Chris Jimenez, the owner of K-9 Connect, based in San Diego, California, is a man of action. Jimenez is currently in Poland after evacuating thirty-five trained German Shepherds from Ukraine.
Jimenez is a 27-year-old army veteran using social media to document his journey and raise funds to fly every dog back home to San Diego.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, Jimenez got a text from a Ukraine contact. The message was short, “We are being bombed.”
Jimenez immediately booked a flight to Warsaw, Poland, then took a train into Ukraine and hitchhiked to the capital city of Kyiv to meet up with his contacts and rescue 35 of his German Shepherds trained to work with military and law enforcement.
Jimenez decided to evacuate the dogs to the Polish border. Initially, Jimenez made the ten to twelve-hour drive with three German Shepherds at a time, in a small hatchback which was all the little car could fit. Jimenez was loaned a van which sped up the relocation process.
The evacuation process took three weeks, but all the dogs are safe in Poznan, Poland.
Photo Credit: Chris Jimenez
The City Council of Poznan is letting Jimenez and the dogs stay in an abandoned animal shelter. Jimenez is grateful for the accommodations and is trying to raise funds to get home with no K9 left behind.
K9 Handler Tim Davis with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office in Maine is connected to Jimenez through social media. Davis is sharing Jimenez’s journey with his Tik-Tok followers to help raise money to get Jimenez and the dogs back to the United States.
Several dogs were scheduled to fly home separately, but the flights didn’t happen. Jimenez has a company able and willing to fly all the dogs home on one plane. This happening is a matter of money. Jimenez has set up a GoFundMe page.
As of Monday, April 11, 2022, Jimenez has raised $30,545 with a goal of $38,768.
If you want to donate to help get these dogs home, click HERE for GoFundMe
Email and Paypal: k.9.connectllc@gmail.com
Venmo: k9connect
Jimenez is desperate to return home but has stated in Tik-Tok videos not to feel sorry for him or feel bad if you cannot financially help because he knew what he was getting himself into.
After spending the last five weeks in Europe, Jiminez is grateful to all the people he encountered in Ukraine and Poland who helped him get his dogs transported and safe.
“In all these terrible places, people saw me, and they’re like this guy looks lost, he’s going to get himself killed, we should help this guy,” Jimenez said. “We don’t speak the same language, never met, will never meet again, probably. Complete strangers took me in every single step of the way and just helped me.”
Jimenez’s journey is on Tik-Tok @partieswithwolves
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