Dogs living near a chemical plant in Russia are turning blue and pink and experts are not sure why. Images have emerged on social media of the pooches roaming the streets of the city of Dzerzhinsk, which is located 230 miles east of Moscow, and although there are debates around what may have led to the blue and pink fur and excrements, an official cause is yet to be determined.
One leading theory is that the abandoned Dzerzhinskoye Orgsteklo chemical plant has something to do with the bizarre phenomenon. The plant once manufactured hydrocyanic acid, a highly toxic substance once used in hair dye, according to New York Post.
Dmitry Karelkin, head physician of Zoozashchita veterinary hospital, believes there is definitely "some kind of chemical" that has caused the dogs to turn blue and pink. Blood and stool tests reveal there is no significant toxicity caused to the animals and there have been "no signs of irritating chemical burns," according to examiners from the Lobachevsky Research Institute of Chemistry at Nizhny Novgorod State University, as well as the Committee for State Veterinary Surveillance.
The dogs will be kept under observation for 20 days.
Meanwhile, Dzerzhinskoye Orgsteklo plant's bankruptcy manager Andrey Mislevets suggested that packs of homeless dogs roaming around the abandoned building may have come into contact with copper sulfate.
"Homeless dogs are running around. Perhaps in one of the buildings, they found some chemical residue like copper sulfate," he said, according to Times Now. "I heard that a few years ago dogs were seen whose fur had unnatural colors. They found something, nobody controls them."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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