Chernobyl’s ghostly silence has a new splash of colour as three stray dogs with coats tinted a startling shade of blue were seen roaming. The unusual sighting was first shared by the non-profit organisation Clean Futures Fund on Instagram, which posted photos and videos of the animals roaming the exclusion zone.
“We do not know the reason, and we are attempting to catch them so we can find out what is happening,” the organisation wrote, adding that the dogs had likely come into contact with “some sort of chemical.”
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Not radioactive, just rolling in trouble
Social media, predictably, went into a frenzy, with many speculating about radioactive side effects. But as the Clean Futures Fund clarified, there’s nothing nuclear about the phenomenon. “No, they have not turned blue because of radiation,” the team stated firmly. “These are simply some dogs that got into some blue stuff, and we are trying to catch them so that we can sterilize them.”
The likely culprit, according to the group, is far less ominous which is possibly chemical residue or leaked waste near the site, even something as mundane as the blue ooze from a nearby Porta Potty.
Life finds a way, even in Chernobyl
Veterinarian Jennifer Betz, part of the Dogs of Chernobyl project, assured that the situation isn’t dangerous unless the animals ingest large amounts of the substance. “I would suspect, as long as they don't lick the majority of the substance off of their fur, it would be mostly harmless,” she told IFLS.
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Chernobyl's abandoned pets- descendants of the dogs and cats left behind after the 1986 nuclear disaster forced residents of Pripyat to evacuate- have been the focus of the Clean Futures Fund's efforts since 2017. These creatures now freely roam the mysterious, overgrown ruins, creating an odd new ecosystem that never ceases to amaze both scientists and tourists.
So no, it’s not a radioactive glow. Just a messy, very Chernobyl-style mystery that’s equal parts haunting and oddly endearing.
