10,000 Stray Dogs To Be Shot In Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — Officials in the capital of Kyrgyzstan say budgetary constraints are forcing them to shoot the city's estimated 10,000 stray dogs rather than build shelters for them.

Bishkek city hall spokesman Pavel Klimenko told The Associated Press on Tuesday that around 5,000 strays were shot last year because the impoverished Central Asian nation couldn't afford kennels that would have cost $300,000.

He said the dogs this year are being killed in the early morning and in the evening by a team of 10 shooters and dog catchers.

Klimenko urged the world not to consider the act barbaric.

Comments

[rp1413]

02:13 PM on 02/27/2011

Is it possible to find a solution to the welfare of these poor animals?

[Lori Zabrodski]

05:47 AM on 02/27/2011

So if we killed humans strays would this not be barbaric because they go to heaven too?

[ashabot]

12:07 PM on 02/19/2011

Good god that's sad. It is barbaric and stupid. Cheap and right are not the same thing. What do these people not understand about spay and neuter? So this is their population control policy? killkillkillkillkill????? These people are barbaric.

[Nautical]

07:27 AM on 02/18/2011

Cruelty, Cruelty, Cruelty....

[Hypnos Rises]

05:11 PM on 02/17/2011

A bird is a cat is a dog is a human. We are all the same.

[buckeyedave]

09:31 PM on 02/17/2011

If want to consider yourself equal to beasts, go ahead but don't include us intelligent humans.

[Lori Zabrodski]

05:49 AM on 02/27/2011

After watching an episode of hoarders tonight I have to question this human intelligence you speak of, most humans are idiots, we proving it as we destroy the planet and each other on daily basis.

[SanJoaquinValleyGrower]

01:46 AM on 02/18/2011

very funny

[CT Lady]

03:42 PM on 02/17/2011

Sad

[Harpseal60]

03:08 PM on 02/17/2011

Well, of course it's a "stan" country. This is truly sad.

[kelleytom]

12:54 PM on 02/17/2011

Seems there are far more humane ways of doing this. How about gas or a needle. Use your heads at least.

[evergreen08]

01:42 PM on 02/17/2011

It's a poor country that can't afford the facilities. This option is the one they can afford.

[MJinCanada]

12:57 AM on 02/18/2011

A clean shot is relatively humane. Look at how turkeys are slaughtered.

[ashabot]

12:09 PM on 02/19/2011

Yes, a clean shot is relatively humane but that's not what's happening here. This is mass mvrder. I've read reports how that goes. Wounded animals are tossed on the scrap heap with the de@d. Or they drag off and collapse in a hiding place. Sometimes it takes days for them to die.

[FlaviaDeLuce]

12:03 PM on 02/17/2011

It doesn’t matter where this happens, its just sad... humans apparently cant share this planet with a anything that doesn’t make money

[evergreen08]

01:43 PM on 02/17/2011

This is a poor nation that has suffered from 20 yrs of ethnic violence and two coups. It can't afford to do anything else with them and they are a public safety and health risk.

[FlaviaDeLuce]

01:55 PM on 02/17/2011

Whatever.. you want to live, the dog wants to live.. its called sharing the planet that we are all citizens of

[FlaviaDeLuce]

09:03 AM on 02/18/2011

"Really, it's annoying for people to disagree with you? You're a real patriot, right along with Cheney and the rest of the neocons. "

Wow.. this coming from a guy who has to answer under every single post that HE doesn’t agree with .. this comment proves how ignorant you are.. stop spamming the boards with your nonsense.. everyone who has read this post is all ready aware of your opinion and you keep showing it down everyone’s throat.. the article is about the country having no money to build shelters, they are NOT fighting werewolves on the streets... you are making this into a whole other thing.. im done wasting my time on your insanity.. move on

[bcmom]

09:25 PM on 02/17/2011

I agree with you on this. Everyday in the U.S. animal controls and shelters pick and choose who will live and die because of no money. I know shelters who cannot even afford to feed the animals they have, begging for donations. The cold reality is when I go to animal control I can only take so many to rescue. People work hard everyday trying to get as many as they can to rescue or adopted before being euthanized. This amounts to nothing but picking and choosing. I cannot tell you how hard it is to leave dogs and cats in kennels looking at you, why can't you take me? The look in their eyes is beyond heart wrenching. I have to concentrate on the ones I can save. People keep breeding, puppymills keep churning out inbred and sickly puppies, backyard breeders keep breeding, flea markets keep selling every animal there is, class b dealers sell to labs and research facilities. It is so overwhelming the numbers of dogs and cats who are taken to shelters and ACF in THIS country. I do understand where you are coming from, but this is the reality of dealing with the irresponsibility of people on a daily basis. I just do not know what the answer is. I and thousands of people who try to save these animals, just keep walking through quicksand to save as many as possible. It is sad, it is beyond sad, it is immoral.

[bcmom]

09:48 PM on 02/17/2011

I apologize for getting on my soap box. No one has all of the answers.

[bcmom]

11:55 AM on 02/17/2011

If anyone chooses to do so, ABC Nightline this Friday, Feb. 18, is having a show on Amish puppymills. Multiply the numbers of puppies who come out of thousands and thousands of these mills you have an overpopulation that a nation cannot absorb. Thousands and thousands are killed each day by animal controls and thousands and thousands die each day in these mills from being continually bred, no adequate shelter and food, and no vet care (heaven forbid they provide vet care that might dig into their profits). I am not talking about reputable breeders who breed every few years for health, quality, and temperament. These are nothing more than factory breeders who want to make a profit. I encourage anyone who is interested in learning more watch this show. This is an education moment for many people who are not aware that the Amish are the biggest puppymillers in the U.S. besides Hunte Corporation in Goodman, MO.

[daybreakrun]

04:26 AM on 02/17/2011

WTH you mean "not barbaric" this is the most disgusting, sickening story I have ever read. I have a rescue dog and my family and I love him so much so this especially sickens me. Since when is your existence a reason to die? These poor animals, I hope the UN or whatever international organization handles animal welfare rains and unholy punishment upon them. You know what I'm going to look up whatever that organization is and bombard them with emails urging them to stop this atrocity

[evergreen08]

06:59 AM on 02/17/2011

Get off your high horse. This is a nation that has suffered from 20 years of ethnic violence, two coups, and debilitating poverty. These are feral dogs which are aggressive and diseased, akin to rats in the United States. For public safety and health this needs to happen.

[bcmom]

09:49 AM on 02/17/2011

It is disgusting that we kill over four million dogs and cats in the U.S. yearly. There are so many strays in the U.S. What do you think happens to them?? I know this is sad and heartbreaking, but 10,000 dogs is a drop in the bucket to what we kill on a daily basis in the U.S. People need to work in their local area to get people's pets s/n. St. Louis right now has a much worse stray population. It is just out of sight, out of mind in the U.S. People want to put their heads in the sand in the U.S. If they would take time to look what is underneath the overpopulation in the U.S. they would be appalled as much as this story. Some of these links below very graphic. However, this is what goes on day in and day out in the U.S. and it shows no signs of getting better soon.

http://www.fox2now.com/news/ktvi-stray-dogs-st-louis-120910,0,1916624.story

http://www.thedogliberator.com/index_files/GasShelters.htm (warning graphic)

http://www.gulfcoastgreyhounds.org/SpecialNews.htm

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/07/15/cnnheroes.hoffman.dog.rescue/index.html

http://www.animalcrueltyworldwide.com/Animals-in-Puerto-Rico/Disgraceful-Animal-treatment-in-Puerto-Rico2.html

http://articles.cnn.com/2011-02-01/justice/canada.man.dogs.slaughter_1_sled-dogs-dog-sled-dog-pack?_s=PM:CRIME

[FlaviaDeLuce]

12:01 PM on 02/17/2011

oh please, every nation under the sun suffers violence, who are we to say these animals have no right to live, disgusting

[MJinCanada]

11:15 AM on 02/17/2011

A good clean shot is not the most barbaric way to kill a dog. These dogs are feral or semi-feral and many will be diseased. A pack of wild dogs can be easily as dangerous as a pack of wolves. They are a health hazard and a danger to children and livestock.

The people in this country as so poor they needed UN food aid last year -- what do you think they can afford to spend on animal shelters and vet bills?

I am not hard-hearted. I put out food for stray cats and adopted one two years ago. It took nearly a year to socialize him to the point where he doesn't growl and slash at any one who pets him. However, I also grew up on a farm. I know about the necessity of killing vermin, of what happens to animals when there's no money for vet bills. I watched my mother kill chickens with an ax and helped pluck them after they stopped running around. Life includes death.

[Nautical]

09:30 PM on 02/17/2011

You grew up on a farm........a farm that you relied on to make a living, eat, go to school, what have you right? We are the top of the food chain so we decided who lives and dies right? If we make profit we must be doing something right..and even if we don't make profit and are poor to the core (literally) we need to control the population and assume in this case all these dogs are disease ridden and unsafe? Nothing is going to be resolved by killing, nothing will change or get better, we will agree to dissagree. But I will say that what you did as a child is what you grew up to do, believe, or maybe not. But point is you did it for survival........just as these dogs are doing things for their survival and it was because of man's hand that there is so many dogs. Un nutered, tossed out like trash, let loose, you name it and it's happened. We are all trying to survive here, that is life....... live and let live. If your so scared of these dogs being so diseased someone should pay to get them all tested. Facts not fear.

[jbdean]

01:39 AM on 02/17/2011

The very fact that he "urges" the world not to think this barbaric shows that he darn well KNOWS it's barbaric!

[evergreen08]

07:01 AM on 02/17/2011

No he just realizes there are people like you in the developed world who won't understand the situation they are in.

[KIVPossum]

11:09 AM on 02/17/2011

fanned

[MJinCanada]

11:15 AM on 02/17/2011

Fanned!

[Nautical]

09:53 PM on 02/16/2011

No respect for life....

[MJinCanada]

10:56 AM on 02/17/2011

You need a life, girl. We've tried to explain and you're still stopping neutrinos.

[Nautical]

09:22 PM on 02/17/2011

These dogs need a chance at life......

[iam7545 r]

09:40 PM on 02/16/2011

We should be glad they are doing this. In many Eastern European and Central Asian countries Dogs are like rodents. The roam around free at night and are left to their own devices to survive. If you read the story they explain that the shooter come out early in the morning to do the shooting - before people are moving around and the dark is lifted.

I have been to many of these countries and Russia is just as bad.

[bcmom]

08:10 PM on 02/16/2011

People have suggested the dogs be eaten. They cannot be eaten. Who knows what diseases they harbor, rabies, distemper, lyme disease, MRSA germs, varieties of worms these dogs would obviously carry, salmonella, giardia etc. It is just not what the dogs eat or do not eat or the fact that they have no vet care at all, they are bitten by all kinds of insects, mosquitoes which carry numerous diseases which are harmful or even fatal to humans.