We are in the woods behind the Chernobyl plant when the dog runs at us. It is thin, with brindle fur and yellow eyes. Igor, our guide, makes a lunge and clamps his hands over its snout. They wrestle in the snow and icy water shakes from the trees. The dog’s eyes flash as Igor grabs a stick and throws it into the trees. Distracted, the animal chases it and our little group is free to move. But the dog reappears and drops the stick at Igor’s foot. He throws it again. The dog brings it back. I almost laugh with relief. 
 
 Igor, who, it turns out, is very familiar with the dog, throws a few snowballs, which it tries to catch and chew. “This is Tarzan,” says Igor. “He’s a stray who lives in the exclusion zone. His mum was killed by a wolf, so the guides look out for him, chuck a few sticks, play a few games. He’s only a baby, really …” 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest The abandoned dogs at Chernobyl endure harsh Ukrainian winters. Photograph: Courtesy of Solo East 
 
 Tarzan isn’t alone. There are approximately 300 stray dogs in the 2,600km² zone. They live among the moose and lynx, the hares and wolves that have also found a home here. But while the Mongolian horses and Belarusian bears were recently introduced to the area, and other animals have come in as opportunists, the dogs are native. 
 
 After the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, Pripyat and the surrounding villages were abandoned, and residents were not allowed to take their pets to safety. Chernobyl Prayer, a devastating oral history of the period, tells of “dogs howling, trying to get on the buses. Mongrels, alsatians. The soldiers were pushing them out again, kicking them. They ran after the buses for ages.” Heartbroken families pinned notes to their doors: “Don’t kill our Zhulka. She’s a good dog.” There was no mercy. Squads were sent in to shoot the animals. But some survived and it is mainly their descendants that populate the zone. 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest The dogs often carry increased levels of radiation in their fur and have a shortened life expectancy. Photograph: Courtesy of Solo East 
 
 Life is not easy for the Chernobyl strays. Not only must they endure harsh Ukrainian winters with no proper shelter, but they often carry increased levels of radiation in their fur and have a shortened life expectancy. Few live beyond the age of six. 
 
 But it’s not all bad news. The dogs that live near the zone’s checkpoints have little huts made for them by the guards, and some are wise enough to congregate near the local cafe, having learned that a human presence equals food. These canine gangs act as unofficial Chernobyl mascots, there to greet visitors who stop at Cafe Desyatka for some borscht. 
 
 Nadezhda Starodub, a guide with the Chernobyl tour specialist Solo East, says the visitors (there are no “tourists” in the zone) love the dogs. “Most of the time people find them cute, but some think they might be contaminated and so avoid touching the dogs.” There are no rules that forbid a visitor from handling them, but Nadezhda asks her charges to exercise the same common sense they would when approaching any stray. “Some guides are afraid of complaints,” she says, “so they try to avoid the dogs to stay on the safe side. But I love them.” 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest The strays are helped by the Clean Futures Fund, which has set up veterinary clinics in the area. Photograph: Courtesy of Solo East 
 
 While the dogs get some food and play from the visitors, their health needs are met by Clean Futures Fund, a US non-profit organisation that helps communities affected by industrial accidents, which has set up three veterinary clinics in the area, including one inside the Chernobyl plant. The clinics treat emergencies and issue vaccinations against rabies, parvovirus, distemper and hepatitis. They are also neutering the dogs. Lucas Hixson, the fund’s co-founder, says: “I don’t think we’ll ever get zero dogs in the exclusion zone but we want to get the population down to a manageable size so we can feed and provide long-term care for them.” This makes Chernobyl safer for the dogs, but also for the workers and visitors. 
 
 The Chernobyl plant has recently been sealed under a new “sarcophagus” designed and built by a multinational group of experts, and similar cooperation can be seen with the dogs. In the woods behind Chernobyl I look again at yellow-eyed Tarzan and see, not a wild animal, but a playful example of global kindness and cooperation. ||||| This GoFundMe campaign has been established to help nearly 1,000 stray dogs living at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine and the 30-kilometer exclusion zone that surrounds it.Every dollar counts, WE MEAN IT, each and every $1 donation matters! Even if you can’t make a donation, please consider sharing this campaign with your friends and family. Every share makes a very real difference in the lives of these animals.The Clean Futures Fund (CFF) is a U.S. 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established by Erik Kambarian and Lucas Hixson to support workers and communities affected by industrial accidents and long-term cleanup programs.(A meeting between Clean Futures Fund representatives and the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Administration in April 2017 to agree on the details of the Chernobyl Dogs program.) CFF has partnered with the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Management Agency in Ukraine to provide medical care for the stray dogs that live in the area.We need your support to hire Ukrainian vets, purchase vaccines, anesthesia, cages, dog food and medical supplies, to set up a temporary hospital to conduct our spay/neuter operations, and to help manage and take care of this abandoned population of animals.(Some of the stray dogs of Chernobyl resting in the shade inside of the controlled areas around the crippled Unit 4 reactor which is underneath the new confinement structure in the background.)Many people think of Chernobyl as a post-apocalyptic wasteland, but there are thousands of workers at the nuclear power plant and hundreds of stray dogs that live in the surrounding areas. These animals are largely the descendants of pets of people who were evacuated after the nuclear disaster in 1986.(The dogs pictured above live less than 100 yards from the damaged Unit 4 reactor pictured below.)(An early photo of the Unit 4 reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine after explosions ripped the reactor apart and released radioactive contamination into the environment.)In the early morning of April 26th, 1986, there was an accident and catastrophic explosion of the number 4 reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in northern Ukraine. Radioactive materials quickly spread into the environment, forcing officials in the former Soviet republic to evacuate over 120,000 people from nearly 200 cities and communities around the power plant. By May, the Soviet military had established a 30-kilometer exclusion zone around the stricken plant.The displaced were told that they would only be gone a few days. Government officials knew this wasn’t true, but it was the only way to get evacuees to leave in an orderly fashion. Pets were not allowed to be taken, instead they were abandoned - their owners never to return.After the evacuations were complete, soldiers were dispatched to shoot and kill the abandoned animals. Not all of the animals were culled. The remaining pets, left to the wild, began migrating to areas of the zone where cleanup workers, often called liquidators, worked and stayed during the battle to contain the nuclear catastrophe.The photo depicts two young puppies who had already migrated to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant within a few weeks of the disaster.(Two stray dogs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant scavenging for food in the dumpsters.)Even today, the descendants of dogs abandoned after the nuclear disaster in 1986 are driven out of isolated areas by wolves and other predators, arriving malnourished in populated areas scattered throughout the zone.The dogs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant are generally very young (over 90% estimated to be 3-5 years or younger). New litters of puppies are born year round. Many of the puppies born after October every year will not survive the harsh Ukrainian winter without assistance.(A worker at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant feeds some of the stray dogs near the canteen where workers eat lunch.)Over the years, workers at Chernobyl and in the surrounding exclusion zone have attempted to care for these homeless animals - even though it is technically illegal and puts them at potential risk. It is not uncommon for workers to feed the animals or tend to one that is injured.One woman at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant has been buying temporary sterilization shots out of her own meager salary in the spring to try to stem the flood of new puppies every year, but she cannot afford enough shots to make a real difference.(Some of the Chernobyl workers feed the stray dogs near the Semikhody train station at the nuclear power plant.)Over the last ten years, a resurgence of tourism into the exclusion zone has increased the amount of human contact and interaction with these animals.(Two young puppies and their mother greet the workers and visitors to the nuclear power plant.)While human interaction is good for the animals and for the workers, it also carries considerable risk. The dogs have been exposed to rabies by animals in the exclusion zone, including the packs of wolves that claim the surrounding areas. Ukraine receives its rabies vaccine for humans from Russia, but has not been receiving an adequate supply for nearly 5 years because of the breakdown of relations and the ongoing conflict with Russia in Eastern Ukraine.There are rules against feeding the stray dogs in the zone, but the workers big hearts prevent them from being able to ignore the plight of the animals. (Would you be able to ignore suffering animals like the puppies pictured above and below?)The problem with feeding the dogs is that the first thing they want to do after eating, is breed – continuing the proliferation of young puppies in the zone.Out of desperation and economic restriction, a worker has been assigned to cull the stray dog population around the plant., CFF has negotiated a more humane solution to managing the stray animals with our spay, neuter and vaccination program.(Pictured above are two young puppies found at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in April, 2017)In 2016, CFF developed a 3-year program to spay, neuter and vaccinate the stray dogs of Chernobyl. This initiative is designed to reduce the risk of human exposure to rabies from coming into contact with the dogs as well as provide basic vaccinations and medical care for these furry friends.Every summer through 2019, CFF will dispatch a team of experts (who have donated their time) to Ukraine to partner with 3-5 Ukrainian veterinarians, dog handlers, veterinary technicians and over twenty volunteers to spay, neuter, vaccinate and provide basic medical care for as many of the stray animals in the zone as funding allows. CFF has partnered with the University of South Carolina, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a group of organizations in the United States, Great Britain, Germany, and Ukraine that are willing to assist in supporting the Chernobyl dogs program in a variety of capacities.As you can imagine, this is not your typical spay/neuter and vaccination campaign. Special care and handling will be taken during the capture, holding and release of the animals to ensure that all risks are properly managed.We need your help to purchase the necessary supplies, medicines, to hire qualified vets, and ultimately to provide a better life for the stray dogs of Chernobyl.We provide regular updates on our social media and have also created thecampaign hashtag.In April, 2017, we conducted an on-site survey of the stray dog populations at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the surrounding 30-kilometer exclusion zone. Our estimates are that over 225 stray dogs live at the nuclear power plant and over 750 stray dogs live in the exclusion zone.You can find stray dogs nearly anywhere on the power plant site, even in the controlled areas.Life is hard for the dogs of Chernobyl. They don't have adequate supplies of clean food and water. The majority of their diet consists of vegetative matter and berries that they find in nature. When the dogs are fed by workers or by tourists, the first thing they do is go breed and worsen the stray dog problem in the area. It is important to vaccinate them to ensure that they do not pose a potential threat of rabies exposure to humans. After the dogs are spayed, neutered and vaccinated, regular feeding programs and medical care can be provided for these abandoned animals.The local environment is not friendly to the animals and there is no one to care for them. It is not uncommon for a dog to be hit by a vehicle while dashing across a road, or to be caught in a trap meant for wolves, or to suffer some other kind of injury. During our time on-site we have observed many different kinds of injuries including prolapsed wombs, injuries from fighting with other dogs, injuries from being attacked by wolves, broken bones, flesh wounds, etc. We will try to treat as many of these medical issues as possible during our time in the zone. If funding allows we would like to hire a Ukrainian vet to monitor the dogs full-time.We would not be able to help the dogs of Chernobyl without the full support and cooperation of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant administration and the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Management Agency. Both organizations have given us facilities which we will be able to convert into temporary veterinary field hospitals and retention areas for monitoring the dogs after surgery.Clean Futures (CFF) is a non-profit organization in the United States that is committed to supporting workers and communities affected by industrial accidents. For the last 4 years, CFF co-founders Erik Kambarian and Lucas Hixson have been travelling to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant as part of an international vocational delegation. During their first visit to the zone, they were shocked to discover the large population of stray dogs and puppies that live at the power plant and in the surrounding exclusion zone.The veterinary program is led by Dr. Jennifer Betz. Dr. Betz, received her degree from Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1997. For the last seventeen years she has owned and operated a veterinary clinic in Portland, Oregon. She devotes her spare time to reducing animal suffering through participation in spay/neuter projects at home and abroad.Dr. Betz has been involved with spay/neuter projects in Fiji, Peru, Belize, Mexico and Hawaii. In addition to regularly participating in HQHV (High Quality High Volume) Spay Neuter clinics,Dr. Betz acts as a forensic veterinarian for the ASPCA Field Investigations and Response Team as well as an animal cruelty investigator and teacher.In times of crisis Dr. Betz has been deployed as a federal employee for the National Disaster Medical System Veterinary Response Team.Even if you can’t make a donation, please consider sharing this campaign with your friends and family. Every share makes a very real difference in the lives of these animals.Above is a video produced (in Russian) by the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant about the Clean Futures Fund inspection of the stray dog population in April 2017 and the Dogs of Chernobyl program. ||||| It’s a common misconception that the Chernobyl Nuclear Power plant is devoid of life–in fact there are over 3,500 people each day who work among over 250 stray dogs that roam the grounds. 
 
 These dogs can be found in nearly every area of the Chernobyl site, including controlled, indoor areas. The workers have adopted the dogs in a way, and save scraps of the their own meals to feed them. 
 
 The dogs are driven out of the woods to the power plant by packs of wolves and a lack of food to support themselves in the Exclusion Zone. 
 
 BACKGROUND 
 
 In the spring of 1986, the Unit 4 reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine exploded and spread radioactive materials into the environment. In response to the disaster, the former Soviet Union established a 30-km exclusion zone around the facility and evacuated over 120,000 people from 189 cities and communities. The evacuees were not allowed to bring anything that they could not carry. Pets were abandoned. 
 
 After the evacuation of Pripyat and the Exclusion Zone in the spring of 1986, soldiers of the Soviet Army were dispatched to shoot and kill the animals in Pripyat which had been left behind, but it was impossible to round up and cull all of the animals in the various small villages throughout the exclusion zone. These former pets lived in the exclusion zone, migrated to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, where their descendants remain to this day. 
 
 For the last four years, Clean Futures Fund Co-Founders Lucas and Erik have traveled to Ukraine as part of a vocational work program at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP). During their time at Chernobyl, they were shocked to discover the large population of stray dogs living around the plant and in the zone. 
 
 Overpopulation of dogs in Europe is a well-known problem, there are an estimated 30,000 stray cats and dogs in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev alone, but the Chernobyl dogs are different. These dogs are the descendants of pets left behind during the hasty evacuation in 1986. They have been driven out of remote areas in the zone by packs of rabid wolves that attack them. The Chernobyl dogs are malnourished, have been exposed to rabies by wild predators in the zone, and are in dire need of medical attention. 
 
 CFF estimates that over 250 stray dogs live around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, over 225 stray dogs live in Chernobyl City, and hundreds of other dogs live at the various security checkpoints and roam throughout the exclusion zone. 
 
 Out of desperation, not desire, the nuclear power plant has hired a worker to catch and kill the dogs, because they don’t have the funds available for any other option, but the worker is refusing to do so at this point. 
 
 CFF needs your help to avoid this intolerable and inhumane outcome. 
 
 Every year, new puppies are born at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and the workers take care of them during the harsh Ukrainian winter. These dogs are exposed to rabies by the wild animals living in the Exclusion Zone. 
 
 Today, the dogs of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant rely on the workers at the station to stay alive. Some bring the animals inside and give them care if they seem injured or sick – but the workers also risk exposure to rabies by interacting with the dogs. 
 
 It is interesting to note that there are next to no mature animals (over 6-8 years old) at the plant, and most of the dogs appear to be under 4-5 years old. 
 
 We have developed a 3-year program with our partners to manage the stray dog population in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. In 2017, the Clean Futures Fund is raising funds to bring veterinarians to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant to administer rabies shots and spay and neuter the animals. 
 
 We need your help to purchase vaccines, anesthesia and medical supplies necessary to spay and neuter over 500 animals. Please donate now, and spread the word to help! 
 
 Get active in the project and share this information with your friends by email and social media. If you have contacts who work with or for animals, reach out and tell them about the Chernobyl Dogs Project! 
 
 If anyone would like to send cards, care packages, or private donations for the Chernobyl dogs and the men and women who take care of them, please contact us for more information.
– Tarzan loves to fetch sticks, run after snowballs, and is, per Julie McDowall, "a playful example of global kindness and cooperation." Writing for the Guardian, McDowall explains that Tarzan is one of hundreds of stray dogs living in the 1,000-square-mile exclusion zone surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear plant, a native population to the devastated Ukrainian area for heartbreaking reasons: They're the descendants of pets abandoned by their owners in Pripyat and other neighboring villages in 1986 when the plant melted down, an exodus that left "dogs howling, trying to get on the buses. … They ran after the buses for ages." Squads were sent in to shoot the animals left behind, but some of the dogs survived, and now their progeny wander the area as "Chernobyl mascots," hanging out near the local cafe and eagerly greeting visitors. McDowall concedes it's not the easiest life for the canines, who endure brutal winters and a life expectancy cut short by radiation—she says not many live past the age of 6. The Clean Futures Fund, a US nonprofit that's set up three veterinary clinics nearby, also notes the dogs are malnourished and exposed to rabies and vicious wolves, and that the plant "out of desperation, not desire" even hired a worker to come kill the dogs (he's now refusing to do so). But the fund, which so far has raised more than $46,000 to care for the pups, offers the dogs emergency medical care, as well as helps vaccinate and neuter them. "We want to get the population down to a manageable size so we can feed and provide long-term care for them," says one of the fund's co-founders. In the meantime, "some [tour] guides … try to avoid the dogs to stay on the safe side," one guide tells McDowall. "But I love them."