A
woman from Monroe is back home after spending months in Ukraine rescuing
disabled dogs.
She
tells News 12's Shosh Bedrosian animals are oftentimes forgotten about in times
like these, especially disabled ones.
Emily
Franco moved to the United States three years ago and started a business in
Fairfield County taking care of senior and disabled animals.
“I
was not the best at school, it was pretty hard for me because of the bullying
and stuff. That kind of led me to
the animals, where the animals were kind of there, unconditionally, for
me," said Franco.
When
she heard about the war in Ukraine, she said she knew she had to do something.
Franco
packed up what supplies and medicines she might need, caught a flight to Poland
where she purchased a car and a trailer, and set off to rescue disabled animals
and people in hardest hit areas.
Franco
says she saved close to 40 disabled dogs on her journey, one of them was shot
in his spine and couldn't use his back legs.
"They're
the ones that are always forgotten and they're the ones that are always pushed
to the side. They're always left out of everything," she said. “If a
person says these are just dogs then clearly they have never felt the love of a
dog or an animal and never looked into their eyes and gazed back at them after
their adoption."
Franco plans on heading back to Ukraine and raising money for her next trip. If you would like to help, you can contact Franco on PayPal via her email
emilyfrancorescue@gmail.com.