This Man Drove 20 Hours In A Desperate Attempt To Save Sochi Dogs From Extermination
Airapetyan drove all the way from Moscow -- a 1,600-kilometer, 20-hour drive -- to pick up Marusya and 10 other homeless Sochi dogs.
By Sadho Ram — 08 Feb 2014, 09:59 PM — Updated over 10 years ago
One man, infuriated by Sochi’s program to exterminate thousands of stray dogs in preparation for the Olympic Games, took the rescue effort into his own hands
Igor Airapetyan drove for 20 hours over 990 miles from Moscow to Sochi to adopt 11 homeless dogs. His jam-packed car was caught on tape by a local news station:
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"The Olympics have always been a symbol of peace, wars have been halted for the duration of the Olympics. But in Russia, the Olympics are built on blood," Airapetyan told Radio Free Europe
Activists estimate more than 1,000 dogs have been killed in Sochi since efforts to rid the city of strays started in October.
Local campaigners say many of the animals were pets abandoned by families whose houses were demolished to make way for Olympic venues and who were relocated to smaller apartments seen as unsuitable for dogs.
heavy.comNow, Airapetyan is back in Moscow and trying to find homes for the dogs he rescued in Sochi. He hopes to spotlight animal cruelty in Russia in Sochi and elsewhere.
"I went there not only to pick up these 10 dogs but also to draw attention to this issue, to rally people and get them organized," Airapetyan told RFE.
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"In the future, I would like to unite animal-protection groups so people can act in a consolidated manner with joint information resources."
The company hired to rid Sochi of stray dogs, meanwhile, denies actually killing dogs, insisting that it placed them in shelters and only disposed of animals found dead in the streets
Aleksei Sorokin, the director of Basya Services, denounces what he calls an aggressive mudslinging campaign against his firm. "All I can say is this is all insinuations, nonsense, and speculation," he says. "It's a theater of the absurd in which the aura of a villain has been created around me."
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A dog frolics in the street in central Sochi months ahead of Winter Olympics
Image via ibtimes.co.ukRussian officials, while acknowledging that Sochi was struggling with stray dogs, have also stopped short of confirming that animals were being exterminated ahead of the Olympics.
A dog drinks from an icy puddle in Esto Sadok, outside of Sochi. Shelters run by charities in the Sochi region only have enough space for a fraction of the stray population.
Image via rferl.orgThe International Olympic Committee, in turn, maintains that only sick or dying dogs are being put down. Speaking at a news briefing this week, spokesman Mark Adams said, "It would be absolutely wrong to say that any healthy dog will be destroyed."
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