Throughout the past year people across the globe have been finding ways to support Ukrainians, whether sending relief funds, supporting military aid, or actually traveling to Ukraine to help. In the first part of our special weeklong series on the anniversary of the war, WAMC’s North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley recently visited a Saranac Lake veterinarian who traveled to Ukraine to help animals and saw the impact of the conflict.
I meet Dr. John Cogar at his home just north of Saranac Lake on a cool morning as a wintry cloud cover settles over the landscape.
Hello.
Hi, how are you Dr. Cogar?
Good. Too bad it’s not sunny. You know on a clear day you can see Whiteface Mountain right there. It's right there.
Leaving this pastoral setting in the Adirondacks, Dr. Cogar traveled to Ukraine last October, spending 10 days working at a veterinary clinic in Irpine, east of Kyiv. He explained how he made the decision to go to Ukraine in the midst of a war.
I was on five United States national bobsled teams. I got to meet Dmitry Feld, who was the head of the U.S. luge team. We got to be good friends. And he was from Russia/Ukraine. But he was raised in Ukraine and he considers himself Ukrainian. So over the next 25 - 30 years, I took care of his animals being his veterinarian in the area. So when this horrible, unjustified invasion took place and like you and everybody else, I saw national news. People from bombed out buildings carrying their pets in their arms and animal lovers all over the world were touched by people who grabbed nothing else but their pets and the clothes on their back a lot of time. So that aroused my thinking. But number two, Dmitry Feld, who I just talked about, he was putting Ukrainian flags up and down Lake Placid. So I wrote out a check. And then I made the proverbial statement: Is there anything else I can do? And he said as a matter of fact there is! He said they're in dire need of veterinary help in Ukraine. I'm semi-retired. I thought about it. And I said, why not? You know, why not? It felt like a calling to me, you know, to help these people and help the animals. My wife was not happy about this. She thought I was nuts. But to be fair to her, I didn't even know what I was getting into. I mean, it's a war zone, you know. So I didn't know how dangerous it was going to be. I wasn't even sure, as did I’m sure, nobody knew where the military front was shifting or moving. So, anyway Dmitry and I, we talked back and forth and he arranged the whole trip with him going with me, just the two of us. We flew right out of Lake Clear Airport, which is three minutes from this house, right to Boston, Boston to Heathrow in London, and then on to Krakow, Poland. And we had to take a car ride and then get on a train in Poland and then a 10-hour train to Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. And then from there I actually went about 30 miles further east to a city called Irpine and that's where I did my veterinary work. That's where I was for 10 days straight doing surgery. And Irpine saw the brunt of the beginning of the war. There I saw bombed out building after bombed out building and destroyed houses, hundreds of destroyed cars. It took a beating compared to Kyiv itself. I wasn't in an active war zone but I was in an area that had been, you know, saw the brunt of Russian occupation for a while.
Did you have any reservations before, or when you were seeing those buildings, about going?
I'm the kind of person when I make up my mind to do something, after I weigh all the factors, I go straight ahead. I don't, I don't have any doubts. I was not hesitant about the dangers or anything at that point. I just wanted to do it and help these people. And when I got there it did not feel like a dangerous place. But in retrospect, looking back, I was in a lot more danger I think than I knew of. I remember one morning on my third or fourth day Dmitry and I were walking to the veterinary clinic, he interpreted for me all the time. But the person said to him, there was a drone shot out of the sky, two blocks down, like four hours ago. And you know my eyes got kind of big! And they said don't worry, our military is good. I saw tons of devastation from what had happened months before. Yeah, it was probably, I was probably in more danger than I thought I was. But I didn't feel like I was in much danger when I was there. I was focused on my work.
You brought at least one drone with you for the Ukrainian military?
Yes, that's correct. I didn't even know we were doing this myself. I actually had a whole massive suitcase full of veterinary supplies. About a week before we when Dmitry Feld asked me are you taking a carry on? Well, why are you asking? He says because if you're not I'd like us each to take a military drone. He somehow had an avenue where he obtained these. So we each took a drone with us. I was surprised we didn't have trouble getting through security and everything else with these things. But we were fine. These are drones for surveillance mostly the ones we brought. So they were really lifesaving.
And I understand they met you at the train station?
That’s correct. We got in at the train station about eight o'clock in the evening. It was very dark. I think the electricity was out once again. But anyway, when we got off the train and exited the station, which is quite beautiful by the way, this whole military group was waiting to greet us and meet us. And then the following day, I started my work, my veterinary work.
So what was your typical day like at the veterinary clinic?
They’d always have anywhere between eight and eleven animals for me to do surgery on. Which is a lot. That'd be a lot even for me at my veterinary clinic. But it was extremely difficult or stressful, or, you know, taxing because they didn't have the modern things that I am used to. For instance there was no gas anesthesia. So I had to do it all with chemical anesthesia. It's a lot more difficult, a lot more tricky. So that was one burden. The other was the lighting was terrible. And the light they did have didn’t work half the time because of the electricity it went out all the time. The technicians didn't speak a word of English. But I don't want to sound like I'm complaining. Because this is a war-torn country. And I didn't expect when I went there for things to be any better than they were. In fact, the facility was better than I thought it would be. The building. It's a very modern building. Kyiv itself. If I took you to Kyiv right now you'd be amazed. You’d think you're in downtown Montreal. The buildings are gorgeous. Architecture is phenomenal. The culture. They have ballet, symphony orchestra, and you don't see many bombed buildings at all. At least not when I was there. Anyway, my point being the facility was fine. It was just very trying conditions. But the good news is, we did numerous spays and neuters and some other surgeries, but every patient did well, every single one.
When you were treating the pets and the animals that came in, you mentioned spay and neuter. But were you encountering pets that were injured because of war injuries or things like that?
Not really because we were still a ways from the frontlines. We were probably 50 - 60 miles from the frontlines. Which is close enough, right? The reason this spay-neuter thing was so important is because so many of these animals that I was seeing had to be abandoned. They belong to people. But a lot of people just had to take off and run for their lives and they didn't want to leave their pets. So why this spay-neuter thing is so important is because now they have a much better chance of being adopted.
You also had to operate on some military dogs too. Is that true?
Yeah, that's true. But they were not major war injuries. You know, nothing too melodramatic.
Did that bring the war home to you at all?
Well, it did. I'll tell you why. The military thing was very emotional because some of these dogs, their job was to smell out mines and bombs and things. But some of the other ones were for human remains, you know, to sniff out people that have died from bombed out buildings. That brought the war right to me. You know, it was sobering.
Did you get a chance to meet any Ukrainians and socialize at all with them?
Absolutely. I had one half-day off. That's when I got to do sightseeing in Kyiv, so-called sightseeing, if you want to call it that in a war-torn country. But in the evenings, if you know Dmitry Feld, he's quite the guy. He hadn't been in Ukraine in 40 years. But after three days it seemed like everybody knew who he was. So anyway, we were invited every other evening to dinner by some Ukrainian, either to their homes or to, believe it or not, nice restaurants, very nice restaurants.
What kind of memories will really remain with you from this trip?
The journey there was one thing. Number two, the thing that I'll always remember is the total devastation. I'm not talking a few bombed out buildings. I'm talking hundreds and hundreds of homes. Nice homes just blown apart, just sadistically set on fire by Russian troops that when they occupied the area. And then seeing the cars with machine gun bullets and you know every one of those cars’ occupants inside had perished. As a child, I remember seeing World War Two black and white film strips of bombed out Germany or Poland or whatever, England, London. So to me that was all academic, you know, that was something I got out of a high school history book or on a film strip. But I saw this live. I mean, I saw this. And it looked like what I had seen from World War Two era pictures. And I didn't think I'd ever see that in my lifetime. And the third thing I took away from this whole venture was just how sophisticated and modern Kyiv is, and Lviv and let's just say the whole country, the Ukraine country. I think that's part of Putin's problem. He's jealous that this democratic free country that was once part of the Soviet Union is doing so well. They're so modern and successful. And the fourth thing, and probably maybe the most important thing, is how kind and generous and appreciative the Ukrainian people are. Just because I say they're kind and generous and all that they are also very tough and determined not to lose this war.
After reminiscing, Dr. Cogar walks over to a cabinet to show some of the mementos and gifts he has received.
After my whole trip was done, they had the FISU Games so my wife and I had the whole Ukrainian biathlon team for a pizza party. And then they brought me a bottle of vodka and then they brought me a flag and the whole biathlon team signed it. That was one thing. This came from the military.
A plaque!
It’s signed by the commander and they sent me a flag too, the military guys, and they all signed it. And the guys from the military gave me these patches off their arms. And it’s just, I mean they just never stop showing their appreciation.
Dr. John Cogar was in Ukraine from Oct 16th to the 31st. He hopes to return after the war is over.
