It’s official, the Ariane center, which offers emergency accommodation to Ukrainian refugees, will no longer accept pets. Initially, dogs and cats were accepted in the rooms, then these were moved to an outdoor kennel and a closed room respectively.
From now on, they will no longer be welcome at all. “We are in the process of adapting the Fedasil website to warn refugees that they will no longer be able to come with their animals. Refugees who have arrived in Belgium with a dog or a cat will have to find a solution outside the centersays Benoit Mansy, spokesperson for Fedasil. For the organization of the center, it became really difficult in relation to hygiene standards. The presence of animals also represents an obstacle in the search for accommodation or a host family.he argues.
For Brussels MP Victoria Austraet, this decision is unacceptable. “I am terribly shocked. These families went through the war with their dogs and cats. Preventing them from accessing the rooms was already shocking, but this is even worse: families will have to choose between parting with their animal or sleeping the street,” she laments.
Carine Deschamps, from Brussels active in the field of animal protection, does not hide her anger either. “It’s a real scandal. Ukrainians who arrive by car may have the option of sleeping in their vehicle with their animals, but those who arrive by train or bus? They are forced to make an impossible choice. The Ukrainians I met love their animals as much as their children, they give them human names. They are truly desperate.”she complains.
