Sochi's stray dogs find shelter, at least while Games go on

[steve2470]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/sochi/2014/02/06/stay-dogs-sochi-olympics/5259005/

BARANKOVA, Russia — At the end of a road that winds through a mountain overlooking downtown Sochi — the last mile or so an unpaved, uninhabitable mess of mud and gravel — roughly 100 stray dogs that have been removed from Olympic Park are enjoying their reprieve from the slaughterhouse.

Some of them lay on the dirt, soaking in sunshine with their eyes closed. A few small puppies nip at each other and roll around in sawdust, while others make eager introductions to visitors, almost begging to be adopted. They perk up and start yapping when Jenya Popov, 25, who has been hired to live in a nearby aluminum shed with just a tiny cot, a stove heater and several bags of dog food, starts stirring around 3:30 p.m., eventually emerging with a large silver bucket.

"We feed the older dogs now," he said through an interpreter. "We fed the puppies in the morning."

It is by no means a luxurious home for the stray dogs that have essentially been classified as pests by the Russian organizing committee for the Winter Games, but it is indeed a home — for now, anyway — made possible by a billionaire philanthropist, the city of Sochi and various animal-loving volunteers.

[shenmue]

1. Mercy

I hope they take care of the poor critters.