Tag Archives: Sochi

Puppy Love

Puppies sported their cuteness in Sochi, winning hearts instead of medals. Photo courtesy Facebook.

Puppies sported their cuteness in Sochi, winning hearts instead of medals. Photo courtesy Facebook.

When the world arrived in Sochi for the Olympic games, they were met with much fanfare – and puppies. Sochi is home to stray dogs, a population that was not brought under control through an extermination program before the games began.

But athletes, like everyone else, welcomed the puppies into their hearts, then their hotel rooms. When the games concluded, many of the pups were adopted and paperwork filed for the bundles of cuteness to go back with the athletes to new homes in far away places.

In the United States, the dogs need to clear a 30 day quarantine before venturing onto the American landscape. Once completed, the puppies are free to play and be loved by their new American owners.

This little guy is at a makeshift dog shelter on the outskirts of Sochi set up by animal rights activists. Photo courtesy Tumblr

This little guy is at a makeshift dog shelter on the outskirts of Sochi set up by animal rights activists. Photo courtesy Tumblr

While I find it admirable that man’s best friend continues to warm our hearts, we actually treat our furry friends better than our fellow humans. I have never heard that an immigrant can file the right paperwork, sit in quarantine for 30 days, and – tah dah! – you can legally live in America. Even if you have a host family, you will not get the streamlined process afforded to dogs.

Is it just me, or should the people who oversee the program for letting these puppies come to America also oversee our immigration department? Maybe then the children of immigrants will get regular meals and not have to fight for scraps of food like a dog on the streets of Sochi.

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