Heart of a Dog
The issue of Moscow's stray dogs was first mentioned by Russian writers such as journalist Vladimir Gilyarovsky in the late 19th century. Their sad lot was dramatised by Anton Chekhov in the famous short story "Kashtanka", by Mikhail Bulgakov in the novella "Heart of a Dog", and by Gavriil Troyepolsky in the novel "White Bim Black Ear". As of March 2010, there were an estimated 35,000 free-ranging dogs living within Moscow's city limits, or approximately one dog for every 300 people, and about 32 per square km (84 per square mile).