Greek and Bulgarian forces fought a brief but deadly conflict in 1925 known as the War of the Stray Dog, which allegedly began when a Greek soldier chased his runaway pet across the border.

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Greek and Bulgarian forces fought a brief but deadly conflict in 1925 known as the War of the Stray Dog, which allegedly began when a Greek soldier chased his runaway pet across the border. Bulgarian border guards shot the soldier, escalating diplomatic tensions until Greece literally invaded Bulgaria in response, resulting in about fifty casualties. Humanity has started wars over religion, territory, and resources, but launching a full-scale military invasion because your dog decided to go for an international sprint is a uniquely wild justification. It perfectly highlights the fragile ego of early twentieth-century European states, ready to murder each other over a stray mutt crossing an imaginary line in the dirt. John Wick would undoubtedly be proud, but historians mostly just view it as a tragic display of bureaucratic overreaction