If you have young children, you probably won’t bat an eye when they talk about blue dogs. You may have heard people mention them in passing, as the news has spread around the world. We’re not talking about the cartoon Bluey, but about some very real dogs that live in the Chernobyl area.
This radiation-contaminated area has always been the subject of study and media coverage. After all, decades may have passed since the Chernobyl disaster, but there is always something to see. You can imagine the look on the faces of a group of hikers when they came across a pack of feral dogs… with suspiciously blue fur.
Blue dogs, the new mutation mutts at Chernobyl?
Photos were quickly taken and the online press did the rest. Social media and internet forums were flooded with speculation. Everyone had the same terrifying thought: were these poor dogs mutations caused by persistent radiation after almost 40 years? And would they start to produce puppies of different colors (like the Pantone colors of the year)?
However, scientists were quick to calm fears; it is true that these dogs’ fur was blue—it was not a long Photoshop script, but the explanation is much more realistic (although a little dirty on the part of the dogs).
Discarding the Radiation Hypothesis
The Clean Futures Fund quickly confirmed the authenticity of the photographs. The veterinary team that cares for dogs in this area immediately contacted the press. Dr. Jennifer Betz, the program’s Veterinary Medical Director, assured the press that this was not a genetic alteration.
However, the dogs with this peculiar coat appeared active, energetic, and completely healthy. In fact, genetic studies of these semi-wild animal populations show remarkable genetic resistance to mutations, so this curious coat was due to something else.
As always, humans are to blame. The most likely theory is that the dogs rolled around or played with a blue chemical that was pooling in the environment. Animal protection organizations point out that the most likely source of the dye was liquid that had leaked from a damaged portable toilet. For now, veterinarians believe that the chemical will not affect the dogs unless they lick it off while grooming themselves.
But this is not the first time that a blue dog has caused a stir on social media: in Dzerzhinsk, Russia, in 2021, some dogs were covered in bright blue after coming into contact with copper sulfate. The mystery was definitely not due to the 1986 nuclear disaster, but to modern chemical pollution.
Caring for the Blue Dogs
The animal protection association Dogs of Chernobyl attempted to capture these dogs to take fur and blood samples to identify the composition of the dye. However, these dogs are extremely shy of human contact and have avoided the teams. For now, they are being monitored from a distance, but they have not been able to catch them to give them a bath.
These dogs are direct descendants of pets that were abandoned by their owners during the 1986 evacuation. The population was told they would return in three days, but they never could. This is why the Dogs of Chernobyl program was created, founded by the Clean Futures Fund in 2017. Its mission is to sterilize, vaccinate, and release (TNR) a population estimated at around 700 dogs and 100 cats.
In addition to caring for them, they have a scientific opportunity to analyze how these canines have evolved in a few generations to become resistant to radiation after decades of exposure.
Ironically, the Chernobyl area has become a thriving natural sanctuary due to the absence of humans. It has healthy populations of wolves, lynxes, moose, bison, and even Przewalski’s horses.