Blue’s Clues

by Features Editor, Kaiden Tran

Courtesy of ANASTASIA MAKARYCHEVA

Dogs near Dzerzhinsk, Russia have been spotted with blue fur. This phenomenon is widely believed to be the result of a mysterious chemical. Scientists and zoologists believe that the blue fur is due to a chemical used by a nearby factory.

The animals were first posted to Twitter where the topic spread like a wildfire.

“They found a herd of dogs that aroused their astonishment, since they all had blue fur,” @chapoisat tweeted.

The chemical is believed to be a highly toxic hydrocyanic acid which is used to make “Prussian blue”, and its prime ingredient carbon sulfate.

Immediately, animals rights activists stepped up and took action. They brought the seven blue dogs to a veterinarian who examined and tested them to find the cause of the unusual fur. They took blood and feces samples to find the parts of blue dye in them, and the examiner found no visually apparent dangers and effects of the blue dye.

The factory containing the chemical went bankrupt about six years ago, which puzzled officials as to how the dogs initially got in contact with the substance. When spoken to, Andrey Myslivets, the former owner of the abandoned factory, has been shown to believe it is not his fault for the potentially dangerous substances on the dogs’ furs.

“They also found something, no one controls them. I cannot bear the costs of catching homeless animals and their sterilization," Myslivets said.

Furthermore, days after the initial shock of the blue dogs, dogs with vibrant green fur were also spotted in Podolsk, Russia, which additionally is another industrial town in the country. Officials are unsure whether the green dogs were caused naturally or purposefully dyed in order to gain attention.

Russian officials have stated that they will conduct a search to find more dogs, in case of more blue dogs running rampant in the nearby woods of the factories potentially putting themselves in greater harm.

“Specialists will enter the chemical factory grounds and find and examine the animals,” a Dzerzhinsk city official said.

Two of the seven dogs have already been taken to new homes. The dogs have not been shown to have any side-effects or harm to them from the chemicals they have interacted with.