It has been 33 years since the tragic incident in Chernobyl, Ukraine. At the time that the catastrophic accident occurred, those who lived within 30 kilometers (19 miles) around the area had to be evacuated. Hundreds of thousands were forced to evacuate and all had to leave their pets behind.
A thousand stray dogs were left behind and three decades after, the descendants of these abandoned pets are still thriving in the exclusion zone.
Rescuers describe the dogs as aloof and distant. They say that a lot of them are approachable and can come up close but you sense how they don’t trust people. Rescue volunteers feel that the dogs have an understanding of what’s going on.
Despite the passing of time, these dogs still lived in tough conditions. Few of the dogs only live more than four years.
The issue is actively being resolved now as there is a community of researchers, veterinarians, and volunteers that tend to the dogs.
To fully control and maintain the welfare of the abandoned dogs, each are one by one taken for a check-up, neutered, and rehabilitated. To catch the wild dogs, volunteers use dart and anesthesia. Once the dogs are tempered and calm, they are then brought to kennels.
During rehabilitation, volunteers check how much radiation the dog has been exposed to. Cases of radiation are not intense. It often only takes the shaving of their fur and giving them a bath to remove radiation that stuck with them through dust and grass.
Once the dogs are vaccinated, spayed, and neutered, they are again released to the wild. They are all treated as community dogs.
The sterilization and vaccination program is still on going. To date, there are 600 dogs in the exclusion zone and all are being tended to.
Through the efforts of the volunteers and the effective rehabilitation plan that they’ve executed, 43 puppies from the exclusion zone have already been adopted since last year.