This Friday, the 8th of March, in the northern Russian city of Arkhangelsk, an atrocity of the prehistoric range happened in the open daylight as a pack of stray dogs tore apart to death a 7-year-old boy.
(for the Russians and other interested here's the link to the news).
Source of photo
The boy was torn apart in minutes, as witnesses (obviously standing and watching, but who would easily dive into a hellball of swirling mad dogs, and a screaming little fellow, really, guys?) claim, the head was bitten out, the ambulance, which came later, had nothing more to do as to pick up together the blooded remains from the ground. The dogs disappeared. And, oh, Dear God Almighty, I have not made this story up.
(for the Russians and other interested here's the link to the news).
The boy was torn apart in minutes, as witnesses (obviously standing and watching, but who would easily dive into a hellball of swirling mad dogs, and a screaming little fellow, really, guys?) claim, the head was bitten out, the ambulance, which came later, had nothing more to do as to pick up together the blooded remains from the ground. The dogs disappeared. And, oh, Dear God Almighty, I have not made this story up.
Being a long-time dog-lover and having been following the news ever since it happened, I still cannot decide what I am shocked by the most: by the fact of an unbelievably monstrous, brute and nonsensical death of a child, by the horrors which actually happen on the streets of a more-or-less european city in the broad daylight, by the fact that it actually happened in the twenty-first century, by fact that the animals are still in the open, by the reaction of the witnesses, by the reaction of the authorities, by the reaction of the people, or by the mentality of my tribe in general.
For several days by now the discussion has been going on, and the dogs are still there, only two of them having been found and shot. As the mayor still sleeps peacefully undisturbed by the events, the society divides now into radicals and more radicals, who now raid the streets with air guns and deadly rat poisons, giving no chance to any animal, dog, cat, rat or armadillo, if they find any. Add up here slightly and not-so-slightly mentally disturbed people and possible dangers coming from them holding guns and rat poisons. Add up also numerous wounded dogs and dogs dying from the poison in the worst possible agony, hiding their corpses which no one attends. On the other side of the trench there are poor bullied animal protectors, who, within a night, have become the scapegoats.
A bit more educated people have dipped themselves into homey coziness of the vasts of the Internet and deliver aggressive or not-so-aggressive comments into the Universe, taking part in numerous polls and voting for "taking poor animals into the animal shelter".
Here, I would like to make a small diversion: of course there is a dog shelter in a 300 thousand city. The shelter with 180 dogs (currently) is going on despite everything due to the persistence and good-will of several volunteers. Minimally it costs 150 rubles (5 USD) per dog per day, and it is not financed by the city at all. On the other hand, there is no proper service for capturing stray animals as well. No one wants to take a stray home, very few want to seem brutal and unfair to the animals. So we have a full circle and an eaten boy.
And I am no better - in the homely Internet, typing out my shock of what has happened and the frustration of why it has happened. Why there are so many stray animals in my city and in every city in my country? Why we learned to brush teeth in the morning and use the toilet, but not to take the responsibility for an animal? Why is it possible that teenagers put a fireworks detonator into the dogs muzzle and blow it "just to see what happens"? Or burn a kitten, or throw the dog from the top floor onto the tarmac? What has gone wrong with people? Why no one is responsible for the death of a child?
It is deeply sad and hurtful to write all this about my people. Or we are just a tribe and under the cover of the night we all have become barbarians...
Copyright © 2013 by Olga Johannesson
For several days by now the discussion has been going on, and the dogs are still there, only two of them having been found and shot. As the mayor still sleeps peacefully undisturbed by the events, the society divides now into radicals and more radicals, who now raid the streets with air guns and deadly rat poisons, giving no chance to any animal, dog, cat, rat or armadillo, if they find any. Add up here slightly and not-so-slightly mentally disturbed people and possible dangers coming from them holding guns and rat poisons. Add up also numerous wounded dogs and dogs dying from the poison in the worst possible agony, hiding their corpses which no one attends. On the other side of the trench there are poor bullied animal protectors, who, within a night, have become the scapegoats.
A bit more educated people have dipped themselves into homey coziness of the vasts of the Internet and deliver aggressive or not-so-aggressive comments into the Universe, taking part in numerous polls and voting for "taking poor animals into the animal shelter".
Here, I would like to make a small diversion: of course there is a dog shelter in a 300 thousand city. The shelter with 180 dogs (currently) is going on despite everything due to the persistence and good-will of several volunteers. Minimally it costs 150 rubles (5 USD) per dog per day, and it is not financed by the city at all. On the other hand, there is no proper service for capturing stray animals as well. No one wants to take a stray home, very few want to seem brutal and unfair to the animals. So we have a full circle and an eaten boy.
And I am no better - in the homely Internet, typing out my shock of what has happened and the frustration of why it has happened. Why there are so many stray animals in my city and in every city in my country? Why we learned to brush teeth in the morning and use the toilet, but not to take the responsibility for an animal? Why is it possible that teenagers put a fireworks detonator into the dogs muzzle and blow it "just to see what happens"? Or burn a kitten, or throw the dog from the top floor onto the tarmac? What has gone wrong with people? Why no one is responsible for the death of a child?
It is deeply sad and hurtful to write all this about my people. Or we are just a tribe and under the cover of the night we all have become barbarians...
Copyright © 2013 by Olga Johannesson
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