The Role of Pets in Preserving the Emotional and Spiritual Wellbeing of Ukrainian Residents During Russian Hostilities.

Publisher: Springer Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 2985199R Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1573-6571 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00224197 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Relig Health Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: New York, NY : Springer
Original Publication: New York : Academy of Religion and Mental Health.

Pets*/psychology ; Hostility*; Animals ; Cats ; Dogs ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Emotions ; Russia

This paper examines the role of pets in preserving the emotional and spiritual wellbeing of Ukrainian Residents during Russian Hostilities. On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which resulted in a huge number of refugees, both in the country and outside the country. This, in turn, has caused pet owners to rethink their priorities in many ways. This paper is focused on the influence of these animals and relationships with them on maintaining the emotional state and the decision-making process of the Ukrainian residents during the war. In addition, the functions that pets perform in families were considered: educational, reproductive, leisure, etcetera. In Ukraine, pets are considered family members, so many families refused to leave their homeland because they could not leave their cats and dogs alone. Thus, there was/is no mass abandonment or killing of animals in Ukraine during the war.
(© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

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Keywords: Emotional and spiritual wellbeing; Evacuation; Family system; Pets; Russo-Ukrainian war

Date Created: 20220921 Date Completed: 20230210 Latest Revision: 20230210

20231215

PMC9490679

10.1007/s10943-022-01669-4

36129585