Blue stray dogs found in Russia

Reporter : Fu Yuanxi  / Editor: Cheng Yiren / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2021/02/21/a103059002.html / Direct translation / Images courtesy : Ian Hemmer, Jonathon Colman

Recently, a group of blue stray dogs appeared on the streets of Russia. Related photos have been circulating on social media and have also attracted the attention of animal protection groups. At present, the authorities have launched an investigation into an abandoned chemical factory nearby.

This group of blue stray dogs appeared in the industrial city of Dzerzhinsk 370 kilometres east of Moscow. At that time, some people found a group of blue stray dogs wandering in the snow while driving.

After the local media reported on this group of dogs with weird colors on 11 February, related photos began to spread on the Internet, and at the same time aroused attention from all walks of life about the health problems of these stray dogs.

Near the place where these blue stray dogs roam, there is a chemical factory that went bankrupt in 2015. The exact cause of the blue stray dogs is still unknown, but observers suspect that these dogs may have been exposed to harmful or toxic chemicals leaked from this abandoned chemical factory, causing their fur to be dyed bright blue.

According to Russian media reports, the abandoned chemical plant once produced acrylic and hydrogen cyanide. The former manager of the chemical plant said that there are indeed stray dogs that often wander around the abandoned plant, and there may still be chemicals such as copper sulfate in the plant. Copper sulfate is commonly known as blue vitriol, and its aqueous solution appears blue due to hydrated copper ions.

Kelly O'Meara, vice chairman of Companion Animals of Humane Society International, said that the dyeing of the fur of stray dogs means that they have been in direct contact with or even ingested potentially toxic or Harmful substances, if the veterinarian does not intervene in time, may cause skin burning, itching, internal bleeding and other diseases, and may lead to death.

The Dzerzhinsk city government stated that it will send experts to the chemical plant to inspect and test more contaminated animals.

The 7 blue wanderers discovered so far have been examined, taken care of and treated by veterinarians, and have been placed in an animal shelter in Nizhny Novogrod. Animal protectionists said that none of them are life-threatening, and two of them have been willing to adopt them.

Ref : https://www.vice.com/en/article/k7a9an/blue-dogs-russia-chemical-plant