From Moscow Times:
“'Death Sentence': Russia Passes Law Permitting Euthanization
of Stray Animals”
(A stray animal shelter in Moscow.)
As the head of the Kot i Pyos (“Cat and Dog”) charity in the
Far East republic of Buryatia, Natalya Filippova takes care of about 500
animals. "We recently had a puppy
fall sick; his kidneys were failing. Our director, along with our colleagues,
drove him to Novosibirsk in a car, so that he could undergo dialysis in a good
clinic there," Filippova told The Moscow Times. “They even did an IV drip
on the way, right in the car.” The shelter has been saving stray animals
without state funding for 14 years, relying on donations from local residents.
On July 24, President Vladimir Putin signed a law that grants
Russia's regions the authority to establish their own rules for handling
homeless animals — including allowing their euthanization as a form of
population control. Animal rights activists and volunteers who spoke to The
Moscow Times warn that the law will allow for the mass euthanization and
inhumane killings of homeless animals without solving Russia's stray animal
problem, making the work of people like Filippova even more of a challenge.
Elena Rudenko from Moscow, who has volunteered to help
homeless dogs find temporary shelters and new owners for the past decade, said
the new law is “like a death sentence for many animals.” "The new law can
just drown people like me," Rudenko told The Moscow Times. "We fully
understand what 'euthanasia' in the regions means. No one will spend money on
humane euthanasia; there, the norm is 'Hit them on the head with a
shovel'."
(Stray animal shelter.)
Last month, the head of Buryatia, Alexei Tsydenov, announced
that stray dogs in the region will be put in shelters for a certain period set
by the regional parliament. If they are not adopted or claimed by their owners
within that time, they will be euthanized. "I am in favor of euthanizing
dogs,” Tsydenov said. “Moreover, it is more humane toward the dog. There is a
recommendation from the World Veterinary Association that it is more humane to
euthanize a dog than to keep it locked up in a cage for its entire life.”
However, the World Veterinary Association says that
euthanizing animals, when used alone, "is not an effective control
measure” for stray animal populations and should only be carried out when there
is no other alternative. State Duma deputy Nikita Chaplin said the law aims to
establish state-run animal shelters, where experts will care for the animals,
rather than resorting to euthanization. "In the new law, the emphasis will
be on climate conditions, so that stray dogs and cats do not freeze, do not
starve, and therefore do not pose a threat to people," Chaplin said. Lawmakers
also changed the rule that requires regions to strictly follow federal law
regarding animal treatment.
State Duma deputy Vladimir Burmatov said the term
"euthanasia" is not mentioned in the law, and the amendments are
aimed at "responsible treatment of animals and protection of our
citizens." Burmatov added that the regions "requested" the
adoption of this law following several instances of stray animal attacks on
humans. In April, dogs fatally mauled an eight-year-old boy in the city of
Orenburg, with similar attacks also reported in the Astrakhan region. Following
the incident, the Orenburg regional legislative assembly called on the State
Duma to introduce a law legalizing the euthanization of stray dogs. Rudenko
told The Moscow Times that during her decade of volunteering, she encountered
only a few aggressive animals — and in most cases, this aggression “stemmed
from fear.”
The draft law was first presented by State Duma deputy
Sardana Avksentieva, who had served as the mayor of the Far East city of
Yakutsk when over 200 dead cats and dogs were discovered with their throats cut
in a local shelter. Yakutsk residents blamed Avksentieva for the incident,
while animal rights activists accused her of ordering the animals to be killed
to save money on shelter expenses. The
official reason given was to control a rabies outbreak.
In April, Avksentieva conducted a poll among her followers,
asking their opinion on dealing with stray dog packs. Over half — 54% — of the
respondents supported giving the regions the authority to decide on this
matter. vksentieva played a significant role in pushing the draft law forward.
In many publications on her social media profiles, she said that her position
on the law was unchanged.
(Stray animal shelter.)
Irina Novozhilova, the president of the Vita animal rights
protection center, expressed concerns that corruption might have been behind
the push for this law. "We need to control breeding, not resort to mass
killings, as animal populations have a tendency to bounce back. We have seen
this happen before. Apparently, someone is interested in spending vast amounts
of public money on endless round-ups, as no measures seem to solve the
problem," said Novozhilova. Volunteers and activists say that following
best practices, as in Europe, could be a better solution to Russia's stray dog
problem.
For example, the Netherlands became the first country in the
world to eliminate stray dogs completely through a combination of strict animal
welfare laws and the CNVR program (Collect, Neuter, Vaccinate, and Return). The
CNVR program appeared in several Russian regions in 2013, but it hasn't seen
the same success as in European countries. This has been linked to a lack of
serious political commitment to enforce the law, a lack of shelters, and
unclear guidelines on handling animals. Filippova from the Kot i Pyos shelter
said the new amendments allowing the regions to euthanize stray animals could
cause a "war between the public and the authorities" in Buryatia. She
said discussions in the local veterinary administration on how to carry out the
law are ongoing. But shelter representatives like herself were not invited.
^ I don't think there was ever a day when I was in Russia
(whether it was in Yaroslavl, Moscow, Vladimir, Saint Petersburg or some little
Village) that I didn't see at least 1 stray dog on the street.
They were often abused and neglected by their Owners and
Ordinary People (I often saw them being kicked or hit with sticks.)
They were left hungry, scared and alone in the beating hot
Summer Sun and the Freezing Cold of the Russian Winter.
I did see a few kind People make Dog Food in their Kitchen
and put it outside for these Stray Dogs and I tried to do what I could – I was
even regularly scolded by the Residents in the Apartment Building I lived in
for helping the Strays -especially during the Winter – but very few helped and
now Putin has stepped in to make not helping legal.
I once went to both a Private Animal Shelter and a City Government
Animal Shelter (as part of my Daily Life when I studied in Russia the second
time) and what I saw at the City Government Animal Shelter was like a scene
from the Middle Ages.
I have been to Animal Shelters (Private and Public) across
the United States and even the worst ones I saw there couldn’t prepare me for
the grotesque scenes I saw in the Russian One.
I was allowed to interview some of the Employees and the Duty-Manager
there and not one of them cared about Animals and only looked for the next Vacation.
Things were better at the Private Animal Shelter, but they
received little funding and so did whatever they could with what little they
had.
That Private Animal Shelter was forced to close (by Putin)
because they received help from outside Russia – since they received no help
from within Russia.
No matter how many times I go to Russia or deal with a
Russian I will never understand how the vast majority are so nonchalant about
Life (Human or Animal.)
250,000 Russian Soldiers die as Cannon Fodder in Ukraine and
little to nothing is mentioned about them.
Thousands upon thousands of Dogs and Cats are beaten and
killed and little to nothing is mentioned about them.
I guess it is better to be an Ostrich (keeping your head down
and not caring) than being a Human in Russia.
That’s just sad. ^
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