Moscow Dogs are as smart as humans!
How?
A couple of decades ago, going to a previously unvisited destination meant meticulous preparations: jotting down the address and phone number of the contact person, seeking directions beforehand, and occasionally relying on strangers en route for further guidance.
Today, we simply say, “Share your location on WhatsApp, please!” Let’s face it: we would all be lost without a Maps application on our phones—be it Google Maps, Waze, or Apple Maps, depending on personal preferences. In my family, both Google Maps and Waze are indispensable companions while navigating the roads of Dubai, each offering its unique strengths.
Moscow Dogs that commute
In such times, it came as a surprise to me to learn about the existence of Moscow metro’s stray commuter dogs. These resourceful dogs live in suburban areas, take the subway downtown with human and other canine commuters, navigating the complex underground system to forage for food and return home in the evening. Their ability to catch the right trains, to disembark at the same stations, and ascend or descend the escalators, thus adapting to human systems—systems that humans often find too complex to comprehend—has been a source of intrigue for subway users and researchers alike.
However, it is also disheartening to know that recently, metro employees have been charged with keeping these dogs out of the public transportation system, as reported by The New Yorker.
Personally, I wish I were as smart as a Moscow commuter dog in navigating crowds in public transportation. Having commuted on the suburban trains of Mumbai and Chennai, I am always in awe of the regular resilient commuters of these systems, who study, work, socialize, sleep, purchase, and even chop vegetables for the evening ahead, all on the train. Now, I’ve added Moscow’s legendary dogs to this esteemed cohort of commuters whom I admire !
Photo by Platon Matakaev on Unsplash