THERE was something both futile and hardcore about a young man in a crowd of Ukrainian refugees clutching a plastic bowl of water containing his pet goldfish.

In the most dreadful circumstances, Ukrainians have shown impressive devotion to their animals; with many taking pets with them as they left their homes.

There are photos from war-torn Ukraine of people fleeing the country clutching cats and dogs - cats peering out of rucksacks and boxes, a budgie in a cage and a little boy in a shelter with his pet hamster sitting on his hand. One teenager made a TikTok video documenting life for her and her dog in an underground shelter. Refugee Polina Karabach spoke in a news report of escaping Kyiv with her family and their five dogs, two cats and two parrots.

Many people have fled the conflict by heading to Poland or Romania, where they can stay with pets. Animal welfare charity Underdog International launched an appeal shortly after the Russian invasion, to support organisations in Romania working with Ukrainian refugees and their pets. The charity was inundated with supplies of pet food and medical kits within hours.

The supplies have been sent to animal rescue organisations, and representatives and a vet have been going into refugee camps to hand out information leaflets for pet-owners. Help is also at hand with issuing pet passports at borders.

PETA UK is keeping refugees updated about the process at Ukraine’s borders, and many European countries are now following Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia in easing the bureaucracy of entry for animals, allowing refugees to travel there with their pets.

You do wonder about the state these animals are in, travelling hundreds of miles to crowded refugee camps. Like human refugees, they must be exhausted, bewildered and traumatised, and it seems an awful lot for them to endure. But the alternative is to leave them behind or at borders, and there have been distressing reports of animals tied up, abandoned and shot or left half dead from shelling.

Could you leave your pet behind, if it came to it?Nadine Kayser, chief executive of Underdog International, told the PA news agency: “I think anyone who has had an animal knows that they are a part of your family. It is so hard to just leave them.”

It’s a decision that pet-owners in Ukraine have had to face, and it’s been very moving to see people walking for miles with their animals in their arms.

People can very fickle; often using excuses such as divorce, a house move or a new baby to get rid of a pet that has outgrown its novelty. Animal rescue centres in the UK noted a sharp rise in people giving up their ‘lockdown puppies’ once they returned to work. So let’s applaud those hardcore Ukrainian pet-owners for their devotion to their animal companions.

* WHEN millions of people have been fleeing their homes in Ukraine, leaving behind just about everything they own, doesn’t it seem rather nauseating that gift bags worth $140,000 each were this week handed out to Oscar nominees?

The goodies are said to include high-end vouchers for luxury resort breaks, spa treatments, Botox sessions, even a plot of land in Scotland.

Gift bags are nothing new at awards ceremonies, but in light of the humanitarian crisis unfolding across Europe, this level of excess doesn’t sit well. You can’t blame those who accuse Hollywood of hypocrisy. Impassioned speeches about Ukraine would seem less hollow if hundreds of thousands of dollars had been ploughed into aid for refugees instead of extravagant freebies for overpaid movie stars.

As Ricky Gervais tweeted: “I hope this show helps cheer up the ordinary people watching at home. If you’re unemployed...take some comfort in the fact that even if you had a job, your salary probably wouldn’t be as much as the goody bag all the actors have just been given.”