A pack of stray dogs with bright-blue fur has caught the Russian internet’s attention.
Photos of the dogs roaming through the snow in the city of the city of Dzerzhinsk 370 kilometers east of Moscow sparked mixed reactions on social media. Some compared the dogs to cartoon and movie characters and others expressed outrage that the stray animals’ health could be at risk.
The dogs may have been exposed to chemicals at a nearby abandoned factory that produced plexiglass and hydrocyanic acid, giving their fur the eye-catching blue color, observers said.
Stray dogs often roam near the abandoned factory’s buildings that still store chemicals like copper sulfate, the chemicals plant’s former bankruptcy manager told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency Thursday.
Dzerzhinsk authorities are currently negotiating with the Orgsteklo company’s management for permission to enter the closed factory grounds, catch the dogs and determine what caused their fur to turn blue, RIA Novosti reported.
Animal rights activists told city administrators that the dogs’ health is likely not in danger, according to RIA Novosti.
“According to preliminary visual inspection, the dogs are in satisfactory condition. Tomorrow, specialists will enter the chemical factory grounds and find and examine the animals,” the city administration told Interfax.
