Sochi hires exterminators to wipe out stray dogs before Olympics

[Aldurin]

The city of Sochi is going to get a lot of shit over this.

The city of Sochi has hired a private company to kill as many stray dogs as possible before the Winter Olympics, it has been claimed.
Describing the animals as ‘biological trash’, the owner of the company has reportedly admitted being tasked with using poison and traps to rid the city of stray dogs before thousands of tourists and competitors arrive for the Games’ opening ceremony next Friday.
The news will anger animal rights campaigners who thought Sochi officials had abandoned plans to exterminate the stray dogs following widespread protests last year.

I hate this kind of stuff. It is understandable that stray dogs are a concern in cities, but having the solution being to exterminate them like vermin is awful. Not only is this a health concern for other wildlife around the city, but this is also a threat to domesticated dogs who happen to wander too far from their owner's care (or not that far at all depending on how this is handled, though it sounds like it's not that concerning for the extermination company). I really do hope that this gives the city government negative attention and affects reception to having the Winter Olympics there, since that sort of blunt and heartless handling of the problem disgusts me.

[Aerozord]

It does shock me how quickly Russia has become a festering crap hole. I mean it was never among the top places I'd visit but now I'd actively avoid it.

[Shyria Dracnoir]

"Become?"

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

I'm not really sure I'm getting this. Never heard anybody complain about exterminators doing their job before. Poison rats and other rodents and it's perfectly fine, do it to dogs and it's terrible?

[Seil]

Stray dogs can be rescued and adopted into loving families.

Stray rats and other rodents carry infectious diseases that can kill a child.

[greed]

The bulk of rescued dogs are destroyed sorry to say. Also Russia probably has a lot more problems with parasites and diseases than the States, so yeah honestly all the horrifying and terrible things about Russia this ranks fairly low.

Also I think they have a LOT more stray dogs than we in the west do.

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

Originally Posted by Seil

Stray dogs can be rescued and adopted into loving families.

Stray rats and other rodents carry infectious diseases that can kill a child.

Stray rats can probably be adopted just as well as dogs in the general sense. They're both acceptable household pets, and both can carry infectious diseases that harm humans, not just rats.

Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems like you're putting a pretty severe double standard on this because of a bias against less cute animals.

[rpgdemon]

Originally Posted by K-Resh

Stray rats can probably be adopted just as well as dogs in the general sense. They're both acceptable household pets, and both can carry infectious diseases that harm humans, not just rats.

Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems like you're putting a pretty severe double standard on this because of a bias against less cute animals.

In fact, I think stray dogs are more likely to be rabid than stray rats, if only because they're much more likely to sustain a bite and not die of it, to be infected.

[Bum Bill Bee]

Also, can't stray dogs carry infectious diseases as well?

Hrm, somehow I always abstractly thought of stray feral animals that used to be domesticated as being like vermin.

[Menarker]

I believe the expressed issue in the opening post is more the semi-indiscriminate nature of poisons and traps to kill them (possibly causing deaths of owned pets or even small children) that get too close. That this hasty state of trying to mass-slaughter them was the result of public face-saving for the Olympics when the government probably wouldn't have even been half as concerned about the stray dogs rounding around, since they seem to have been present for quite some time. That they are only investing money and time NOW when they are the face of the Olympics as opposed to any other time (when they would not be pressured by time to control the issue safely and humanely) does not paint them in a very pleasant light.