All Episodes

December 9, 2025 53 mins

What happens when a nuclear disaster site becomes home to one of the world’s most unique dog populations?

This week, Mark speaks with Dr. Jennifer Betz of the Clean Futures Fund, who has spent years studying, caring for, and advocating for the free-roaming dogs of Chernobyl.

Dr. Betz offers rare insight into the science behind the dogs’ survival, including genetic research, behavioral studies, and the challenges of providing veterinary care within the Exclusion Zone. She also dismantles the many myths — from supposed mutations to ghost-dog stories — revealing the real, grounded truth behind these animals’ lives.

This episode blends history, biology, and human compassion to tell the extraordinary story of the Chernobyl dogs and the people dedicated to protecting them.

www.cleanfutures.org www.furrealpodcast.com

ig@cleanfuturesfund ig@thefurrealpodcast ig@markakyle'

fb@ Clean Futures Fund fb@ Mark A Kyle

tik tok@ dogsofchernobyl tik tok@ thefurrealpodcast

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.