Labrador Retrievers on Stamps

Beautiful black Labrador retriever dogs illustrate a variety of collectible stamps issued by Karakalpakia. These two stamps were issued by the struggling republic in 1999. Karakalpakia has issued a number of equally attractive collectible stamps that feature other dog breeds, from the Samoyed to the Old English Sheepdog. These are available from animalstamps.com. Karakalpakia, now under the domain of Uzbekistan, is located on the edge of the shrinking Aral Sea — Women and children are most severely affected from the spread of pesticides and other pollutants as the lake - once the fourth largest in the world - has turned into a desert, its waters siphoned off to irrigate vast cotton fields and rice paddies in Central Asia... Although the Aral Sea probably has less than 10 years of life left, if nothing is done to salvage what remains of it, the 1.1 million residents of Karakalpakia are under immediate health threats. If nothing is done to improve the health of the people we may be witnessing the end of another entire society as a result of human folly.