So the culling of stay dogs in Sochi is the latest embarrassing story for Russia to come out of these Olympics. I wonder if it even occurred to Russian authorities that a dog cull would get any attention. That's because, in my experience, the former Soviet Union is overrun with stray dogs. I saw them in Uzbekistan and they were all over the place in Kazakhstan. (See my post here). Although I have never been to Russia, the Financial Times wrote about the strays of Moscow years ago (if you have trouble seeing the article, you can register for a free FT account).
During our stay in Taraz it seemed like the number of dogs on the street gradually increased. And then one day they were all gone. Our translator said that the city periodically culls the population to keep the number of dog attacks from getting to high. If they do the same thing in Sochi, then culls like this are probably an unremarkable part of life for the local authorities. Why would they expect the rest of the world to make a big deal about it?
During our stay in Taraz it seemed like the number of dogs on the street gradually increased. And then one day they were all gone. Our translator said that the city periodically culls the population to keep the number of dog attacks from getting to high. If they do the same thing in Sochi, then culls like this are probably an unremarkable part of life for the local authorities. Why would they expect the rest of the world to make a big deal about it?
