I am the author of the Goodacity blog, a journalist, and a translator. For 16 years, I have worked in professional journalism, contributing to regional and national publications, both in print and online media. I have written reports, conducted interviews, reviews, articles on cultural, social, and charitable topics, as well as materials in the style of "solution journalism" and communication materials.
My focus is on creating interesting and exclusive content. Journalism, to me, is primarily about human stories, to which I always find the key, empathize with the people I write about, and love all my heroes. Journalism, to me, means telling people about what truly matters to them, informing and inspiring them. It is not just a job, but a way of life, just like for all those who dream, create, and are inspired by it.
So, if you are looking for stories that inspire and motivate, that instill faith and help find meaning while believing in goodness, read my stories on the Goodacity website.
I am a manager of cultural affairs and a project manager with over 14 years of experience at United Thinkers. I have participated in the organization of numerous successful social and charitable projects and have implemented informational campaigns and communication cases.
As a marketing manager, I have been involved in organizing marketing and sociological research, working with media and partners, developing advertising and marketing strategies, as well as planning and implementing advertising campaigns.
I believe in the power of goodness and I am happy that as part of the Goodacity project, I can contribute to its expansion. I believe in the power of words and in the fact that communication can help make the world a better place. I know how, where and when to speak in order to be heard. And when you are heard, you can change the world!
Animal Volunteer Anastasia Tykha - On Rescuing Animals with Disabilities
Anastasia Tykha is a young woman who evacuated disabled animals under shelling and founded a “Home for Special Tails” for them.
Amidst war and ruins — a young woman leading injured dogs, rescuing them from hell. That moment was captured in a photo that went viral worldwide.
March 2022, Irpin, a destroyed bridge, explosions nearby… And a very young woman who, risking her life, evacuated more than a dozen disabled animals from under bombardment!
“For me, this isn’t heroism, but pure humanity,” she says, recalling that day.
“I simply couldn’t act any other way,” explains Anastasia Tykha, founder of the “Home for Special Tails” shelter.
Goodacity journalists were fortunate enough to speak with Nastya, and we realized that Anastasia Tykha’s real story is much more than about one, albeit world-famous, photo. Her story is about the lives she saves daily — and gives them a chance to be loved again.
How It All Began
At the entrance to the “Home for Special Tails,” visitors are greeted by about a dozen “tails”: Yizhak, a dog with a torn-off tail who had a damaged skull; Chernysh, rescued from Kherson; Boss, a dog without two front legs; injured alabai Laima, whom our soldiers rescued from a cage where she was abandoned by her owners… Each of them now has a new life filled with love and care.
“I’ve lived for this since childhood. I dragged home every stray I saw,” Nastya recalls with a smile.
“My parents never scolded me — they helped. I was always drawn to veterinary medicine, which is what I chose as my future profession.”
At 16, she took in her first “special” disabled dog for temporary care after it was abandoned by its former owners.
“I told the volunteers: I have no experience, but I’ll try. And it all worked out. Since then, I’ve understood this is my calling.”
The Day That Changed Everything
On March 9, 2022, Nastya evacuated more than a dozen dogs from Irpin — among them wounded, blind, and those moving on wheels.
“During the evacuation, there was no time to think about fear. We just pulled everyone while we could. Animals are life, and life must be protected.”
Later, Nastya learned that the moment of the animal rescue was captured by renowned American photographer Christopher Occhicone — and by the next day, the whole world had seen her.
“This photograph helped the animals I rescued then,” says the young woman.
“Thanks to the photo, they were noticed, and they went to families.”
How the "Home for Special Tails" Was Born
After that evacuation, people began reaching out to Nastya from everywhere.
“People wrote from Donetsk region, from Kherson. They asked me to take in injured animals. That’s how everything grew: from twenty dogs to two hundred.”
Nastya created the “Home for Special Tails” shelter in Irpin through her own efforts. Here live dogs who survived car accidents, cats without legs, elderly animals, and those with cancer. Over two hundred special “tails” — and Nastya knows all their names and personalities!
“They’re like children,” says Nastya.
“Each with their own character and story. I’m happy when I realize that this miracle had no chance to live, but we did everything so that it could,” she explains about the shelter animals.
Not all can be saved, but every chance is worth trying. There are also those who survived miraculously.
“The most memorable for me was Afina — a dog whose four paws were cut off. She was very frightened,” recalls Nastya.
“She spent six months in the hospital; we raised money for her prosthetics, then did a difficult surgery in Lviv. Now she lives with her doctors — they fell in love with her and kept her. I see her almost every day — and it warms my heart to see what incredible people she’s with now and how much love there is in her wounded life.”
Stories Impossible to Forget
“I also have a dog named Gerda — in 2023, a Shahed drone hit her owners’ house. Unfortunately, Gerda was chained and simply caught fire — neighbors put her out, and she had burns on 80 percent of her body. The treatment was very long and extremely difficult, but fortunately, she’s doing well now, though she remains blind. But her heart sees everything and gives so much love!”
“Rescuing animals with disabilities isn’t about pity,” says Nastya.
“It’s about life that deserves a chance. Miracles exist. They have tails, paws, scars, and eyes that look with love. And when you see this—you want to keep living. Alongside them.
Sometimes an animal is so traumatized or seriously ill that even doctors say it’s not worth fighting for, better to put them to sleep. But I look at them — at how they fight, don’t give up, how they want to live — and I realize that I won’t give up either.
And the time we can give them — it’s a very bright time. We try to create conditions of love and a real family for them — we feed them well, we care for them. And most importantly — we love them very, very much. And this love — it doesn’t just create miracles. It is itself a miracle… When you see a dog that helplessly lay down for so long running today — you understand what it’s all for.
Besides my shelter wards, I currently have 17 dogs at home. They’re all elderly — 15-17 years old, with chronic diseases, with disabilities, all very fragile. But we do everything for them — not just so they can ‘live out their days,’ but so they can LIVE. Live in love and care.”
Not Everything Is So Simple
In 2023, the shelter faced threats. Neighbors complained about barking, clinics refused to treat animals “on credit.”
“People called and threatened me: they’d poison the dogs, kill them… It was frightening. But now everything has been resolved, and we continue our work.”
Currently, the “Home for Special Tails” shelter houses 400 animals. Feeding them requires more than 100 kilograms of food daily, plus litter, medications, and sterilization costs.”
“Donations from all caring people aren’t just about money, but about the ability to rescue and help,” says Nastya.
“When people’s support decreases, our debt grows at the hospital where we save our ‘tails.’ Yes, at the beginning of September, we had a hospital debt of almost 600,000 hryvnias. But people help, get involved, and we gradually close this debt. We don’t have problems with ‘hands’: we have regular volunteers who come almost every day to walk the animals and clean the enclosures.”
“People tell me: supposedly, during wartime — it’s not the time to rescue animals, especially disabled ones. And I say — look how our military cares about the fate of animals from frontline territories, how they take care of them, feed them, try to evacuate them, and very often become their home themselves. And when I see our defenders sharing their last rations with a dog — I understand: humanity doesn’t have a queue.”
"I Will Fight for Every One"
Today, Nastya maintains the shelter’s social media page, shares stories daily, finds homes for her charges, and films “before and after” videos.
And indeed — just look at her photos with rescued special tails: humanity isn’t heroism. It’s the routine of goodness that Nastya Tykha performs every day.
Despite exhaustion, the young woman continues.
“Sometimes, when despair and fatigue overwhelm me, it seems like that’s it — I can’t take it anymore. Then you see someone wagging their tail, and you realize: as long as they keep wagging, you have no right to give up.
When your hands fall, when there’s too much pain around, when in moments of weakness you think — why am I doing this…
Then you look at photos of animals we’ve had, who received treatment, found families, you look at photos of saved lives — and you understand for what, or rather, for whom you’re doing all this.
And — you continue doing it.”
