Activist accused of assault at Yakutsk vet clinic
An animal rights volunteer allegedly pulled a clinic worker by the hair during conflict.
An animal rights volunteer from Yakutsk who rescued cats from a burning house was accused of defamation and of attacking an employee of the Vetpolis veterinary clinic (Vetpolis). The confrontation occurred on the morning of 21 September, when the volunteer arrived to pick up the animals. A representative of the veterinary clinic told 14.RU about this on 26 September.
The story began with a fire on 21 September, when a two-story house at 22 Khalturina Street caught fire. One apartment hosted a temporary animal shelter run by a volunteer of the public group wuf_wuf_team_ykt (animal rescue group). In total, six cats died in the fire, 25 survived, and animal advocate Alexandra brought 13 of them to the Vetpolis veterinary clinic. She paid 20,000 rubles ($210 at current rates) for inpatient care. But, according to the volunteer, instead of that her animals were placed in an infectious isolation ward.
A fire broke out in a two-story house that housed a temporary animal shelter.
«The cats are alive but in serious condition because no one helped them all night. They were simply moved into an infectious isolation ward, even though they had no right to do that without my consent,» Alexandra told 14.RU at the time.
The volunteer told 14.RU that the clinic failed to provide proper treatment to the injured animals and that she therefore intended to contact the police, the veterinary department, and the republic’s prosecutor’s office.
That day, obtaining comment from Vetpolis proved impossible — the clinic formally declined. Almost a week later, clinic employees themselves contacted the reporter to present their version of events.
According to Vetpolis representative Aita Kodirova, volunteer Alexandra brought 13 cats to them at night after the fire, but all were in satisfactory condition, «not at death’s door». The animals were placed in Ward No. 1, received the required treatment, were given anti-inflammatories and vitamins, and the four most affected underwent oxygen therapy for six hours. By morning the condition of all the pets had improved and they were moved to Ward No. 2.
«It’s not dirty just because it’s infectious. After each patient, both wards — No. 1 and No. 2 — are necessarily sterilized, cleaned, and disinfected. That morning there were only a hedgehog with cataract and a wild duck there. They posed no threat to the cats,» the clinic employee insists.
Cats were kept in a special oxygen enclosure during post-fire stabilization and treatment.
As Aita Kodirova reports, volunteer Alexandra returned to the clinic at 11 a.m., «on edge and almost in tears». The administrator escorted her to the ward with the cats and went back to the reception desk. A few minutes later, before finding out what treatment had been provided to the animals, Alexandra «began shouting furiously and insulting her».
«The administrator had just started her shift and was not aware of the situation at all. She asked Alexandra to calm down and go to the waiting area to await the doctor — he was in surgery; that morning a dog had been brought in in critical condition. Then the administrator took the office phones and went to check when the doctor would be free. She had just reached the door when Alexandra, like a fury, attacked her, dragged her several meters, swore at her, yanked her by the hair, and beat her,» Aita Kodirova told 14.RU.
According to the Vetpolis representative, the administrator was diagnosed with a soft-tissue contusion; she has medical-forensic certificates as evidence. In addition, the employee also has a doctor’s note stating that she is under observation for an illness, with a recorded epileptic seizure.
Security footage shows an attack on a clinic staff member wearing red slippers.
«She has epilepsy, and there had been no seizures for a long time — do you understand what she went through? Only the man who was with Alexandra that morning managed to calm her. He literally pulled her away from our administrator! Visitors to the veterinary clinic witnessed it; doctors came out of their rooms immediately — everyone was in shock! In the end, the police were called, a report was filed, and footage from surveillance cameras was provided, where it is visible how the volunteer attacked the employee,» Aita added.
The Vetpolis clinic holds that volunteer Alexandra stirred up a scandal on social media and contacted journalists, threatening a lawsuit, «deliberately hiding that she attacked an employee in order to shift the essence of the conflict».
«Without knowing what treatment had been given to the cats, Alexandra immediately began blaming everyone and attacked a staffer — and not even five minutes had passed since she entered the clinic! And then she decided to present it all as if we were at fault and the clinic had provided no help to the animals, exposing them to infectious contamination,» the Vetpolis employee emphasized.
Because of the scandal, according to Aita Kodirova, a «pile-on» began against the clinic.
«Initially we wanted to let the situation go and give Alexandra time to calm down. But the fact is, a pile-on began. Now negative reviews of our clinic are appearing one after another on 2GIS (2GIS mapping service), and they write about cats that weren’t even our patients. There is deception and total negativity. This is the first time in our lives we’ve faced such a situation,» Kodirova told the reporter.
Both on behalf of the administrator and from the director of the Vetpolis clinic, statements were filed with the police «for insults and threats of violence», she added. The clinic also intends to go to court over what it says is Alexandra’s defamation in the media.
As of publication, it was not possible to obtain from volunteer Alexandra a comment regarding the fight and the accusations by the veterinary clinic.
