- Stray dogs in one area of Russia are turning blue, and locals were stunned to see the colorful animals roaming the countryside.
- The animals had reportedly been hanging around an abandoned factory that used a variety of toxic chemicals, and it’s those chemicals that have been blamed for the color change.
- The animals were rounded up and caught, then taken to a veterinarian to see if the chemicals had affected them in other ways.
No matter what country you live in, you’ve probably seen stray dogs from time to time. Domesticated animals that are let loose often rely on their instincts in order to survive, and in the case of dogs that means banding together in a pack. Russia has a lot of stray dogs, but none are quite like the pooches found near the city of Dzerzhinsk. A pack of stray dogs near the city caught the eyes of locals for one very specific reason: they are blue.
Yes, blue dogs. Now, blue is a color that is usually reserved for certain species of fish, certain reptiles, and birds. It’s not a color that you often see on a mammal, so it was abundantly clear that there was something amiss with these canines. It seems they had been spending a lot of time near an abandoned factory, and the chemicals used at that factory have been cited as the cause of the dogs’ bizarre color change.
As The Moscow Times reports, a defunct factory in the city that used to make plexiglass was a likely hangout for the dogs. The facility also produced hydrocyanic acid, and the chemicals used at the abandoned facility are probably what have given the dogs their blue hue. While the dogs are adorable, exposure to potentially harmful chemicals is no joke, and when photos of the pack began to circulate it wasn’t long before public outcry prompted the capture of the dogs.
Помните синих собак из Дзержинска? На прошлой неделе местные жители забили тревогу, увидев бездомных животных неестественного цвета. Сейчас они находятся у зоозащитников, их уже осмотрели ветеринары — анализы у всех семерых в норме. Двум псам уже нашли новых хозяев pic.twitter.com/GP0a0opUrd
— РИА Новости (@rianru) February 15, 2021
The animals were reportedly examined by a veterinarian and, shockingly, they were all given a clean bill of health. That’s pretty surprising, given where they’d been hanging out, but it’s obviously good news. The even better news is that thanks to their peculiar color and the attention they have gained, the strays are beginning to find new homes. Two of the seven dogs have already been adopted, which is great news, and hopefully, homes for the other five are found quickly.
It remains unclear exactly how long the color will last, but if the dogs are no longer exposed to the chemicals at the factory they should hopefully begin to return to their normal coloring sooner rather than later. In the meantime, the new pet parents will have the most colorful pooches on the planet, and an interesting story to tell of how they came to be adopted.
