The Stray Dogs Of Chernobyl

CHORNOBYL, UKRAINE - AUGUST 19: Pavel "Pasha" Burkatsky, a professional dog catcher from Kiev, takes aim with a blow gun to shoot a tranquilizer dart at a stray dog in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on August 19, 2017 near Chornobyl, Ukraine. Burkatsky was taking part in The Dogs of Chernobyl project launched by the Clean Futures Fund, a U.S.-based charity that pursues humanitarian projects at Chernobyl. An estimated 900 stray dogs live in the exclusion zone, many of them likely the descendants of dogs left behind following the mass evacuation of residents in the aftermath of the 1986 nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. Volunteers, including veterinarians and radiation experts from around the world, are participating in the effort to capture the dogs, study their radiation exposure, vaccinate them against parasites and diseases including rabies, tag the dogs and release them again into the exclusion zone. Some dogs are also being outfitted with special collars equipped with radiation sensors and GPS receivers in order to map radiation levels across the zone. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)