A resident of Mykolaiv complained about dogs at a nursery school — the animal welfare centre found no dogs there
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- Julia LukyanenkoReporter
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Darina Melnychuk
Correspondent
Residents of Mykolaiv have complained about dogs on the grounds of a nursery school. Photo: misto.biz.uaA resident of Mykolaiv complained that dogs are living on the grounds of nursery school №29 on Kolodiazna Street and are attacking people. However, both the nursery school administration and the Animal Protection Centre say that there are no dogs on the nursery school grounds themselves. They do, however, suggest that they are being fed by locals nearby.
Anzhela wrote a complaint about the dogs in the Contact Centre group on the Mykolaiv City Council’s page.
The resident asked for the problem with the pack of dogs on the nursery grounds to be resolved, as, according to her, they had attacked her and her children. The woman wrote that members of the National Guard had helped her.
«The dogs live on the nursery grounds, they are fed there, and in the evening they run out through holes in the fence and attack people. On 4 June, these dogs attacked me and my children: a 3-year-old and an 8-month-old girl,» wrote the resident.
Complaint regarding dogs on the nursery grounds. Photo: Contact Centre at Mykolaiv City CouncilIn a comment to NikVesti, the director of the municipal enterprise «Animal Protection Centre», Oleksandra Kupinets, reported that specialists had visited the site, but the dogs were not there.
«Yes, we have received a complaint. The team went out, but there were no dogs on the nursery grounds. There weren’t any nearby either. As far as I know, we have neutered the dogs in the area, but the locals have taken them in. You understand that if the area isn’t enclosed by a proper fence, an animal can get into the nursery grounds,» commented Oleksandra Kupinets.
The nursery also told NikVesti that there are no dogs on their premises.
«There are no dogs on the premises. I saw the report at the contact centre. We went out, took photos and inspected the entire area. There are no dogs. Our fence is fully enclosed. Dogs don’t run around. But every morning we come and check the whole area,» said the nursery’s head, Arina Yakovleva.
She suspects that local residents might be feeding the dogs nearby. Furthermore, a market is held nearby on Kolodiazna Street.
«There’s a market, and there used to be a waste paper collection point or something similar. And a woman, who probably loves animals, used to feed them. There were some boxes near her. Perhaps the dogs stayed and come running over. She used to feed them somewhere in the garages. And another woman from the high-rise blocks used to go and feed them separately on the parapet opposite our grounds,» added the nursery manager.
As a reminder, in the first five months of this year, 1,389 people in the Mykolaiv region sought medical help following bites, scratches or licking by animals. The majority — 1,036 — were bitten or licked by domestic animals.
The Main Directorate of the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection in the Mykolaiv region reported that the number of rabies cases in Ukraine is decreasing. The same trend is being observed in the Mykolaiv region: 41 cases of rabies were recorded in 2025, and nine in the first half of 2026.
However, most of the animals in the Mykolaiv region in which rabies was detected had owners. Last year, there were 18 cases where animals with rabies bit people. Fifteen of them had owners. In other words, the owners had not vaccinated their animals in time.
This material was produced within the REACH – Media Partnerships for Accountability and Trust project, implemented by International Media Support (IMS) and supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. The content reflects the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the Danish government. Denmark’s support strengthens civil society and independent media in Ukraine, including in Mykolaiv.