A Polish veterinarian has been labelled a hero after crossing the border to rescue animals caught in the crossfire of the invasion of Ukraine, The New York Post reported. 32-year-old Jakub Kotowicz entered the war-torn country last week as part of three convoys from Przemyśl on the Polish border. Since his arrival, he has thus far saved over 60 dogs and 200 cats throughout Lviv, including a dog with a bullet lodged in her spine, Vira, and a pygmy goat with deformed legs, Sasha.
“All the cats are very stressed, the journey from Lviv is one day and we crossed the border with a diplomatic pass but the queue from Ukraine was very long,” Kotowicz said on getting the animals out of the country. The pets are currently being cared for by fellow vets at the ADA Foundation—an animal rescue charity founded by the Polish veterinarian when he was just 17. It is there that little Sasha’s legs were healed. He continued: “Sasha came to us from the first convoy to Lviv, an old woman asked us to have [him]. He has diseased legs.”
“A lady from Ukraine brought [Sasha] with her. She wanted to save him,” Doctor Radosław Fedaczyńsk, a vet at the ADA Foundation, told CNN. “He would have starved to death if he was left in Ukraine with no milk.” Stating she had no place for him for the time being, the pygmy goat was left in the care of the ADA Foundation with a promise to return for him. “This lady [said], ‘I love so much this animal and this animal is part of the family. We want him back when war will end’,” the vet divulged.
“We are preparing the animals for an adoption process,” Kotowicz went on to say, with hopes to adopt Sasha—currently sharing a comfy bed with some Chihuahuas—if reuniting with her previous family falls through. He added that aside from Sasha, a number of people had visited the rescue organisation looking for their pets with two cats successfully reunited with their previous owners.
However, there comes some tragic news alongside such heartwarming attempts of rescue. According to the vet, many were so very injured that they, unfortunately, had to be put down. Those that survived will be hopefully re-homed across Europe, “Sometimes the animals which are in very poor condition will be with us for two or three months.” Vira, the dog injured by a bullet, will receive a wheelchair for her disability and reside in the ‘dog village’ awaiting adoption.
This is just the start for the animal lover, “The next convey might be next week, because it is very dangerous,” said Kotowicz. “There were three cars and eight people in this one […] We came back about 2 am or 3 am on Tuesday and had to check all the animals in four to six hours, then go to sleep for two hours.”
The ADA Foundation hopes to find the funding for an additional ambulance as well as aid the conversion of a pizza shop into extra space for rescued pets to be kept safe. A task Nick Tadd—British wildlife photographer—has taken on. Leaving Guildford, Surrey for Poland to help with the rescue missions, Tadd set up a fundraiser for the clinic to help save “people and pets.”
“I’m just a helping hand really. I don’t fear it, it isn’t sort of bravado. If we raise enough funds we’re going to buy another ambulance,” he stated. Having successfully reached their target, it has been raised to try to buy two.
If you would like to donate to the cause, or watch Tadd’s video diary in Poland, you can visit this fundraiser.
In the early hours of Thursday 24 February 2022, Russian President Vladmir Putin announced a “special military operation” into Ukraine. At the time, he claimed that the Russian military planned to “demilitarise and denazify” the country of about 40 million to (apparently) safeguard people subjected to bullying and genocide. What a load of crap.
Enter the ‘Vladimir Put-in’, a limited edition talking butt plug—yes, you read that right—inspired by none other than the “shit-talking” Russian President himself. Designed specifically for his rectum and his rectum only, the Vladimir Put-in consists of a non-fungible token (NFT) butt plug, currently being auctioned on the community-owned marketplace Rarible, along with a physical model made of silicone.
Launched on 4 March, the Vladimir Put-in is open for bids on Rarible until Monday 14 March 2022. The winner of the auction will not only receive the bespoke NFT but also get their hands on the 10-centimetre-long (since the man behind its inspiration is easily butthurt) 3D printed talking anal plug—delivered in five to eight weeks from the final payment. With the aim of generating funds to help people on the ground in Ukraine, the totality of the proceeds is set to be donated to WithUkraine, a humanitarian support platform set up by the Embassy of Ukraine to the UK.
But the plan of action doesn’t end there. Alongside the release of the Vladimir Put-in, the creative trio behind the initiative, Chat Shit Get Banged, is planning to send a copy of the physical toy first class to the Russian Embassy. Say what?
“The whole situation [in Ukraine] is both devastating and heartbreaking for civilians in both countries,” the team, who chose to remain anonymous due to the risk of the initiative, told SCREENSHOT. “The loss of freedom, control and life is something no nation should ever have to experience.” Tired of powerful people “chatting so much utter shit via the media,” Chat Shit Get Banged ultimately aims to flip the narrative and give power back to the people. “We started this project not to make light of the situation but instead spread a message of defiance against oppression, as well as trying to raise financial aid to those who need it,” the team added.
While vocal butt plugs of divisive political and celebrity figureheads are its ‘raison d’être’, Chat Shit Get Banged has tapped NFTs as a medium of peaceful protest—given how the digital assets offer an exciting and interesting use of technology that allows anyone to be an artist. “At the same time, anyone can also bid for it and have the opportunity to own something very unique and special,” the trio said. “That community aspect felt right for this project, especially as we are creating a collectable item.”
When it comes to art—let alone butt plugs—based on political figures and current events, projects usually walk a tightrope between condoning the subject matter and supporting the cause with a mission. In the Vladimir Put-in’s case, however, the team admitted to witnessing positive responses from both countries, some of which the pro-bono project actively shares on Instagram.
“Each collection drop will have a charity aspect in some way, our main MO is to send financial help to those who are in need,” Chat Shit Get Banged continued, adding how a second generation of the Vladimir Put-in is set to drop after the current auction—but only as an NFT featuring different expressions and materials.
As Chat Shit Get Banged hopes to mint more digital assets of detested public figures in the future, one question remains: can we expect a butt plug based on the ‘Cheeto Jesus’ himself? “We are praying that a certain someone’s name that rhymes with ‘hump’ is stuck in the past,” the team mentioned. “But unfortunately, we can never say never! You can be sure to see more world leaders as well as others in the media that you’ve rolled your eyes at one too many times.”
And for those of you who are curious to know what the talking Vladimir Put-in plug would play out loud once inserted, here’s what the team had to say: “We’re going to keep this as a surprise for now but it will 100 per cent be his [Vladimir Putin’s] voice and we’ll be keeping it all light-hearted.”
Well, I guess you’ll have to find out what ‘Vladdy Daddy’ says when you stick it to the Russian leader by placing your bids here. In the case of the physical copy making its way to the Russian Embassy as we speak, know that—at the end of the day—nothing screams “fuck you” like a talking sex toy in your mailbox.