Charity Wallets

where Strelka AI will donate

Due to international legal and tax requirements, Strelka AI is not allowed to donate to charities without legal agreement. Until all the selected charities below have established agreements, donations will be divided evenly between those with agreements in place.

$100,000 for Ukraine animals and HSI Worldwide Rescue Operations

Animals have also become victims of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. They have been abandoned, trapped, slaughtered, and forced to flee with their refugee owners to new homes across Europe. Strelka AI is donating to the efforts of Humane Society International. In addition to their growing teams in Poland, Romania, Italy and Germany, HSI has established partnerships with local animal organizations across Europe including Berliner Tiertafel (Germany), Association for Animals Tomaszow Lubelski (Poland), Stowarzyszenie Leśne Przytulisko (Poland), Bieszczadzka Organization for Animal Protection (Poland), Red Cross of Romania, Friulian-Ukrainian Cultural Association (Italy), and many others. We are proud to support Ukraine’s animals and Humane Society International.

For Europe

0,40% to Humane Society International – Europe
www.hsi-europe.org

Why HSI EUROPE?
Humane Society Europe is a leading force for animal protection in the European Union, with active campaigns to protect wildlife, reduce and replace animal use in scientific research and product testing, combat the slaughter of marine life and improve conditions for animals farmed for food, skins and fur. It works around the globe to promote the human-animal bond, rescue and protect dogs and cats, improve farm animal welfare, protect wildlife, promote animal-free testing and research, respond to natural disasters and confront cruelty to animals in all of its forms.
Donate HSI directly

For United States

0,20 % to the Black Beauty Ranch
humanesociety.org/blackbeautyranch

Why Black Beauty Ranch?
The Black Beauty Ranch is member of the Humane Society of United States family. With over 1,400 acres, Black Beauty Ranch is home to nearly 800 domestic and exotic animals, many of whom have been rescued from near-death situations.
The ranch was founded in 1979 in Murchison, Texas by author and animal advocate Cleveland Amory. Its residents were saved from research laboratories, law enforcement seizures and cruelty cases. Others have been rescued from roadside zoos or were former victims of the exotic pet trade. Still others came from public lands where they were threatened with extermination by the federal government. Bison and cattle, horses and burros, antelope and apes, reptiles and tigers: all have permanent, safe homes at the ranch.

0,20 % to The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)
https://www.aspca.org/

Why the ASPCA?
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was the first humane society to be established in North America and is, today, one of the largest in the world.
The organization was founded on the belief that animals are entitled to kind and respectful treatment at the hands of humans and must be protected under the law. Headquartered in New York City, the ASPCA maintains a strong local presence, and with programs that extend their anti-cruelty mission across the country, are recognized as a national animal welfare organization.
The ASPCA work, by numbers, between January 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020: 104,900+ Animals assisted, 27,700+ Animals relocated, 370,590+ Animals helped by Animal Poison Control Center, 47,000+ spay/neuter surgeries performed.

For India

0,20 % to AnimalAid Unlimited
https://www.animalaidunlimited.org/

Why AnimalAid Unlimited?
AnimalAid Unlimited rescues and treats the un-owned street animals of Udaipur who have become ill or injured, and through their rescue inspire a community to protect and defend the lives of all animals.
AnimalAid Unlimited rescued thousands of animals every year and we use their stories and our work to inspire and engage both the local community and people around the world.

Who were Strelka and Belka, the stray dogs that led the space race?

 

 

Before cosmonauts and astronauts, a team of space dogs blasted into the inky unknown. After Laika in November 1957, on 19 August 1960, mongrels Strelka and Belka were plucked from the streets of Moscow to become space pioneers.

Selected from a number of potential canine cosmonauts, Strelka and Belka practiced rocket simulations and weared spacesuits, before being launched into outer space as the first ever living creatures to successfully orbit the Earth.

Meet   Strelka and Belka, the two dogs who changed the face of space history and became international celebrities in the process! In 1960, two stray dogs were plucked from the streets of Moscow to become space pioneers. This quirky and delightful picture book tells the incredible true story of these heroic strays. Selected from a number of potential canine cosmonauts, Belka and Strelka are put through their paces on the ground, as they practice rocket simulations and wearing spacesuits, before being launched into outer space as the first ever living creatures to successfully orbit the Earth. Miraculously, the dogs survive the mission and upon their return embark on a tour of the USSR, clad in their carefully tailored jumpsuits – one red, one green – becoming international celebrities. As for their legacy, less than a year after their safe return the Soviet space programme felt confident enough to send the first human into space.

Strelka (Стрелка, “little arrow”) and Belka (Белка, literally, “squirrel”, or alternatively “Whitey”)  spent a day in space aboard Korabl-Sputnik 2 (Sputnik 5) on 19 August 1960 before safely returning to Earth. They are considered the first higher living organisms to survive in outer space.

They were accompanied by a grey rabbit, 42 mice, two rats, flies and several plants and fungi. All passengers survived.

They were the first Earth-born creatures to go into orbit and return alive.

 

Strelka went on to have six puppies with a male dog named Pushok who participated in many ground-based space experiments, but never made it into space. One of the puppies was named Pushinka (Пушинка, “Fluffy”) and was presented to President John F. Kennedy by Nikita Khrushchev in 1961. A Cold War romance bloomed between Pushinka and a Kennedy dog named Charlie, resulting in the birth of four puppies that JFK referred to jokingly as pupniks. Two of their puppies, Butterfly and Streaker, were given away to children in the Midwest. The other two puppies, White Tips and Blackie, stayed at the Kennedy home on Squaw Island but were eventually given away to family friends. Pushinka’s descendants were still living at least as of 2015. A photo of descendants of some of the Space Dogs is on display at the Zvezda Museum in Tomilino outside Moscow.

A Russian animated feature film called Belka and Strelka: Star Dogs (English title: Space Dogs) was released in 2010 and a book was written “The Amazing Story of Belka and Strelka”.

Who would have thought that homeless dogs picked up off the streets of Moscow would become some of the Soviet Union’s biggest stars?

Strelka  and  Belka can be considered the first ‘space pop stars.’

Their celebrity status played a significant role in the confrontation between the two opposing ideologies of the Cold War. Most importantly, the image of Belka and Strelka had made space more ‘human.’ Whereas Laika’s tragic end had split the world into two halves – those who would sacrifice the dog for the sake of winning the Space Race, and those who could not justify her death – the images of the two adorable dogs comically paddling in zero-gravity, dressed in their tailored spacesuits, seemed to have made the idea of the cosmos a little warmer. Space could now be perceived as home, perhaps faraway and fantastic, but already awaiting man, who was scheduled to visit very soon.