Mutant stray dogs attack Muscovites

New type of dogs know how to ride the metro, they even know how to explain their needs to people

There is no precise information about the number of stray dogs in Moscow. A spokesman for the Moscow fauna department said that they reach 20 or 30 thousand, although cynologists believe that the population of ownerless dogs in Moscow is estimated at over 100 thousand. Stray dogs attack thousands of Muscovites every year. The attacks lead to fatal outcomes at times.

Stray dogs killed a 54-year-old woman in January. They were dragging the woman's body along the vacant ground near the garbage-pressing station for a long while, tearing the body to pieces. Dogs usually choose solitary areas and passers-by for their attacks. As a rule, one dog, a so-called scout, approaches the victim at first, and then the whole pack attacks a person.

Veterinaries say that stray dogs in big cities have become much smarter animals. Big cities turn abandoned dogs into brutal, well-organized fighters. Only smartest and strongest animals can survive in a metropolitan city.

Moscow authorities passed a special program to sterilize homeless dogs several years ago. However, it is impossible to solve the problem, because the population of stray dogs is constantly replenished with new species coming from the Moscow region, where such program is not practiced.

Zoological psychologist Andrey Neuronov said at a press conference that a new type of homeless animals appeared in Moscow. It is a completely different group of ownerless animals, which are much more intelligent than other species. They ride the metro to get from one place in the city to another; they know where they can stay warm in winter and where to find food. They even use the primitive language of gestures to “tell” a person what they want.

Moscow specialists have already pointed out the issue of the new social type of stray dogs before. As a rule, they are solitary dogs that spend a lot of time in the Moscow metro. If there is a group of stray dogs, every member of the group has their own roles and social status. They always have the leader – the strongest and most aggressive male dog. It is the smartest dog in a pack, which is responsible for choosing the routes and the tactics of action. The leader has an assistant, or a guard, whose goal is to mark the leader's territory. The leader often has his female dog in the group.

Specialists believe that the authorities should constantly pay attention to the problem of homeless animals in Moscow: “One has to look into the matter, study the animals' behavior and try to explain their aggression. However, we usually jump from one extremity to another – we either kill or protect,” Andrey Neuronov said.

The zoological psychologist also said that only enthusiasts deal with the problem of sterilization of homeless animals in Moscow. The funding of the program is obviously insufficient to solve the problem with stray dogs, not to mention the problem with rats and crows.

It is noteworthy that rats and crows have completely changed their behavior over 30 years: they have become incredibly sly, smart and curious. In addition, they possess great powers of endurance. Several occurrences of crows' attacks against people have been registered. Specialists, however, believe that the birds behave so for their wish to play with humans.