You have probably heard of the disaster that occurred at the Chernobyl power plant in 1986. It was a catastrophe that caused thousands of people to experience radiation poisoning, sometimes to lethal levels. People’s hair fell out; they developed cancer, and, for decades, children were born with severe congenital disabilities.
One unlikely consequence of the disaster is that today, there are hundreds of dogs from Chernobyl that are available for adoption. When the nearby city was first evacuated, people had to leave their dogs behind. Soviet soldiers shot many, but those that survived, reproduced. Over three decades later, there are hundreds of stray dogs that live in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, especially within the vicinity of the power plant.
Animal charities, particularly the Clean Futures Fund, are working to make some of these dogs available for adoption, especially among American families. If you thought you had heard everything but had not heard about dogs from a radioactive region being available for overseas adoption, keep reading.
Chernobyl and Pripyat Today Is A Ghost Town In Ukraine
Pripyat is a city in the Eastern European country of Ukraine (formerly the Soviet Union) that is near the Chernobyl plant. Following the meltdown of the nuclear plant that occurred on April 26, 1986, the entire city was evacuated. Today, it is a veritable ghost town, full of abandoned buildings that are overgrown with plants.
There are occasional visitors to Chernobyl. What they see is run-down buildings sprayed with graffiti and wildlife that roam down the abandoned streets. Surprisingly, one of the most frequent sights is young dogs under the age of four years old. Many of these dogs are available for adoption.