Forgotten Hearts Shelter: From Rescue to Death Trap

— Animals are living beings, they have a soul, a heart, they also feel pain, they also want to live. Dogs have more emotions and brains than some people. What«s the difference between a dog and a human? <…> I feel sorrier for animals than for people.

This quote belongs to Tatyana Makarova, the owner of the Forgotten Hearts shelter. Over the weekend, volunteers found dozens of dead dogs and cats in her shelter. Makarova had intended to set the shelter on fire. Activists who entered the premises recalled being so horrified they had hysterics.

A 161.RU correspondent investigated how Makarova managed to raise money and cultivate an image as an animal protector, and what was really happening in her shelter.

Chapter One. The Savior

Tatyana Makarova is 44 years old. She is a veterinarian by training. Over the years, Makarova has worked as a translator, owned a small bakery, the Vologda agricultural enterprise «Khutorok,» and was also a co-owner and chief accountant of a Rostov fitness and wellness company.

For over a decade, she was considered an authoritative animal rights activist in the region, running the Forgotten Hearts shelter in the «Rechnik» garden partnership in Aksaysky District. Makarova actively promoted herself on social media. She spoke about nursing disabled animals and returning cats that had fled from their owners during fires. She also rescued animals from a collapsed building on Narimanov Street, 72/3. She even traveled to Mariupol to save cats and dogs during combat operations. For the volunteer community, Makarova was an authority.

— Actually, if your mental state isn«t very good, you could stay there [and never leave]. Animals can be dragging body parts in their teeth, some have to be literally dug out from under rubble. On previous trips, there was shooting, — Tatyana Makarova herself told 161.RU about her trips to Mariupol.

But questions about the Forgotten Hearts shelter arose several years ago. Neighbors complained about dogs howling and a foul smell.

— We scrubbed and washed for two days, the terrible stench stopped, — one of Tatyana«s neighbors told a 161.RU correspondent several years ago. — Only an inexplicable silence remained, with slight whimpers — either they were sedated or had special collars that suppress dogs» emotions.

Makarova assured that her shelter was inspected annually by supervisory authorities and no violations were found. However, after the recent scandal, the authorities stated that the shelter was not officially registered at all. It is unclear what inspections they are referring to.

— The authorities understand and know perfectly well what this will lead to for the city if shelters like ours are closed and the animals are released onto the streets, — Makarova told 161.RU four years ago. — There will be bitten people, children. The animals will lack food. They will be hungry and very angry. They will start being poisoned en masse, shot. All this in front of children«s eyes.

One Rostov woman visited the Forgotten Hearts shelter four years ago. According to her recollections, she already had questions about the animals« living conditions at that time.

— The shelter was nominally called a shelter; in fact, it was a house in a private sector, completely and entirely converted for the needs of animals. With all that entails. At the same time, to say that everything was ship-shape, at a high level, with sensible and distinct comfort for the animals — not at all. The enclosure was very sad — there was really a bunch of animals kept there, who were a half-step from death, — a Rostov woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told 161.RU.

But volunteers who communicated with Tatyana said that she had not sent photos of the animals for over a year. Therefore, they suspected that Makarova had «skeletons in the closet.»

Chapter Two. «A Lot of Lies»

Amalia Erashova has been in the volunteer community for seven years and had known Makarova for a long time. A year and a half ago, Amalia contacted her to place an adult Jack Russell Terrier with seven puppies in temporary care. Makarova took the animals herself and did not let Amalia into her shelter under various pretexts.

— She was either at the clinic, or had gone to get food, or was at the canteen, — Erashova said in a conversation with 161.RU.

Only the adult dog returned from temporary care; the puppies died.

— Makarova writes to me that the mother dog bit off one puppy«s head. We were very surprised. And then it turned out that all the puppies were dead. Supposedly from an infection. That is, she didn»t enter the enclosure, you understand? Puppies don«t die in five minutes. She didn»t control the situation, — Amalia believes.

According to her recollections, the adult dog was stressed and emaciated. After this incident, Amalia stopped cooperating with Tatyana Makarova.

— A lot of lies, and after that I stopped communicating with her and trusting her with my charges, — concludes Amalia Erashova.

Volunteers say that dogs that ended up in Forgotten Hearts often went missing. Makarova allegedly said that either a hunter had «fallen in love with» the dog, or that its mother or neighbors had taken it.

Chapter Three. «Tanya, How Do You Cope?»

In recent months, Makarova«s secretive behavior alarmed volunteers even more. On Saturday, 20 December, they could not get information from her about the condition of two dogs. The next day, they agreed to pick them up. On the morning of 21 December, Tatyana wrote to the volunteers that one of the animals had suddenly died. Then the activists decided to go to the shelter and figure things out on the spot.

— The «trigger» was the dog Marta, whom Makarova took from Stachki. That dog had lived there for seven years. Makarova hired a catcher, and the dog was killed during transport. Makarova lied that the dog was working with a dog trainer, that the dog was aggressive, even though the entire Stachki Avenue district knew her. She was very kind, and everyone loved and fed her, — volunteer Aleksandra Panteleyeva, who went to Forgotten Hearts the day before, tells 161.RU.

What they saw on site caused volunteers to have «hysterics.» They discovered dozens of corpses of cats, dogs, and birds.

— There are corpses, corpses here. My God, I«m afraid to step. A cat»s corpse, there«s a kitten too. Here»s a tail, here«s an animal»s corpse. Everywhere. There are cats, a cat on top. There are all cats there too. There are just bones there, a head, — a volunteer says in a video from the scene.

Volunteers recall literally walking over corpses. According to them, rats were eating some of the dog corpses. From hunger, the animals had gnawed through buckets.

— We called the police. The police arrived, were stunned by all this, called the Investigative Committee. The Investigative Committee arrived, was stunned by all this, — volunteer Alena Kravtsova recalls in a conversation with 161.RU.

Tatyana Makarova was on site during the arrival of the police and investigators. She explained her actions by an inadequate state due to her mother«s illness.

— She told many times that her mother was dying. And yesterday, a volunteer who lives near her mother contacted me. It turned out that she is healthy, lively, and was quite cheerful until the very last day, — says Alena Kravtsova.

Chapter Four. «Corpses Mixed with Excrement»

Volunteer Aleksandra Panteleyeva says that Tatyana never inspired sympathy in her due to her approach to working with animals.

— One person who takes in a huge number of animals cannot physically handle them. Personally, I have sixteen animals, and my whole family works to care for them, — Panteleyeva reasons.

Makarova told volunteers that she had more than two hundred cats and the same number of dogs in her shelter.

— We asked her: «Tanya, how do you cope?». She even took in «spinals» — dogs with spinal injuries. They need special care, massage. She answered me: «Yes, it»s hard«, — recalls Amalia Erashova.

A «spinal» dog is a pet with a spinal injury causing paralysis of the hind legs or impaired movement.

What exactly Makarova did or did not do with the animals, no one knows for sure. Different information spread in channels.

— It«s very difficult to say if there were any dismemberments. There, about 30–40 centimeters above floor level — it»s corpses mixed with excrement. There were body parts, tails, but mostly all the creatures had decomposed. Moreover, the decomposition was not rotting but mummified. That is, this all lasted for at least a year, — says Aleksandra Panteleyeva.

«She Was an Endless Authority»

Volunteers recall that Makarova always had debts, and caring people transferred money to her. At the same time, Tatyana did not work officially anywhere but said she supposedly tutored English on the side. If her stories are to be believed, she has two children. Her daughter supposedly lives in England, and her son in Spain.

The bailiffs« database contains a namesake of Makarova with the same date of birth and millions in debt.

— She was an endless authority among volunteers, no one could even think that she could commit such horrors. To give you an idea, on the territory of two plots in Rechnik [the location of the shelter — Ed.] there were tons of unused food. The animals in the houses died from infections, hunger, and nearby, in garages, lay tons of food, — volunteer Aleksandra Panteleyeva recounts.

Animal rights activists say that the unemployed Makarova had an expensive car. According to activists« estimates, Tatyana could have raised over a million rubles (approximately $10,000 at current rates) for the shelter. The Forgotten Hearts channel, which sometimes published photos of animals and receipts of received funds, has been deleted. The group on VKontakte is closed with the caption: »A tragedy has occurred. An investigation is underway.«

What happened to Makarova«s psyche and whether she planned to abuse the animals, volunteers do not dare to speculate.

— She actually helped, rescued at one time. She threw herself at publicly high-profile cases. I trusted her, — Alena Kravtsova says with annoyance.

Another volunteer confirms that Makarova«s media image worked to her advantage.

— Thanks to good self-promotion, many volunteers trusted her. Some people rescue animals because they have developed empathy and genuine love for them, while others are filling their psychological «holes» — the need to be a rescuer, a hero, seeking popularity and recognition. Some simply profit materially from helping animals. Unfortunately, in our country, the state does not control private shelters, and even non-private ones are very weakly controlled. Unaccounted-for money clouds the mind, — activist Natalya from Bataysk says in a conversation with 161.RU.

All the volunteers that 161.RU spoke with conclude that Makarova could not have helped such a large number of animals alone.

— It«s physically impossible if you don»t have caretaker staff and haven«t set up technical processes. You need to feed, water, clean the enclosures, provide medical care, clean the territory, purchase and deliver food, take out the trash, take someone to or pick someone up from the veterinary clinic, and so on. Even if you dedicate the whole day to the shelter, you can provide quality care and assistance to 30–40 animals, provided you work alone. Makarova had no employees — that»s the answer to all questions. A person who truly loves animals and wants to help will not take in such a number without real and stable support. She didn«t care about the animals, — says Bataysk activist Natalya.

<…>

Tatyana Makarova was taken to the police department for questioning. The regional MVD office stated that «the number of affected animals is being established.» An inspection is underway, based on which a criminal case may be opened under the article on cruelty to animals. The owner of Forgotten Hearts faces a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison. The prosecutor«s office is also conducting its own inspection. The authorities of Aksaysky District are preparing appeals to Rospotrebnadzor (the consumer rights watchdog) and the veterinary service.

On 22 December, volunteers went to the shelter again. They are searching for surviving animals. So far, there are just over ten. Some have already been taken into temporary care or given to new owners.

A 161.RU correspondent tried to contact Tatyana Makarova, but her number was unavailable. She did not respond to a message in a messenger app.