A stray dog ran onto the pitch during a National Football League match in Gori, Georgia on Sunday, much to the delight of the crowd. The dog spent around three minutes on the field, and clearly hoped to elicit a bit of affection from the players.

Wondering about that ear tag…?

So were we. So here’s the deal on that:

Back in the day, stray dogs were often shot or otherwise in this part of the world. In recent years, more humane euthanization methods were common practice – there has been a serious overpopulation problem for a very long time (dog owners have exacerbated this; many fail to spay and neuter their own pets), but several years ago, inspired by the work of animal rights activities, many governments implemented a new strategy: capturing the dogs to vaccinate and sterilize them.

Those who undergo these procedures are marked with ear tags.

It has been helping to slowly stem the population of strays. And although rescues and shelters exist, with volunteers helping the dogs find permanent, loving homes, the problem is so large – animals number in the thousands in some cities – that not all the pups can be helped.

In many cases, officials have reported that owner sterilization of their domestic pets would do as much, if not more, to help control the problem.

Georgia has its own “humane society,” in fact: the Georgian Society for the Protection and Safety of Animals, which was founded in 2006. Here’s a link to their Facebook page.

Earlier this year, the GSPSA began the “Guardian From A Distance” program, which enables individuals to become remote owners of GSPSA shelter dogs – such owners care after specific dog. In this case the animal is in the shelter, while the owner facilitates monthly donation (remote ownership fee) in the amount determined by GSPSA.

Interested in learning more? Check out this link. (And then go give your own dog a much-deserved belly rub!)