Russia evaluates training stray dogs to take them to war and “clean” mined areas

Dogs have been close to humanity for more than 10,000 years. Throughout his history as a companion to man, he has been trained for the purposes of rescuing missing persons in disasters, detection of epileptic seizures, comfort in hospitals, among other tasks; however, millions of specimens of the species around the world remain on the streets and abandoned.

In this context, the Russian Government is evaluating a controversial proposal made by parliamentarian Fedot Tumusov, who proposes using dogs classified as “homeless” or “stray” to work clearing minefields in Ukraine. The project has been rejected and caused concern in the animal community.

The suggestion was raised after the legislation that gives free rein to the euthanasia of qualified “homeless” dogs, a measure that would allow their sacrifice for public health reasons.

For Fedot Tumusov, stray dogs that meet some basic specific characteristics such as being “big and aggressive” should be trained by the armed forces to go to war alongside soldiers. “We have a lot of dog experts in our country who can teach them all kinds of different skills,” Tumusov said.

For the legislator, who is close to Vladimir Putin, the task that the dogs would carry out would be, mainly, to help the troops on the ground to identify explosive mines that may be active on the road. However, this function could endanger the life of the animals.

Source-larepublica.pe