Cats on Mars rescuing pets from the Ukrainian war zone
June 29, 2024
I originally posted the following on May 17, 2024, however my recent interview with Eugene Kibets generated renewed interest in the Bowie-themed cat rescue operation he runs in Ukraine, so read on…
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May 17, 2024
You might have noticed something familiar about the image illustrating this post. Be prepared– this isn’t really about David Bowie, but there is a connection.
The story begins, at least from my end, when I noticed a series of videos appear on YouTube of Ukranian bands performing Bowie songs. It turns out that the videos were shot during a concert held in Kyiv earlier this year in support of the war effort against Russia. Amazing! So, I reached out to the concert’s organizers — which in itself is amazing– and discovered promoter Eugene Kibets, an interview with whom will is featured HERE. It’s a video interview– yep, I was able to do a video interview with someone in Kyiv. While we were talking about Bowie and the concert, I couldn’t help but notice that Eugene was accompanied by several cats.
It turns out that displaced pets is on the long list of horrible consequences of war and Eugene decided to do something about it. So, he founded and operates Cats on Mars, a rescue shelter for cats (the name and logo are inspired by Bowie and, you know, the Spiders from Mars, which is the Bowie connection. Eugene explained to me via email, “During almost three years of the full invasion, we rescued and sheltered more than 400 cats from the liberated cities of Ukraine…Cats on Mars is a cozy planet where cats undergo rehabilitation, receive attention and care, and get used to people again.” If you want to learn more or support the effort, you can via the following links:
And HERE’s a link to Daily Mail story about the group.
Meanwhile, Russia, the aggressor in the war to annex Ukraine, is fomenting division in the West, including in the United States, as part of its war plan. What does Russia hope to accomplish by sowing discontent with democracy in United States? Well, for one, they hope to once again elect Donald Trump as president, who is pro-Russia and will spell the end for Ukraine, NATO and much more than that. An underreported story has been about how Russia has been exploiting divisions about another war, Israel’s war against Hamas, in the hope of splitting left-of-center voters, some of whom might get fed up with President Biden and support either Trump, or one of the pro-Russian minor party candidates like Jill Stein or Bobby Kennedy, Jr., or just not vote. Just keep that in mind if you’re reading this, are an American, and are feeling frustrated by President Biden. That’s exactly how Vladimir Putin wants you to feel, and if he succeeds in manipulating your emotions to the point that you don’t vote for Biden, the outcome for the people (and cats) of Ukraine will be catastrophic. As Bowie would say, it’s no game.