They run into an abandoned cooling tower, but this is not just any place and they are not just four-legged animals, they are the radioactive dogs of Chernobyl, victims of the catastrophic explosion of 1986.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himThey run into an abandoned cooling tower, but this is not just any place and they are not just four-legged animals, they are the radioactive dogs from Chernobyl, victims of the catastrophic explosion of 1986.
They are the puppies of those dogs abandoned during the evacuation, no one at the time could have imagined not being able to return to take them back. The animals that survived continued to live on Chernobyl and their pups are radioactive today.
Their story is told in a short title documentary ‘The Puppies of Chernobyl’ by director Drew Scanlon, which shows hundreds of dogs and puppies living in the dead zone around the nuclear plant, where access is limited.
A few people can enter, but only under government control, even if several hundred men and women, disobeying official orders, have returned to live in the neighboring areas, where their old homes were.
According to the director, the puppies are children of those dogs survivors of the catastrophe and consequently their skin contains radioactive particles, for this reason, the non-profit fund Clean Futures is carrying out a sterilization plan for dogs and cats raised in the area.
Foto: SERGEI SUPINSKY VIA GETTY IMAGES
Animals that could not be in close contact with humans, but which are cared for thanks to the establishment of food and water stations and the support of a veterinary clinic. Alongside the Ukrainian veterinarians there are many volunteers and organizations including foreign, American, English and German.
Among them, there is Anna Sovtus, a Ukrainian veterinarian who works within the 'The Dogs of Chernobyl' initiative, who as we see in this image is holding one of the radioactive puppies in her hand.
Foto: SEAN GALLUP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Dogs suffer from a lack of food and water and often are wildlife victims which has grown due to the absence of people in the area. Living in freedom then they drink from puddles and cross forbidden areas for this reason they are radioactive.
Employees of establishments close to the exclusion zone they pamper them and offer them food, some of them have even been adopted, because according to the team of experts 'there should be no immediate health risks'. But it is not a certainty.
However, there is a problem with rabies, as dogs are in close contact with wildlife, which can prove fatal if not treated in time.
Some dogs have been gifted with special collars which allow you to monitor the amount of radiation to which they are exposed, so as to be able to map the level of contamination in the area around the former Soviet nuclear power plant.
Unfortunately they are not the only victims of Chernobyl:
- THE FISH WITH 3 EYES NEAR THE NUCLEAR POWER STATION
- THE WOLVES OF CHERNOBYL: HOW NATURE TAKES BACK POWER IN THE ABSENCE OF HUMAN BEINGS, DESPITE THE RADIATIONS
The work of the Clean Futures Fund also involves the attempt to evaluate that radiation level is present in the bodies of dogs. The findings could open the possibility that some of the dogs may leave the exclusion zone and ultimately be adopted.
Dominella Trunfio
Foto: SEAN GALLUP VIA GETTY IMAGES
