Packages of dogs from eastern Russia become inexplicably pink and blue.
The strange phenomenon occurred in and around the city of Dzerzhinsk, about 242 miles east of Moscow, near the abandoned chemical plant Dzerzhinskoye Orgsteklo which once manufactured highly toxic hydrocyanic acid, which is also a basic ingredient of a “Prussian blue” that was commonly used to dye. Experts believe this detail may help explain why some pups are now blue, including their feces, according to veterinarians.
Without clearer details, Dmitry Karelkin, chief physician at Zoozashchita Veterinary Hospital, officially blamed the blue hue on “some kind of chemical,” which does not appear to have harmed the animals.
Meanwhile, examiners from the Lobachevsky Institute of Chemistry at Nizhny Novgorod State University, as well as the State Veterinary Surveillance Committee, found “no signs of irritating chemical burns,” while the results of blood tests and feces did not reveal significant toxicity.
According to reports, the blue dogs will remain under close observation for about 20 days. Meanwhile, no announcements have been made to specifically address dogs that turn pink, according to the East2West news agency. However, some call for the investigation of a chemical landfill in another area of Dzerzhinsk, where 300,000 tons of toxic waste were dumped after the Cold War. Kristall’s next defense plant was also involved in local reports.
East2West has reported that city officials call the allegations “exaggerated.”
