Russia considers rounding up stray dogs and using them to clear landmines in Ukraine

Russia is considering a plan to round up stray dogs and use them to clear landmines in Ukraine.

Many cities and towns have problems with spurned pets and street dogs hunting in packs.

The Russian parliament has given a first reading to legislation allowing the “euthanasia” of homeless dogs.

But pro-Putin MP Fedot Tumusov, 67, demanded that the “large and aggressive” stray dogs be trained by specialists in war work.

Such a demining role would put their lives in danger.

“We have a lot of canine experts in our country who can teach [strays] all kinds of different skills,” the politician said.

He asked the government if ‘canine experts could train large and aggressive dogs and send them to the SMO [war] area’.

SMO refers to the “special military operation” that Russia is using for the invasion of Ukraine, where it is fighting for the “demilitarization and denazification” of the country.

The deputy from the Just Russia party said: “Let them help to remove the wounded and take part in mine clearance.”

Many cities in Russia have problems with rejected pets and street dogs hunting in packs (Stock Image)

Tumusov said: “We have a lot of canine experts in our country who can teach [strays] all kinds of different skills” (stock image)

Dogs were deployed by the Red Army during World War II, he said, and stray dogs should be mobilized.

Tumusov, an economics professor who represents the coldest region of the world, Yakutia, in the Russian parliament, has been sanctioned by many Western countries, including Britain and the United States, for his pro-war rules .

New laws allowing the killing of stray dogs have followed the death of an eight-year-old boy in Orenburg after being attacked by a pack of stray dogs.

Regions could decide how to reduce the number of stray dogs.