More colorful dogs have been spotted on Russia’s streets just days after pictures of blue-furred strays from Dzerzhinsk went viral on Russian social media.
A pack of dogs with green-shaded fur was seen roaming the streets of the city of Podolsk some 40 kilometers south of Moscow.
The Podolsk dogs are believed to have gotten their unusual green stains after sleeping in an abandoned warehouse where packs of green paint are stored, the region’s Agriculture Minister Sergei Voskresenskiy explained to the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.
“All the dogs have [pet ID] tags and are not aggressive but, on the contrary, are extremely friendly,” said Voskresenskiy.
Meanwhile, the blue dogs of Dzerzhinsk have been replaced by a pack of pink-colored strays who are also believed to have been exposed to chemicals that dyed their fur, this time at a local explosives production facility.
Though some animal rights watchdogs maintain that the cartoonish-looking dogs face no major health risks from these chemicals, others continue to sound the alarm over the incident.
“Any coloring is bad [for animals], starting from the fact that chemicals can have a detrimental effect on the skin and mucosa,” head of the Russian Union of Kynological Organizations Vladimir Urazhevsky told the independent Dozhd broadcaster.
Urazhevsky noted that prolonged exposure to chemicals could also impact a dog’s sense of smell, which could lead to disorientation and even death.
Russian lawmakers have submitted an inquiry on the blue dogs in Dzerzhinsk and the green dogs in Podolsk to the environmental prosecutor’s office, the head of the Russian State Duma’s Ecology and Environment Protection Committee Vladimir Burmatov said earlier this month.
