Former radiation researcher sacrifices career to care for the lost dogs of Chernobyl
A SOLDIER whistles softly to entice his prey into the open, levels his rifle and kills the dog with a single shot.
Amid the horrific radiation deaths, the mass human evacuation and the contamination of huge areas of Europe, the shooting of family pets remains one of the most heart-tugging scenes in Chernobyl, the TV hit of the year.
The shocking animal cull towards the end of the award-winning Sky Atlantic drama was historically accurate.
But what the series about the 1986 nuclear disaster doesn’t show is that the army units sent in to clear the zone of animals failed to shoot all the dogs.
Many survived after humans fled from a contaminated area, covering 1,000 square miles in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union. They then went on to breed.
Today, hounds freely roam the streets of abandoned towns and villages, as desperate for a tummy rub as ever — but at risk from a lack of food, harsh Ukrainian winters and wolves which prowl the nearby forests.
That’s where Lucas Hixson comes in.
The former radiation researcher has sacrificed his own career to care for the dogs of Chernobyl.
‘THIS AREA HAS SEEN TERRIBLE THINGS’
Every day he travels around the perimeter of the abandoned nuclear power plant and surrounding towns to feed the dogs.
And he co-ordinates teams of vets to carry out vaccination and sterilisation initiatives and to administer health care to sick and injured animals.
Lucas says: “Everyone deserves food and shelter and that includes the dogs of Chernobyl. I am a dog lover.
“So when I first visited Chernobyl and saw there were so many packs of them roaming free, and no one was caring for them, I knew I had to do something.”
The Sun joined Lucas on his daily feeding circuit around the exclusion zone.
First stop was to feed pooch Barium, who lives in the shadow of reactor No4, which exploded on April 26, 1986, spewing out 400 times more radiation than the atomic bomb the US dropped on Hiroshima in World War Two.
It was later housed in a concrete and metal structure, which is now covered by a 300ft, 30,000-ton protective cover.
Everyone deserves food and shelter and that includes the dogs of Chernobyl.
Lucas Hixson
All Barium cares about, though, is hungrily scoffing the pile of food laid down by Lucas.
The pooch, who was named by a radiation specialist friend of Lucas’s, was born in spring 2016.
She is clearly a favourite of Lucas, who says: “She has such a sweet temperament and personality that you can’t help but make a connection with her.
“I first saw her when she was a very young puppy, so I have known her her whole life.”
Security remains tight in the zone, which, 33 years on, is still recovering from one of the world’s biggest disasters.
Travelling around involves going through a series of radiation checks. At a vehicle checkpoint 10km from the power plant, a guard uses a handheld scanner to take readings from cars and trucks leaving the area — and also to check on Baloo, a three-month-old puppy.
Anatoly Kravetc, 55, a radiation expert who has worked in the zone for 18 years, says: “We started looking after Baloo when his mother was eaten by wolves.
“He is only young, so if we didn’t care for him he would also be eaten.”
The staff built him a kennel, feed him every day and play with him regularly.
Over at one of the canteens, mum-of-three Natalia Melnichyk, 39, serves lunch to dozens of workers who travel into the zone daily as part of Chernobyl’s ongoing decommissioning process.
In her spare time, she feeds the dogs that live nearby and also volunteers for Lucas’s Clean Futures Fund charity, which helps pooches further afield.
Natalia was six and living in the city of Pripyat, a few miles from the power plant, when the disaster happened.
She was hospitalised with severe radiation sickness and four classmates later died of cancer.
Natalia says: “This area has seen terrible things. It is good to now focus on the nice things. I do all I can to help the dogs of Chernobyl.
“Everybody here is so grateful that Lucas started his work to care for them.”
Lucas, from Michigan, US, previously ran his own research company focusing on environmental contamination, and had studied Chernobyl for six years before his first visit in 2014.
This area has seen terrible things. It is good to now focus on the nice things.
Natalia Melnichyk
But within moments of arriving he was struck not by the historic surroundings but by the number of dogs.
He says: “I had researched Chernobyl for years but had never heard of the dogs.It became clear that no one was caring for them.”
During his early time there, Lucas heard of a worker diagnosed with thyroid cancer who could not afford surgery so he and his colleagues chipped in and paid for the op.
He says: “That was the start of something bigger. We realised there were a lot of people who needed help but weren’t getting it.
So myself and a colleague, Erik Kambarian, set up something more permanent to help.”
The result was the Clean Futures Fund, which raises cash to fund healthcare for sick adults and children in Chernobyl.
‘WE GIVE DOGS A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE’
But its most high-profile work is with the dogs.
Lucas, 32, says: “Chernobyl is an isolating place to work. So having these animals around is good for the workers. There were around 1,000 dogs roaming in the area.
They only lived until they were two or three — if one got to five we called him ‘Grandpa’.
We started a vaccination and sterilisation programme to bring the number down and give them a better quality of life. The dog population is now around 750.”
The most pressing concern, though, as the bitter Ukrainian winter approaches — temperatures can drop to -20C — is the daily feeding routine.
A lack of funds means Lucas only provides food for the dogs through the winter, as they can find their own food in summer.
Just like the soldier in the Chernobyl TV drama, Lucas whistles to entice the dogs from their hiding spots at each of the 15 feedings stations.
But, instead of a gun, he is armed with a 30kg sack of dried dog food and distributes up to seven of them daily.
He trains the dogs to return to the same location each day, so they know where to get food.
The divorced dad-of-two says: “Sometimes you don’t need to whistle because they recognise the van. As soon as I get out they are there waiting for me.”
For the first time last year, the Chernobyl authorities allowed him to rehome pups. Since then, 54 have been sent to families in America and Canada.
Stricter quarantine laws in the UK means he is yet to do his first British adoption.
Over in Pripyat, where 50,000 people used to live, nature is taking over.
An eerie quiet hangs over abandoned apartment blocks and schools which are slowly being colonised by the forest.
Tourists flock here to take snaps of one of the zone’s most poignant sights — the fairground which had been due to open days after the disaster.
Ukraine opened Chernobyl to tourists in 2011 with 72,000 visitors last year. The TV series has sparked a greater boom.
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As numbers grow, Lucas dreams of one day building a visitor attraction — a 50-hectare fenced-off area for the dogs. The only hurdle is the cost — an estimated £320,000.
But that is for the future. Today, Lucas’s only thought is to feed the dogs and ensure they are healthy as winter approaches.
He says: “These dogs are Chernobyl’s best friend and we want to keep it that way.”
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