Other Pens. Volunteer Notes

«People should be cared for better!» — they hear this constantly, but they don't pay attention: there's no time. There are forty cats in the shelter, almost ten times more dogs. To feed, to pet, to clean up. There are not enough volunteers, so there's always work for the newcomer Alia. Alia is a journalist and theater director, her stories won't surprise her. But what is happening here turns out to be more complicated than a report or a play. Here you never know what to expect: sometimes well-wishers drop off a whole litter of puppies, or help unexpectedly comes from an aesthete snob.

«Other Pens» is a series of complex stories about abandoned animals and those who have taken responsibility for them. What keeps such different staff here – from the cheerful future official Kristinka to the rude Daisy with a constant smell of alcohol? What are they like inside – the pens in the shelter and other, invisible pens, from which we view the world?

This debut novella by Alina Pozharskaya, based on her personal volunteer experience, is about how we all depend on each other.