The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster occurred in 1986 and caused thousands of people to flee the city.
People left so quickly that they didn’t take their pets with them These pets have been let to take over the deserted city and now there are hundreds of strays in the area.
These dogs are the offspring of some of the original dogs left behind during the evacuation.
They are constantly exposed to wild animals and many of them have rabies or are breeding with the wild wolf population. The State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management is trying to control the situation, and they recently came up with a plan to rehome several of these dogs.
They are sending them to the United States, where they can find new homes.
So far, 12 dogs have been rescued from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. They are currently in Slavutych in a 45-day quarantine and are being evaluated medically to make sure they are healthy enough to be adopted by these new families.
Many dogs in the area have cared for by the Clean Future Fund, which is an organization that helps with spaying, neutering, vaccinating, and providing medical care for the stray dogs of Chernobyl.
They are also given radiation collars, so the government can learn more about their exposure to the radiation.
Lucas Hixson, co-founder, of CFF said:
“We’ve been out here for the past three and a half weeks, and we’ve already spayed, neutered, and vaccinated over 300 dogs and cats. We’re also doing cats as well. If it’s got ovaries or testicles, we’re willing to spay and neuter it!”
He added:
“From our perspective this a worker safety and tourism issue. Tourism is really starting to grow in the zone. The animals are exposed to diseases like rabies, and if people are going to interact with these animals we want to ensure there are no risks.”
The project is helping these dogs live better lives.
CFF hopes to continue to help more dogs and is also working on spaying and neutering stray cats as well. The more dogs they can help, the better all their chances of survival. The CFF website says:
“Overpopulation of dogs in Europe is a well-known problem, there are an estimated 30,000 stray cats and dogs in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev alone, but the Chernobyl dogs are different. These dogs are the descendants of pets left behind during the hasty evacuation in 1986. They have been driven out of remote areas in the zone by packs of rabid wolves that attack them. The Chernobyl dogs are malnourished, have been exposed to rabies by wild predators in the zone, and are in dire need of medical attention. CFF estimates that over 250 stray dogs live around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, over 225 stray dogs live in Chernobyl City, and hundreds of other dogs live at the various security checkpoints and roam throughout the exclusion zone.”
The dogs have very little contact with humans but are mostly cared for by the power plant workers.
They help feed them, make sure they have clean water, and care for the dogs they find that are sick and injured. This has allowed the population to increase, which isn’t a good thing.
These dogs have no enemies in Chernobyl, so they are free to live there and multiply.
Things have gotten so bad that the company has hired a person to kill the dogs. As of right now, that person is refusing to go through with it, but eventually, it might be necessary to control the animal population.
CFF members are hoping that their efforts will stop these dogs from having more puppies and help decrease the number of dogs that live in Chernobyl. So far, they have made a lot of progress, but there is still a ways to go. These dogs are thriving in a place that others can’t, and it’s hard to stop them.
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Join us live at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant as we meet the stray dogs of Chernobyl at the ISF-2 facility.
Posted by Clean Futures Fund on Tuesday, November 14, 2017
