- Today I killed my 1000th dog! Take a look at the picture of the “lucky” victim, – writes a member of the Russian forum of dog hunters.
Bottom: 999th.
Top: 1000th and the bonus 1001st.
Before reading the report of the overjoyed poisoner, let’s figure out who these dog hunters are.
Here is what the article in Russian Wikipedia says.
Dog hunters
Dog hunters are volunteers who independently exterminate street dogs in the city. The declared objective of dog hunters is protection against the possibility of being bitten or even killed by a dog pack, as well as cleaning of cities from disease vectors and pests.
They kill stray dogs by shooting or poisoning. Dog hunters are actively using internet to communicate and coordinate their activities.
The dog hunting movement saw a significant increase in popularity since October 2011. According to media reports and animal rights activists, dog hunters operate in many major cities in Russia, as well as in Ukraine and Bulgaria.
According to one theory, the dog hunting movement is a result of inability of municipal authorities to solve the problem of stray animals.
Their activity has a mixed assessment in the community. The legal side is ambiguous: some experts consider it legitimate, while others see it as a violation of the law.
Dog hunters themselves believe that their actions fall under the definition of common healthcare interventions, similar to extermination of rats or killing mosquitoes.
Methods of work
Dog hunters mainly practice shooting and poisoning.
They use pneumatic guns and firearms and their website contains the detailed instructions with the mapped areas of dog’s body.
For the purpose of poisoning dog hunters use the baits made of minced meat, pate, liver sausage, mixed with toxic agents.
The most often used agent is the highly toxic for dogs hydrazide of isonicotinic acid. It is contained in the number of drugs readily available in pharmacies (for example, Isoniazid – antibiotic against tuberculosis).
The working set of dog hunter: liver sausage and isoniazid.
After the bait is fed to dogs, the drug takes effect within one and a half hours. In high doses, these drugs have severe neurotoxic effects manifested in seizures and subsequent coma.
My thousandth anniversary bait
Let’s get back to the excited man who shared his joy in the forum of dog hunters to have a glimpse into the world of these people.
Today I arrived to Kurenevka – namely, the area of old Kurenevskoye cemetery [ed: Kyiv, Ukraine].
Near the entrance (Valkovskaya str.) I saw six sickly flea carriers.
A little bit wild and distrusting – the typical flock of cemetery jackals.
After deceiving their caution I managed to feed four (two ran away), and the second of them was the hero of the day (by eating my thousandth bait) for which he received the bonus dessert.
Went down the Frunze street and fed another creature. After eating the dessert it followed me barking, as if saying: “Don’t be greedy, give me more” (photo 2).
Then I went to Kurenevskiy market and fed another one (photo 3).
Now I’ve started counting my second thousand :-)
Reactions from other forum members
marandus: Run to the rainbow, furry friends :)Бегите на радугу, пушистики
[Note: Alexei Stakhanov was a Soviet miner - iconic model of a hard-worker]
sergej (replying to the above): 14 and a half months.14 с половиной месяцев.
If not we, then who? If not now, then when?Если не мы, то кто? Если не сейчас, то когда?
My name is Augis Barkov and I am glad to welcome you to RedHotRussia - the site in which you can find the most popular stories, pictures and videos from Russian internet translated to English.
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When my colleague saw this post, she screamed with rage to be a “dog hunter’s hunter”.
What more I am worried about, however, is how did they handle the “bodies”. God forbid them to smuggle the poisoned dogs to Chinese meat market. Otherwise, it would kill many “birds” with 1 stone.
I think that dog hunters don’t dispose the bodies themselves, because they are a semi-clandestine “organization” and are afraid to be exposed.
Probably, residents of the neighborhood where the dogs die, alert the animal control services and they come to pick up the bodies.
***
As for the “Chinese meat market” – no worries here, since isoniazid is not as poisonous to humans as it is poisonous to dogs.
But, please, don’t take my word for it :)
This is disturbing beyond reproach. The fact that Russia has a problem with wild dogs is widely known, but this is a medieval solution. These kids need to be hunted, found, then beaten. Being at the top of the food chain we need to respect all forms of life. Killing for pleasure is the lowest form humanity can achieve.
Kids? Those are adult men and women, who afraid for their lives. The wild dogs pronblem is so serious that you can’t even begin to imagine.
Sure… These “afraid” adults were captured on this video pretty well! Animal cruelty in Russia has reached a disgusting level! Brutal killings are preformed by sadistic individuals who are sharing their ” proud” work on the Internet and having competition on whose killings are more “entertaining”. Enjoy the video!
http://www.activism.com/en_US/petition/stop-animal-abuse-in-the-russian-federation/42323
Here, enjoy a vid about children-victims of stray dog attacks in return! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxei7pwgq00
Or this video where in the city of Arkhangelsk an adult woman was lucky not to be killed by dogs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiL0WOq0IqU
… the same city, in which a little boy just few months ago was not so lucky – http://redhotrussia.com/stray-dogs-kill-boy/
Truly a shame. On one hand I can understand the problem of dog overpopulation and such, but yeah…getting pleasure from taking lives is a step away from something truly horrible. If these people run out of dogs, they WILL turn to killing humans…. If they don’t ‘graduate’ before that.
In some rural areas of the US local governments work with Divisions of Natural Resources in order to maintain safe and healthy levels of wild animal populations. This tactic is used during hunting seasons; if deer populations are too large, they overgraze, starve, and die slowly. Bear populations can become violent if they grow out of control, starvation drives them to enter high population areas and cause a host of problems. Though wild dogs are not a legally hunted animal, their predicament is similar. They are overpopulated and therefore cause trouble on the streets. Their starvation can cause them to attack humans. What we are witnessing with the rogue group appears to be vigilante justice that attempts to fill the void that the leadership (or government) left open. The fact that these vigilantes take pride in the killing is the more controversial aspect. Hunters take pride in hunting a bear but the role of the dog on the western psyche is different. Accountability and legitimacy are what is needed for this group, accountability so that they can clean up the carcasses and stop gloating online and legitimacy so that the public might see them as performing a service.
Thanks for another interesting post!
Thanks for this balanced comment.
I have to admit that at the time of writing this post I was critical of these dog hunters.
After reading more discussions on internet, I started thinking that it’s not as black and white as it seems.
Please tell me why these morons are allowed to do this? There is nothing more cruel than poison and the one which is being used is not quick acting. More concerning is the joy these “dog hunters” seem to experience. To me they belong in mental institutions because they are clearly disturbed and delusional. I believe these people should have a taste of their own medicine. Finally – the world is over populated and this is typical and obvious when one reads something as savage and cruel as this so………shouldn’t the dog hunters be taken off the planet as they are clearly the excess in society.
I think that you touched the core point, Virginia.
While the cruelty (where it takes place) displayed by dog hunters is wrong beyond any doubts, the discussion itself should start from the philosophical question whether people in general have the right to kill dogs (or other living creatures).
Wikipedia article about dog hunters (which I translated only partly) contains the following sentence explaining the ideology of dog hunters:
“According to the codex of dog hunters, humans own the priority right to live in the safe environment”
Thus, paradoxically these dog hunters are humanists doing inhumane deeds.
While the bragging might be a bit extreme, I have no problems with this at all. These aren’t pets; they’re dangerous wild animals with a tendency to hurt and kill people. The concept of there being packs of wild dogs running around the streets in my neighborhood would lead me to kill them, I think. Very few people would think that bragging about killing a deer is so “inhumane,” considering they otherwise reproduce into dangerous numbers, but since dogs are so often viewed as “pets,” even when not owned or dangerous, they somehow get more sympathy than they deserved.
Based on what I have read, I can honestly say I have no problems with this activity.
Ryan, I am a dog-owner from Russia. Well, how about pets, who can eat the poison at the street? My veterinarian faced a lot of izoniazid and krysid poisoning cases this year. She put up a notice about izoniazid and its antidot in the hall of the vet clinic, because it’s often too late, when the dog is in the clinic. Many pets have been killed. These “dog hunters” just leave their poison at the street. By the way, vinamine K1, the antidot against krysid, is not officially imported in Russia. How about me, a russian dog-owner? Should I jail my pet for her safety? Should I put a muzzle on her forever? But she can’t breathe while running with her muzzle. Should I prohibit her running? Why do they hunt me and my dog?
I THINK YOU ALL ARE SICK! AND YOUR MOTHERS THAT RAISED YOU SURE DIDN’T DO A VERY GOOD JOB! YOU PEOPLE ARE VERY SICK AND NEED HELP
I cant believe how disgusting this is! I almost hope the dogs adapt and start hunting the hunters. Truly sick.. at least if they attack its for food..
yes, dog listen you and started to training on childs and womens before hunting on doghunters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an3Hv5yzC7E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiL0WOq0IqU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps5Cfvhivlk
but wait a moments… Dogs where doing it befoore doghunters appeared!
These are not men. They are cowards. They are not hunters. They are villians .Evil ,conniving villians preying on the trust of Man’s best friend. Leading hungry ,innocent, homeless dogs that have been overbred to their deaths. They are dirty bastard men who should be stripped in the town quare, covered with Alpo and eaten by packs of rabid wolves. This thoroughly disgusts me.
People who get off on cruelty have no business being allowed out among normal people. Hunt these sickos down and chuck them in prison where they can spend the rest of their lives hunting each other’s backsides.
Those man are mentally ill!!! Monsters! and I can’t imagine that they have website, where they proudly write about their ”achievements”. This is animal abuse at worst, and police and government have to find them and bring them to justice
In reality, they are dangerous for pets, too. When you try to say that, they answer they just want dog-owners not to put off muzzles when dogs are out of house. So if your pet ate the poison, it is your own fault, the killer will never be found. By the way, izoniazide is toxic for cats, too. Wow, cat muzzles forever!
This social phenomenon is very interesting indeed; it’s a very good example of self-organization in human systems.
One has to live in Russia to understand it; people are totally atomized and indifferent. I was really very much impressed when I came across their site; there is much more to it than it may seem at first glance.
Let’s try to see the situation in the context of what’s going on in Russia.
As it was justly stated in the post municipal authorities aren’t able to solve the problem of stray animals. The question is – why? There was no problem at all with stray animals in the Soviet Russia; just no problem at all. I guess they did exactly the same things so called civilized countries do now; first thing is to catch a stray dog and then to utilize it in several weeks if no owners appear. What about now? The point is that the existing law allows to catch stray dogs, keep them for 6 months (sic!) and in case no owner appears, set them free after some manipulations with their reproductive system.
Why did the lawmakers pass the law? Why didn’t they listen to the professionals who warned them? Of course there were very loud outcries of dog defenders (they are very aggressive as a rule, at least in Russia), heated discussions about humane attitude towards dogs, etc; but I think that money is the factor. It seems to me that they “spend” more money on stray dogs than on homeless people in Russia; it’s way easier to “spend” it that way.
So who are the main players in the game?
1/ People who profit from the situation in different ways. They say that they care about stray dogs but that’s definitely not true. Profit is what they care about.
2/ The other group is more motley.
One subgroup of it consists of people who really think that stray dogs are a part of “urban fauna” . Sometimes they are reasonable, sometimes not. When bitten by stray dogs they often change their mind.
Next big subgroup consists of people who think that dogs are much better than human beings, judging from what they say and do. There is no doubt that they have psychological problems, sometimes very serious, the Internet is full of such examples and one might presume that they are middle aged women mostly, but surprisingly there are a lot of young women among these extremists. When you read their threats the most extreme Nazis begin to look like angels; they never said that dogs are better than people at least… Many people from this subgroup are badly educated.
I guess there is more….
3/ So called dog hunters. Judging from what I read their most active members are well educated people, active in social life.
Sometimes their activities look like boy scout games but they do a job authorities fail (or don’t want) to do.
4/ The rest of the population. It’s not difficult to guess that when stray dogs do serious harm, frontier justice is the only method to prevent harm in the near future under the circumstances. Besides, even people who do not use the Internet know a lot about the methods of dog hunters by now because of endless TV shows, many of which were organized by dog defenders.
That said it is very interesting; it’s not about just stray dogs, it’s about people.
As the events are unfolding, the whole situation resembles more and more the ultimate battle between good and evil.
Hooray! Dogs are EVIL! I am glad about this and I hope my homeland starts having dog hunters!
Dogs are not evil, dogs are neutral in the context.
The battle between good and evil implies human beings.
What I meant to say is that the situation with stray dogs became outraged in Russia.
The amount of oil and gas money is such that it couldn’t be imagined back then in the Soviet Union.
At the same time: education, health care system, the army, infrastructure, science etc.– all destroyed. Not to mention the influence all over the globe.
Try to imagine it!
No wonder this simple problem can’t be solved in the existing system; no matter what the costs are. It just produces more millionaires if the trend is the same.
At the same time ordinary people suffer greatly from stray dogs; the authorities live in another dimension (there are several different Russias nowadays). So the situation is political.
As for true dog defenders, I do really pity them. When you are ditched by the people you really care for in your life, your mind plays tricks with you; sometimes you begin to identify dogs with human beings.
Dogs arent evil. They just dangerous if they havnt owner. Look at a lot of links with videos of dogs attacks on humans in comments.
I am from St. Petersburg, Russia.
Russia does not have Animal Control since the collapse of the Sovien Union and people are being attacked every day, it is all over the news. There are packs of feral dogs running everywhere attacking people especially small children, often killing them. Russian media mostly sides with so called ‘Animal Rights’ activists and they say it is people’s problem and their fault, they should not walk in areas, which feral dogs control. That is sick! Feral dogs should not be in public areas in the first place, everyone has a right for safety! Dogs do not have ‘their own territory’ in public places. Russian government sides with ‘Animal Rights’ organizations, which bribe Russian lawmakers to pass favourable laws, such as “Neuter and Release’ law, and then together they steal taxpayer’s money for ‘Dog neutering and shelters’, in the same time there are no homeless people shelters at all. They build these dog shelters or neuter and release packs of dogs back on the street to continue to bite people. Russian government does not care about human rights and violating them all the time. Not just that. 90% of Russian dog owners walk their dogs unleashed, including dangerous breeds, when you tell them to take their dog, they swear at you and try to intimidate. They never clean after their dogs and all parks and recreation areas are covered with feces. Some people make fun on letting their dogs on people. You cannot really press charges against them because there is no law! You cannot even really fine them. Look at this: If you kill a dog, they may put you in jail for 2 years unless you prove you’ve done it out of self defence (which can be difficult to prove), if someone’s dog kills your kid, the owner will get away with 50 $ fine in best case. Do you think this society is normal? Russia is a sick country – dog welfare has more value, than life of children. Those false priorities are common in modern Russia. No wonder, some people take matters in their own hands…
Russia is a sick country because of ignorant people like you! Enjoy the attached video. Maybe you will worry less about your kids and future ahead of you. A Barbaric, sadistic country!
http://www.activism.com/en_US/petition/stop-animal-abuse-in-the-russian-federation/42323
I have never owned a dog and I am not planning to own a dog so I bear no responsibility at all, at the same time I have a right for safety and order. I live in Russia, I am the one who walks on these streets everyday and sees packs of dogs. In your country dog shelters are privately owned, streets are clean and safe, unwanted dogs are not kept in ASPCA shelters forever, am I right? They are not released back into the street, are they? In my country officials are building dog shelters at my expense and that’s a big difference. They spend more money everyday on feeding a single dog than on a single soldier’s food in the army. I speak against neuter and release program because that’s a crime against people. I don’t want to see nasty packs of feral dogs roaming in my neighborhood harassing people and barking all night. I don’t mind dog shelters as long as they are privately owned. And every single dog must be on a leash all the time in public places so the pedestrians are protected against unwanted contact with your dog. Kids are more important for me than a million of stray dogs, that’s for sure. And I’d rather see my tax money go on people needs, we have a lot of other issues to resolve here.
I have checked this petition which looks like it is created by Russian Animal Rights extremists who cause huge problems in Russia. They have bribed Russian lawmakers so they passed a Neuter and Release law which is a pure crime against people. In Soviet Union we had no problem with stray dogs because we had effective Animal Control. After the collapse of the Soviet Union all these so called Animal Rights organizations had emerged, they were preventing Animal Control officials from doing their job, physically and verbally abusing them. They are the ones who created doghunter problem because they have done everything to ban legal Animal Control in Russia. The solution of this problem is to ban importing dogs into Russia, dog ownership and breeding should be under tight control, dog owners should pay high taxes (owning a large dog should be a luxury) and pay stiff fines for letting their dogs walk unleashed in public areas. Those who feed feral dogs should pay huge fines as well. Animal Rights extremists should be banned in Russia and legal Animal Control should be returned.
At Augis
I don’t understand what was the purpose of your discussion in this blog? Nobody argues that the overpopulation of homeless animals must be control, but it has to be civilized and humane (like it’s done in all civilized countries), not by creating sadistic criminals who care less about an old grandma or child killed by dogs, but do it for their sadistic entertaining purposes. Growing, sadistic, legalized union is a threat to a society. Who is next?? A child, grandma, disable? Maybe you? You are bringing two different issues in this discussion.
***
Your blog title states –” Russian dog killers use Internet to share their “success” stories”. So, don’t confuse your audience with your title and particular your posts.
Hi, Tess.
The purpose of the discussion in the blog is to show what Russian netizens are concerned with – no matter whether I personally agree with their opinions or not (I simply translate popular and interesting posts from Russian internet).
The two links above I gave because I wanted to explain why dog hunters exist in Russia.
Anyway, treat my comments as comments of just another reader, and not author of the post (because, as I mentioned – I mostly translate the posts from Russian internet).
Dog hunters exist in Russia not because of your posted videos, but because it’s a corrupt country. In any civilized country citizens call animal control (legit government organization), not a sadist dog hunter. I think even existence of this forum, site, that you find ‘interesting’ to translate confirms intentions of this sadistic organization and their ‘well-qualified’ members.
***
Goverment and their brainless helpers do not care about human and civilized way to resolve this problem with strays. They support so-called animal killers- gangs of sadists- “doghunters”, who use terrible barbaric methods for killing strays. They spend tens of million of taxpayer money not for building shelters and sterilisation of animals, but for sadist massive killing all these creatures, who were thrown on the streets by irresponsible and cruel people. There is no effective and reasonable laws against animal cruelty in Russia and for protection animals. All levels of Russian Politicians and Administrators are mostly croocks and completely busy with the own enrichment on account of taxpayer money.
I agree that Russia is corrupt country.
I agree that the impotence of local municipalities and irresponsibility of owners is the reason why there are so many stray dogs (and the situation could be different).
I also agree that the methods used by dog hunters are cruel (though not necessarily sadistic).
However, in the given circumstances I see dog hunters as the necessity, because I value the life of human beings higher than life of dogs – and if you think otherwise – then this is the main point on which we disagree.
Lana said she would like to give Russian soldiers more food than the dogs, please no don’t give the Russian soldier anything to eat at all I am so sick to see Russian soldier in Europe so I can puke. Dear Lana this money does not go to dogs on the streat your tax money goes to Putin’s new army he like to build Russians already provocated the Swedes and flayed with Russian bomber’s over Sweden so there is your tax money they go to your discussing army that destroyed half of Europe already and Russian like to get in there again. God dam you Russia stay at home we don’t like to see your dirty soldier again in Europe. I rather live together with 1000 streat dogs than 1 Russian.
That is quite a racist post. Russian soldiers are conscripts who have no choice but to serve 1 year (now) in Russian army after they reach 18 years of age and they may face 2 years in prison if they don’t. There could be your son… They have nothing to do with Putin. I don’t think you will see a Russian soldier in Europe, the opposite is more likely unfortunately. There are way too many who want to get their hands on Russia’s natural resources… You can have all the Russian stray dogs for free…
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” — Mahatma Gandhi
And this summarizes the “great” Russian nation and their citizens who claim no responsibility…
OMG, I know this phrase, Russian Animal Rights activists keep repeating it in every Russian forum thread discussing stray dog issue…
Good for you! At least you finally know something!
I know a lot about Russian Animal Rights advocates, their methods of discussion and how they treat those who have different opinions. It seems to me that I am talking to Russian animal rights advocate using another language.
Lana! Nobody likes to invade Russia as far I know so you don’t need to be afraid. But the Russian is aggressive against their neighbors the latest for 2 weeks ago when Russian bombers was over Sweden and so far I know Sweden is neutral so what was the Russian doing over there??????? Don’t cry for me about the soldiers they killed almost all my family so I don’t have anything over for them at all. I have surved 15 mont as my duty for my country as all boys done so Russian’s is not the only one who have to do military service for their country. The big difference is that Russia is aggressive against their neighbors.
What was nazi Germany doing in Russia in 1941? And our so called neighbors who collaborated with nazis and invaded Russian territories killing ordinary Russian people? What business did these countries have in Russia? The answer is simple – they wanted Russian slaves and natural resources.
I don’t think Russia will ever invade any other country unless it is attacked, but this thread is about feral dogs in Russia…
And there’s more where that came from. One of the best ones belong to Tolstoy…. One of your best writer and moral philosopher! Hopefully you know him?
“Kindness and compassion towards all living things is a mark of a civilized society. Conversely, cruelty, whether it is directed against human beings or against animals, is not exclusive province of any one culture or community of people” Cesar Chavez
Here is a great site for you http://www.betterworld.net
Tolstoy is another example heavily used by Russian Animal Rights advocates in forums, like they are all trained what to say at the same place. In so called civilized countries aggressive dogs are put to sleep if they attack children, aren’t they? Why Russia should be any different? Are you for the civilized way of dealing with the stray dogs?Here is one. Unwanted dogs are kept in ASPCA (private organization) shelters only for a short period of time and are put to sleep if no one wants to take them home. Why should Russia place them in state owned shelters and feed them for the rest of their lives or release them back onto the street? As you may know, nothing comes for free in this life, there is a price for everything. Like I said, I have no problems with dog shelters as long as they are privately owned. It means no Animal Wefare organization should beg for government funds (taxpayer’s money), all the dog shelters in Russia should be buildt on private donations only. I would rather donate my taxes on homeless people’s shelters. Everyone have his own priorities. I have no desire to feed those mad dogs which attack people and I am not obliged to…
First of all, before you can intelligently discuss the US Animal control system/laws, please educate yourself. We have the county or city animal shelters found in our local community that are funded by the government. Everything from dog food to building maintenance is paid for by the county, and without this taxpayer money, many animal shelters would close.
We have numerous Federal/State laws against animal cruelty, here is a link for you, about 50+ just in California for example and these laws are actually enforced: http://www.animallaw.info/statutes/statestatutes/stuscaset.htm
Either way, good luck to you and your “great” nation of corruption, shortages, poverty, great difference between rich and poor, political corruption, oligarchy, lack of freedom, animal cruelty, ethnic tensions, etc…. etc…. etc….
Animal cruelty laws are mainly for those who own a pet. Owning a pet is a hobby, why somebody else should pay for your hobby? Owners are fully responsible for their pets, not other people. I do not own and I am not responsible. One third of working population in US cannot afford medical ensurance and your government spends a lot of money on dog shelters and medical treatment (although I don’t beleive this)? Great! Many people in your country wouldn’t be happy about that. Any society which puts dog welfare ahead of human welfare is fake. I am glad not eveyone in US thinks like you. Dont forget to mention that in US if your dog attacks someone you will be sued for damages and also prosecuted. If your dog disturbs neighbors they will call a police and you will have an ASPCA officers in your house soon. Your barking dog is your problem, not your neighbor’s so animal cruelty laws will work against you, not your neighbor. And yes, Russia is the land of poor and the last thing we need here is to build dog shelters…
Your “great” nation has puppy mills and commercial breeding in unsanitary conditions, something Russian “barbarians” had never ever seen but as you know, one’s own never smells…