GEORGIA: NATIONWIDE CAMPAIGN TO RID STREETS OF STRAY DOGS
Like 3 Dislike 0 Published on 21 Jul 2015
Russian/Eng/Nat
It's a dog's life these days in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.
An outbreak of rabies in the former Soviet republic last year has led to a nationwide campaign to rid the streets of stray dogs.
And there are thousands -- dogs that once had homes but have been abandoned by owners that can no longer afford to feed them.
Animal rights activists don't have much influence here.
In Georgia's capital Tbilisi it's every dog for itself.
If a stray is spotted by the dog catchers -- it means certain death.
And the streets are full of them.
There are more than 20-thousand strays in the capital alone.
City officials are determined to get as many out of sight as possible, and how its done is not important.
In the midst of a terrible economic recession, Georgia doesn't have the resources to worry about dogs.
In fact it is hard times that have put most of these dogs on the street.
Many Georgian families, just barely getting by, find themselves unable to feed the family pet, letting him loose instead.
An outbreak of rabies last year has set this awful process in motion.
Collectors roam the streets snatching dogs as they sleep or forage for food.
And the dogs don't go easily -- as if they know what fate awaits them.
Shoved into airless bins the animals are then trucked to a remote holding center just outside Tbilisi.
But it doesn't end there.
The strays are then slowly electrocuted with a weak current until they die.
And if there is no electricity, as is common in energy-poor Georgia, then the dogs are beaten to death.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"There are a lot of stray dogs in Tbilisi, about 20-thousand dogs and very hard to catch all dogs, so very hard problems and we need a lot of time and money to solve this problem."
SUPER CAPTION: Levan Ramishvili, Deputy Head of Tbilisi Veterinarian Administration
Authorities feel they have no choice.
Last year 20 people died of rabies in Georgia, nearly half of them in the capital -- all transmitted by dog bites.
This year there have been no new rabies cases, but as a precaution anyone bitten has to have the dreaded rabies shots.
48 painful and expensive shots to the stomach.
Many of those who must undergo the gruelling treatment are children.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"There have been 20 killed last year from rabies and of that number 6 were children, of all different ages."
SUPER CAPTION: Temuri Gogidze, Surgeon and Rabies Specialist
It is mainly children, unaware of the dangers of stray dogs who fall victim to attacks.
Nine-year old Nika and his four-year-old sister Lika were bitten last year by a stray.
The money it took to pay for the series of necessary rabies shots nearly wiped the family out.
Georgian television has recently broadcast an informational film about the dangers of rabies and stray dogs, but for Nika and Lika the information came to late.
They still bear the physical scars of the attack.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"I'm ready to destroy them (the dogs) myself. If I have to I'll shoot them myself with pleasure because tomorrow or some other day my kids will just get bitten again."
SUPER CAPTION: Bezan Demitrashvili, father of child bitten by stray dog
As part of the plan to combat rabies the city's veterinarian service travels around the city vaccinating stray dogs.
But the process is expensive and dangerous -- not to mention ineffective.
Without proper identification collars there is no way of telling which dogs have been vaccinated.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
SUPER CAPTION: Natia Beridze, chief vet in Vake region
This puppy is thrown, still alive, into the pit meant for electrocuted strays.
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