A pack of brightly colored stray dogs was spotted roaming the streets of the Russian city of Dzerzhinsk and local residents said the pack seemed to have come from an abandoned chemical plant near the city just 230 miles east of Moscow.
Officials said Wednesday that they are currently conducting an investigation to determine what had caused the dogs' fur to turn blue. Some officials said that the cause of the discoloration may be linked to reports of chemical waste pollution left at the abandoned factory.
"(The dogs) must be checked. Their health must be assessed and the reason for their hair dye must be found," one government official said.
After the strange discovery that had gone viral online, officials ordered animal control personnel to capture the dogs and have them checked up. The dogs are reportedly now being looked after at an animal shelter in Nizhny Novogrod, just an hour away from Dzerzhinsk.
Authorities said that several people have come forward and have expressed their desire to adopt the blue canines. At least two of the dogs are reportedly set to have new homes once they are discharged.
Local media reports said that the factory, which was shut down in 2015, mainly produced plexiglass and hydrocyanic acid. A component of Hydrocyanic acid, Hydrogen cyanide, is extremely poisonous.
Animal rights activists said that the dogs may have been exposed to chemicals such as copper sulfate, a blue-colored inorganic compound used in various industrial processes. While it is still unclear what the exact cause of the discoloration was, it will still be bad news for the dogs regardless, the groups said.
The bankruptcy manager of the company that owned the factory, Andrey Mislivets, denied the photos' authenticity. He said that the animals may have just come in contact with some dyes or chemicals while roaming around abandoned buildings.
"Possibly, they found the remains of some old chemicals and rolled in it, and possibly it was copper sulfate. Several years ago, something similar happened when stray dogs got unnatural dyes. They must have found something; no one controls them," Mislivets said.
