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In Moscow, stray dogs have learned proper begging etiquette, traffic signals, and how to navigate the subway system.







7 Comments to “The Strays of Moscow”

  1. Joanne says:

    People on the TTC should be so well-behaved and polite.......

  2. Fred says:

    Joanne, lol. Imagine if Toronto dogs started riding the rocket all by themselves.

  3. Joanne says:

    Listen Fred, my dogs smell better and have better manners and social skills than most humans riding the TTC right now. They don't step on your feet, slap you in the eye with the Metro paper, whack you in the head with their purse, briefcase, laptop, etc., play their iPod so loud your eardrums are ringing, blap, blap endlessly on their cellphone at fourteen decibels above normal hearing range (they are only allowed to use their cells for emergencies and never to discuss personal business in public), sit in a seat despite the fact that they are so overweight the fat displacement winds up riding in your seat with you (for free), stand over you slopping coffee on your clothes and breathing disgusting morning breath on you. They have a bath at least once and month, get their teeth cleaned, are brushed and combed and nails cut...more than I can say for a lot of TTC patrons. All things considered, I would rather ride with the dogs.

  4. kb says:

    The Best Friends Network had a story on this too... http://network.bestfriends.org/golocal/international/14434/news.aspx

  5. Wengue says:

    Fred, I am writing here in the comment section because I don't see an email contact. I am trying to get signatures for a peticion against a particularly cruel phenomenon here in Greece (yes, far away but dogs are dogs) called Vareloskilos "Barrel Dogs". Have you ever heard of these poor creatures? They are chained up all of their short lives in remote areas and have only a rusty steel barrel for shelter (if any). They are fed and given water only when their owner remembers. They are supposed to guard sheep and the land and for that they live amidst their own excrement, sick and lonely and ALWAYS TIED UP. This peticion needs only 15000 signatures and is to be presented to the Greek authorities so that they can stop this terrible practice when they realize outrageously cruel this is to the rest of the world. If you would like to support this peticion on your blog it would really help as you reach so many animal lovers around the world.

    Thanks Fred.

  6. Fred says:

    Wengue, what is the URL for the petition?

  7. Wengue says:

    Fred I had trouble posting another comment so please delete any duplicates.

    The petition can be found at: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/barell-dogs-the-disgrace-of-crete.html

    For more information please see this photo report: http://www.flickr.com/photos/48850241@N08/sets/72157623597609995/

    Thank you for your interest and for helping out. We need people outside of Greece to express their outrage for this horrible practice so that the Greek authorities will realize that it actually has a negative impact on tourism and above all, about how Greeks are perceived by the outside world.

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A request

The reason for this blog is to help get specific dogs adopted from TAS but equally important is to try to normalize the idea of shelter dogs being just as good and just as desirable as any other dogs including those which are regularly merchandised by backyard breeders, puppy millers and those few remaining pet store owners who still feel a need to sell live animals. The single greatest stigma shelter animals still face is the belief that shelter animals are substandard animals. Anyone who has had enough experience with shelter animals knows this is untrue but the general public hasn't had the same experiences you've had. They see a nice dog photo in a glossy magazine and too many of them would never think of associating that dog with a dog from a shelter. After all, no one abandons perfectly good dogs, right? Unfortunately, as we all know, perfectly good dogs are abandoned all the time.

The public still too often associates shelter dogs with images of beat up, sick, dirty, severely traumatized animals and while we definitely sometimes see victims such as these, they are certainly not the majority and, regardless, even the most abused animals can very often be saved and made whole again.

Pound Dogs sometimes discusses the sad histories some of the dogs have suffered. For the most part, though, it tries to present the dogs not as victims but as great potential family members. The goal is to raise the profiles of animals in adoption centers so that a potential pet owner sees them as the best choice, not just as the charity choice.

So, here's the favour I'm asking. Whenever you see a dog picture on these pages you think is decent enough, I'd like you to consider sharing it on Facebook or any other social media sites you're using (I know many of you do this already and thank you for that). And when you share it, please mention that the dog in the photo is a shelter dog like so many other shelter dogs waiting for a home. If we can get even five percent of the pet buying public to see shelter dogs differently, to see how beautiful they are and how wonderful they are, and to consider shelter dogs as their first choice for a new family member, we can end the suffering of homeless pets in this country.
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