SOCHI, Russia, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Stray dogs at the Winter Olympics are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to #SochiProblems.
However, unlike unfinished hotel rooms and strange signage, dogs are living creatures that can’t just be ignored or fixed. That was never more apparent than when a stray dog wandered onto the Olympic cross-country course and started barking at the athletes.
Dog At Olympic Cross Country Ski Track A Stark Reminder Of City's Extermination Plan http://t.co/fHaYBEtK40
— Reinal Fasalino ™ (@Reinal_Fasalino) February 6, 2014Sochi Screwup alert: ran out of pillows for athletes & cross country ski teams being chased by stray dogs that... http://t.co/cE5IlSCNWt
— Lola Howle (@FlatSatire) February 6, 2014There's that boring Olympic event where cross country skiers shoot targets and there's a ton of stray dogs in Sochi. Two birds, one stone?
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) February 6, 2014At least one person is trying to do something about the stray dog problem in Sochi. A Russian billionaire has set up a dog shelter in an effort to save the hundreds of dogs that would otherwise be likely be executed before Friday’s opening ceremony.
“We were told, ‘Either you take all the dogs from the Olympic Village or we will shoot them,’” Olga Melnikova told the New York Times. Melnikova is working on the rescue effort on behalf of billionaire Oleg Deripaska. “On Monday we were told we have until Thursday,” Melnikova said.
In order to help round up the animals, a “dog rescue” golf cart is moving around the Olympic campus in Sochi and delivering animals back to a hastily-created shelter on the outskirts of the city.
The cart might want to take a trip by the cross-county course.
[New York Times] [YAHOO Sports]
