During 2-8 October, a team of veterinarians from the USA, Germany, Great Britain, and Ukraine were working on site of the Chornobyl NPP and in the Exclusion Zone. The purpose of their mission was implementation of the next stage of the Dogs of Chornobyl project led by the Clean Futures Fund, USA.

This project was initiated back in 2017 and aims to reduce the population of stray dogs naturally by sterilizing them, and thus create safer conditions for workers of the plant and the Exclusion Zone. Besides the sterilization, all dogs are subject to medical examination and vaccination.

“This campaign is focused on the dogs in the local zone around the Arch (the New Safe Confinement), where it’s been the most challenging to catch them.

The dogs in this area are apparently the smartest and most agile we have ever encountered at ChNPP, in Prypiat town, and surroundings. They know people well, and can distinguish between permanent workers and newcomers. In 2018 we even tried to dress up as employees of the NOVARKA company, but still had no success”, — CFF’s leader Erik Kambarian commented on the campaign.

According to him, this year the Fund managed to find a way to catch and work with the dogs in this area. In total, 130 dogs were spayed/neutered and vaccinated by the team of veterinarians in a week.

Read more: Visit of the US Clean Futures Fund: continued cooperation and new projects

FYI: The Clean Futures Fund (CFF) is a US non-profit organization founded in 2017 to provide support to communities affected by industrial accidents such as the Chornobyl accident.