Right around the time of the Winter Olympics 2014 the number of stray dogs in Sochi soared. In order to clean up the city for the Olympics, Russian government officials ordered pest control authorities to terminate all of the stray dogs in the city of Sochi. The number flying through the media of dogs in danger is over 2,000.
Animal activists from all over the country have driven to Sochi to pile dogs in their cars in effort to save their lives. The Sochi strays have shed light on modern day heros and everything that they are capable of. The Washing Post wrote about a woman named Dina Filippova, who is a true hero to these dogs.
“Filippova and a friend are lodging 24 dogs in temporary foster homes for $150 a month, plus food and medicine, paid for by donations. She has four dogs in her own apartment. Over the past two years, she said, she has helped rescue 500 canines.”WashingtonPost
The aim of many of the activists in Russia is to save the dogs most in need. There are many dogs that were born strays, no owners, no food and no home. Countless owners of animal shelters have traveled to Sochi and returned with ten to twenty dogs (as many as they could fit in their cars) and welcomed them into their shelters.
In addition to rescuing dogs, many volunteers have donated food, blankets and money to the dogs in Sochi. Cars completely packed with supplies drove countless miles into Sochi to assure that the dogs rescued had a fighting chance.
Even though stray dogs has been an ongoing problem in Sochi, because of the Olympic games the situation has been flooding social media. In turn, it caused much public attention, which has made a huge difference. The most incredible heroic act is that of Oleg Deripaska, a Russian millionaire. Oleg has paid for about 2,000 to be taken out of the city and relocated to an animal shelter he help build run by Olga Melnikova. Oleg states that his kindess is not random, his beloved childhood dog was first a stray. The heartbreaking fate of the stray dogs was brought to his attention by a Facebook campaign group. The process of saving the dogs is continuing and about 140 have been re-homed. Oleg Deripaska
Using social media to stop animal abuse has been a contributing factor to much of the improvement. Facebook has countless groups and campaigns to create awareness, protest against the extermination of the dogs and to promote adopting these animals that are in desperate need of a loving home. Without facebook, Oleg may have never realized the extent to which Russian officials were willing to go.
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