MovieChat Forums > Chernobyl (2019) Discussion > Why did they kill the pets?

Why did they kill the pets?

posted 5 years ago by Jehosaphet (1055)
5 replies | jump to latest

I've Googled enough to know that the only real information about killing pets out there is that yep, they killed all the pets.
But why?
In one of those fact vs fiction mini-documentaries on the series, I heard that no, radiation is not contagious. They used that in the series for dramatic effect...you cannot "catch" radiation from another living being. And Google confirms that this is the case.

So then why did they kill the animals? What purpose did that serve?

[–] ShogunofYonkers (71359) 5 years ago

I think in the general widespread panic NO chances were being taken...sad for sure but I wouldn't place any blame, nobody needed feral dog packs running around a contaminated zone

[–] zeesha (1752) 5 years ago

They did that to prevent potential pet/animal disease or mutation (aka genetic disorders) spreading out of the contaminated zone. However, in the TV show, it only emphasizes on mercy killing- we can imagine that without humans taking care of their pets, the entire region had literally become a dog-eat-dog hell. Those pets were suffering from radiation-related diseases, starvation and brutal attacks from other animals. Therefore, their purpose is to get those pets out of their misery.

[–] Jehosaphet (1055) 5 years ago

Yeah good point...this makes...great sense, really. Apparently there's descendants of these Chernobyl pets running around today, imagine how many there'd be if they hadn't done this.

Yeah I get it, just a really rough part of the show there, each one of those animals being a loved pet and all. Had to skip past a good portion of this episode.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

You can "catch" radiation from another person if that other person is covered in radioactive dust.

[–] andreaahr (2332) 5 years ago

I think that the animals were affected with radiation and they feared that if the female animals got pregnant, their babies would have radiation too. I hated that episode though; it was horrible to watch.