Stray cats & dogs

Could not get to sleep last night for howling at the moon & snoring. Not me, but village dogs (and Rich). The moon is nearly full again, and I can't help thinking of vampires. More of that later.

Before I left England, I had tetanus & hepatitus jabs, & was advised to contact a clinic to have a rabies jab, but I didn't bother as don't approach animals I don't know As soon as I arrived , I noticed the prevalence of dogs here of all shapes & sizes, and when we walk through the streets, each dog sets the next dog off barking. Most of the dogs are in gardens, but I think a lot of them are strays that have been taken in off the street.

Asking people about it, I have found out that the communist dictator, Nicolai Ceausescu demolished houses with fences and gardens in the 80's, and built tower blocks, boulevards and monuments to himself. As the apartments had very small rooms, and pets were not allowed, some people tried to keep their pets outside, but many dogs ran wild and mated with each other and undomesticated dogs (pariahs).

This has resulted in stray dogs in the thousands ; 200,000 in 2000, and up to250,000 now in Bucharest alone. A Japanese tourist was bitten and bled to death, and a woman was killed by a pack of dogs in recent times, so the Government want to solve the problem now.






The problem has recently been dealt with by 'euthanasing' the dogs, and when a daily quota of dead dogs was required, many were not given a tranquillizing shot before being strangled, or having their necks broken.

There are some organizations campaigning for sterilizition instead of killing the dogs, as the strategy has not worked because of the number of dogs, and there is even a website suggesting that holiday makers 'adopt ' a dog and take it home.

Here , in Breaza, the dogs bark a lot but seem to get used to us on our usual route to town. We have never been chased or bitten ; just 'shepherded' a couple of times. At first, I regretted not having the rabies jab , but not now .

I am still a bit worried about catching fleas from the selection of small dogs and cats that hang around the tables outside the restaurants scratching themselves, and have forbidden Rich to give them any food as they will only come back for more. Sad but true.

Woof Woof