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Sochi city hall orders killing of stray dogs
Sochi Olympics Stray Heal
Stray dogs sit outside the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park course, a venue for the snowboarding and freestyle competitions of the 2014 Winter Olympics, in Sochi, Russia, Monday, Feb. 3, 2014. A pest control company which has been killing stray dogs in Sochi for years told The Associated Press on Monday that it has a contract to exterminate more of the animals throughout the Olympics. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) - photo by Associated Press
SOCHI, Russia — Thousands of stray dogs have been living amid the mud and rubble of Olympic construction sites, roaming the streets and snowy mountainsides, and begging for scraps of food. But as the games drew near, authorities have turned to a company to catch and kill the animals so they don't bother Sochi's new visitors — or even wander into an Olympic event. Alexei Sorokin, director general of pest control firm Basya Services, told The Associated Press that his company had a contract to exterminate the animals throughout the Olympics, which open Friday.