Lenny was a stray dog who shunned Dr. Courtney Katsur when they first met.

Lenny had been on the streets of Ukraine for an unknown amount of time, caught in the war’s sights, but Dr. Katsur didn’t know that. But she had personally witnessed how the battle had left so many dogs starving and in search of food. Lenny was malnourished and hurt when he finally made it to an animal shelter.

He was laying near to a heater when I initially arrived, according to Dr. Katsur, who spoke to The Dodo. He underwent surgery, was immobile for two days, and had no confidence in anyone.

Just a few weeks before to meeting Lenny, Dr. Katsur was living in Virginia and following the war from her house. She decided to go to Ukraine to assist after witnessing footage and pictures of canines running loose.

All the pet owners who had to leave their best friends behind and the dogs and cats who were left stranded when animal shelters were destroyed hurt her heart.

She therefore made the decision to apply her veterinary knowledge on the battlefield.

“I realized I could help, you know?”, remarked Dr. Katsur. I’ve never made a greater effort to reach a destination that is unpopular.

During her two-week tour, she assisted the grassroots organization Breaking The Chains, established in the UK, in providing food and medical attention to animals. During her time in Ukraine, Dr. Katsur assisted a great number of animals, and each one had a profound impact on her. When I left them, I cried, Dr. Katsur admitted.

Lenny, however, is a dog she won’t soon forget because of how drastically he changed in front of her.

In the course of caring for him at their shelter facility, Dr. Katsur and the other volunteers eventually gained his trust and observed as he grew accustomed to residing among people.

Dr. Katsur remarked, “[He] jumped and laid in my luggage.” “Previously, he wouldn’t even let a human to touch him, but now he would jump and lay on my cot to cuddle.”

Dr. Katsur was impressed by how caring and affectionate Lenny had grown.

Dr. Katsur added, “He made such a transformation. It was incredible.

Lenny enjoys living at the shelter, and everyone there loves him just as much, so much so that he has subsequently earned the nickname “the compound dog.”

Lenny “possessed the building towards the end,” says Dr. Katsur. He essentially had full rein to move throughout the compound.

Katsur is currently back in the US, soliciting donations and coordinating volunteers from a distance, but she intends to return to Ukraine in September to save many more animals.

Dr. Katsur remarked, “Right now I feel like [we’ve] completed about zero-point-one percent of what has to be done.”

In addition, Lenny and any other animals who require care are now being cared for at the property by a full-time Ukrainian veterinarian, thanks to Dr. Katsur and Breaking The Chains.