Baghdad Kills 58K Stray Dogs

Improving conditions in the Iraqi capital lead to population boom
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 12, 2010 5:41 AM CDT
Baghdad Kills 58K Stray Dogs
In this Nov. 23, 2008 file photo, Iraqi police officer Qassim Ahmed takes aim before shooting a stray dog in the Mansour neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq.   (AP Photo/Asaad Mouhsin, File)

Animal lovers may want to stop reading now: Over the past three months, 20 teams of vets and policemen have killed some 58,000 stray dogs in and around Baghdad. The effort, first announced in 2008, was intended to curb the 1.25 million-strong population of strays, who have been known to attack residents, in some cases killing children. The AP notes that the boom in strays is ironically linked to the improvement of conditions in the capital; the return of open-air markets has given the dogs more access to food.
(More Baghdad stories.)

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