As part of the business program at the ZooIndustry 2026 exhibition, a round-table discussion titled “The optimal strategy for collaboration in implementing the ESG agenda and creating new meanings through marketing” was held. It focused on finding effective ways for businesses, NGOs, and government institutions to join forces in helping animals. The experts concluded that marketing in the pet sector should become a vehicle for values and help create new meanings through systematic educational work.
The central theme running through the discussion was fostering responsibility “from an early age.” The participants noted that work with schools and kindergartens currently depends entirely on the personal enthusiasm of individual educators or parents. There is a critical lack of a systematic approach supported by either the government or business.
“This needs to be systematized, because shelters are overcrowded, animals are unwanted, and it all begins with a lack of awareness,” said Tatyana Kamynina, President of the Animal Blood Donation Foundation, member of the St. Petersburg Veterinary Society, expert veterinarian at the National Veterinary Chamber, and Chair of the Northwestern Committee of the National Veterinary Chamber.
She shared her own experience of working with children: for two years, at her own expense, she organized visits to a veterinary clinic for preschool groups from a kindergarten. The children were allowed to listen to heartbeats with a stethoscope, see internal organs on an ultrasound machine, and take animals’ temperatures.
“They were shocked, but delighted,” Tatyana Kamynina recalled. “I collected feedback from parents: their children were absolutely thrilled and said, ‘Mom, I’ll learn to read, and I’ll finish this entire book!’”
Each child received a guidebook on caring for a puppy or kitten. According to the expert, such hands-on formats can lay the foundation for responsible attitudes, and this practice needs to be scaled up.
Maria Zimina, a member of the Council on Animal Welfare under the Government of St. Petersburg, a member of the Public Council under the St. Petersburg Veterinary Administration, Director of the Spark of Kindness Center for Social and Charitable Projects, and a member of the Russian Union of Creative Workers, spoke about large-scale projects that have been trying to fill this gap systematically for the past five years.
According to her, more than 220 teams of schoolchildren and kindergarten pupils are now following the “Route of Kindness” developed by the center. It includes many different good deeds, but animal protection is the main focus, as it is one of the most accessible and understandable educational tools for children.
“I call the teachers who take part in this the kindest people, because they put aside all their other responsibilities and devote attention to it throughout the year. We have many kindness lessons led by shelter professionals. When a shelter director comes to children and speaks about their mission and challenges, it creates an entirely different level of understanding,” Maria Zimina explained.
As an example, she mentioned the head of one shelter who showed children how to clean up properly after animals.
“She showed them how to clean up outside. Because it is not shameful — it is normal. It is better to do that than to walk past. This is something people need to be taught,” Maria Zimina said.
A separate area of work for Spark of Kindness is cultural projects. One example is the play “Shoo! The Story of the cat filofey.” Before the performance, children receive a letter from the cat, who introduces himself and asks them to imagine what his friends look like. After the play, the children give him their drawings and begin discussing how they can help.
“Simply watching a performance means you leave and forget about it. What is needed is a system, a program,” Maria Zimina emphasized.
Another project, “Tailed helpers of the Great Patriotic War,” teaches schoolchildren throughout the year about the contribution of animals and veterinarians to Victory in World War II, including the role of horses on the Road of Life.
Valeria Kotlyuba, Director of the Riadom Foundation and creator of Russia’s largest regular pet adoption festival, drew her colleagues’ attention to the fact that industry professionals themselves must be the first to promote these values.
“We need to talk about responsibility starting with ourselves — with specialists. If people in clinics or shelters behave irresponsibly, it is very strange to expect responsibility from ordinary people who do not have professional knowledge,” she stressed.
She cited the example of the Way Home festival, where participating clinics and lectures for adults are complemented by a “Young Veterinarian” area, where specialists explain the principles of responsible pet ownership.
One of the most sensitive and emotionally charged subjects at the round table was the ethics of animal blood donation. Tatyana Kamynina, who is also the founder of Russia’s first commercial blood bank, Dr. Pet’s, spoke about cases in which owners demand payment for donations without understanding the real costs of ensuring safety. She also highlighted the emergence of “black market donation,” where unscrupulous individuals donate blood from animals with unverified health status in exchange for money.
“Four years ago, my clinic identified these unethical women, and after that I introduced protocols for examining external donors so as not to harm the animal… People do not even realize the financial costs involved in checking a donor: a heart ultrasound every three months, blood tests every month, testing for hemobartonellosis, and an annual comprehensive examination. It is very expensive,” Tatyana Kamynina said.
She explained that her clinic cares for donors by providing free vaccinations, microchipping, deworming and flea treatments, as well as involving sponsors who supply food and litter.
“Paying donors cash destroys the very concept of donation as a selfless gift. Charity and unpaid assistance are all about helping foundations. There are now many blood banks that pay owners, thereby undermining the concept of donation. This is a dangerous situation in which charity is being replaced by commerce,” Tatyana Kamynina noted.
In contrast to the challenges raised, the experts also presented successful examples of collaboration, proving that transparency and openness to dialogue yield real results. Olga Pribysh, Director of the Kotkurort Animal Shelter, spoke about the philosophy behind her shelter. It began with renting a small house near her own home because she could not ignore homeless animals.
Today, Kotkurort is home to around 20–30 dogs and has deliberately chosen to remain small and completely open to the public.
The shelter’s doors are open every day from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. without an appointment.
“Large shelters cannot provide high-quality care because it is impossible to find enough employees who are truly committed to the cause. When you have 20 dogs instead of 150, you can pay attention to each one: how it ate that day, how it walked, whether its behavior has changed… Thanks to volunteers who gradually accustomed a dog to people, then to a collar, and then to a leash, all our dogs now g o for walks. The next step is getting them used to muzzles,” Olga Pribysh said.
According to her, the key to building a sustainable community around a shelter is replacing “shock content” with an honest portrayal of everyday routines and positive changes.
“When something terrible happens — for example, a dog loses a paw — people rush to help. But when you talk about routine: feeding, cleaning, or how a dog used to be feral but now walks thanks to patience, the audience is smaller, but it is higher-quality and more reliable,” Olga Pribysh explained.
She gave several examples. The company Okna Peterburga regularly brings its employees to the shelter not merely for photographs, but to clean kennels and help with practical work. Another example is a volunteer who began by cooking food for the shelter. Together with nutritionists from Dr. Sotnikov’s clinic, she developed a balanced diet, cooked large batches for Kotkurort, and later launched her own brand of natural canned food without additives or flavor enhancers. She now donates a percentage of sales to the shelter.
Maria Zimina supported this approach, urging businesses to pay attention to educational projects, which often remain overshadowed by direct assistance to animals.
“For the first six years, I walked around this exhibition, spoke with company representatives, and talked about education. Unfortunately, nobody listened to me,” she shared. “For some reason, helping an animal is considered good, while support for education — which changes the world and raises future generations — is forgotten. Help does not have to be financial: companies can provide gifts for teachers and children, invitations to events, and opportunities for us to demonstrate how educational work is carried out.”
Another important problem is the lack of systematic training for professionals engaged in educational activities in this field.
According to the round-table participants, now is precisely the time when the ESG agenda is ceasing to be a fashionable buzzword and becoming a necessity for sustainable development. The dialogue between the veterinary community, shelters, charitable foundations, and businesses demonstrated that without systematic work to foster responsibility — from kindergarten education to professional ethics in blood donation — any marketing strategy will remain nothing more than an empty declaration.
Only by combining efforts and making education a priority can society raise the generation that will treat animals consciously and responsibly — and, therefore, create a sustainable and humane vision of the future.