12 Feb 2014

Volunteers smuggle Sochi dogs out of town

Alexei stops in his tracks as he sees a half-breed Labrador snooping around at a cafe's back door.

The dog comes obediently on his whistle. Alexei strokes it and in one swift movement takes it in his arms like a newborn baby.

Rushing past surprised passers-by, Alexei carries the equally-surprised dog to his car parked round the corner and places it gently on the back seat.

stray dogs sochi

Alexei is one of a dozen people in the emerging movement of animal activists in Sochi alarmed by reports that the city has contracted the killing of thousands of stray dogs before and during the Olympic Games. Activists have been picking up dogs from the streets and putting them up at their homes or in temporary shelters before finding an owner elsewhere.

Stray dogs are a common sight on the streets of Russian cities, but with massive construction in the area the street dog population in Sochi and the Olympic park has soared. Useful as noisy, guard dogs, workers feed them to keep them nearby and protect buildings. The dogs — friendly rather than feral — soon lose their value and become strays.

Tonight, a few dogs will be taken on their way to a new life.

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