue Ukraine, based in Poltava in 2023 run by former marketing director Luda Khomenko to simplify logistics and interaction with local government. He told KP News he intends to solidify its operation on this trip so that it will be his last.

“I want them to be able to do the work there while I raise the money here,” he said.

Bates is a volunteer connected to a large network of other volunteers, both domestic and foreign, collecting donations of animal food and medicines and coordinating deliveries across Eastern Ukraine. At the same time, Bates uses a 20-year-old SUV to transport animals out of danger zones to veterinary hospitals and animal sanctuaries or prepare them for adoption out of the country.

“On one of my last trips we had five Dobermans, a few cats, half a dozen chickens, and an owl with one wing in the truck,” he said.

“On this next trip, I want to bring a suitcase full of flea and tick meds.”

For more information, go to www. facebook.com/tom.bates or https:// k9-rescue.org.