There is an article in the Financial Times about stray dogs in Moscow, Russia that I find fascinating. Observing my own and other dogs only hints at the possible complex social groups that dogs can develop on their own away from their human parents who keep them in perpetual childhood. The Financial Times article by Susanne Sternthal explores the diverse inner workings of Moscow's 35,000 strong stray dog population. One thing to note is the population is somewhere between wild dogs and our domesticated friends. They are not capable of being "rescued" and put in homes. As stated in the article,
"Moscow’s strays sit somewhere between house pets and wolves, says Poyarkov, but are in the early stages of the shift from the domesticated back towards the wild. That said, there seems little chance of reversing this process. It is virtually impossible to domesticate a stray: many cannot stand being confined indoors."
This article is amazing and shows the great adaptability of the Canine. Learning to live in and thrive in the concrete jungle where they live, hunting/scavenging and begging to survive. The packs allow the smartest dogs to rise to the top and help the pack thrive. Some of the dogs have even learned to ride the subways just like any good metropolis dweller.
I don't think any population like this could exist in an American city because of the Russian mentality compared to the typical America one. We couldn't allow something like this to just exist without either getting rid of it or trying to fix it. Muscovites are able to accept (mostly) and actually cherish the stray dog population. I don't know if it's just not mentioned but dog fighting doesn't seem to be a problem and strays are generally cared for by the public at large. One other thing to note is these "wild dogs" are not made up of released house pets, at least not anymore, but come from their own self-maintained breeding stock. I don't want to rewrite the entire article so read it for yourself but I will leave you with one thought, maybe there is hope for nature yet.
P.S. check out http://www.metrodog.ru/ for pics of the Moscow packs.
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