Stray dogs in my neighborhood:

Bucharest is plagued by stray dogs, a problem that only worsens as the weather becomes warmer.


This little guy has a tag in his ear. It means that he has been picked up by the city authorities and then released. I heard that sometimes they spay/neuter the dogs before casting them back out onto the streets. Sometimes not. There are no real animal rescue facilities. Euthanasia is not permitted. The dog that bit my husband last year had been tagged and released.


This pup is living across the street from my apartment. He looks like a miniature German Shepherd, and finds a nice nest of grass to sleep in each night.


This is my "dirty puppy" having a snooze. She lives right outside my office. She was the cutest, fuzziest little puppy and very affectionate. The problem with puppies is that they grow up into big, not so cute, dogs. She still has a few months before food from pitying passers-by grows few and far between. I really wanted to adopt her, but David, rightly so, forbade it.


This pup lives right across from the entrance to the metro. He is always in almost the exact same spot, morning or night. I suspect that someone dumped him there and then left via metro. He is waiting, in vain, for his owner to come back.


Here is a pack of three dogs having a frolic right next to the playground. You would think that people would be more concerned about the potential risk to the children, but on the contrary. . . Bee's favorite park has its own group of three stray dogs that have taken up permanent residence next to the swings.

The problem of stray dogs will not go away until people stop feeding them and the city starts euthanizing ones that cannot be adopted. Unfortunately, I don't see either option happening any time soon.