Pet Dogs Are Turning 'Wild' Because Of War Between These Two Countries

The Russia-Ukraine war is turning once-household pets into animals that resemble wild dog species, a new study has found. Prolonged exposure to war conditions has, within a short period, altered the physical traits and behaviour of many dogs across Ukraine, researchers reported in December in the journal Evolutionary Applications.

"From the beginning of the war, we saw a very sad situation with pets in Ukraine," said Mariia Martsiv, the study's lead author and a zoologist at the University of Lviv, as per The NYT. "Some people took their pets with them, but some were simply left at train stations or left behind in the occupied territories."

The study analysed data from 763 dogs across nine regions of the country. Researchers worked with animal shelters, while veterinarians and volunteers collected information from stray dogs in relatively safe areas and, at times, in zones classified as dangerous.

Gathering data near the front line was the most difficult part of the study. That work was led by Ihor Dykyy, a zoologist at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, who spent two years beginning in 2022 serving as a volunteer with the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He was stationed near Lyman in the Donetsk region and later near Kharkiv, close to the Russian border.

Research found that dogs near the front line were starting to look more like wild species such as wolves, coyotes and dingoes. Extreme snout shapes became less common, dogs were generally lighter in weight, and pointed ears appeared more often than floppy ones.

“On the front lines, dogs with signs of a ‘wild' phenotype do indeed survive more often: straight ears, straight tail, less white,” Martsiv said.

“What surprised us most was how quickly these changes appeared,” Malgorzata Witek, a co-author of the study and a doctoral student at the University of Gdansk in Poland, said. “The war had been ongoing for a relatively short time, yet the differences between frontline dogs and other populations were already very pronounced.”

The scientists said that the changes should not be mistaken for rapid genetic evolution.

Stray dogs were “terrified by the hostilities; some suffered from shell shock,” Dykyy said. “One small dog had a broken leg that hadn't healed properly, leaving it with a permanent limp. Another was blind in one eye, having lost it in an explosion.”

Most dogs, despite their wild traits, still depended on humans for food. They also ate plants or hunted occasionally. Some survived by scavenging, while others were adopted by Ukrainian soldiers. Only a small number lived entirely on their own.

Dykyy said soldiers did what they could to help. They “fed all of them, gave them shelter and provided medical care whenever possible.”

Researchers also saw changes in behaviour. Fewer old, sick or injured dogs were found in conflict areas, and dogs near the front line were more likely to live in groups. War conditions favour animals with certain traits. Smaller dogs, for example, are less likely to trigger land mines, can hide more easily, and are less exposed to shrapnel.