On 9 April a letter was sent by the AnimalWelfareAndTrade director, Adolfo Sansolini, to the Ambassador of Romania to the United Kingdom, Mr Ion Jinga, to protest against the treatment of dogs in Romania after the approval of a law in September 2013 which allows the killing of healthy dogs for overpopulation control.
Dog in public shelter - Pitesti, Romania, 2013
The letter points out that there is abundant evidence that killing healthy dogs is not only cruel but also ineffective as a strategy to tackle stray dog overpopulation, and there is no evidence that the positive aspects of the new law, including mandatory identification and registration, sterilisation programmes and adoption campaigns, are being properly implemented by the competent authorities.
On the other hand, every week we read public statements issued by some local authorities and especially by the director of Bucharest’s veterinary authority, ASPA, in which the killing of thousands of harmless dogs is proudly announced as something to celebrate, and the work of animal welfare NGOs is disparaged or slandered.
Furthermore, intimidation actions were recently conducted in the Bucharest area, including an incursion organised by ASPA into shelters and clinics managed by NGOs.
Many Romanians love dogs, and many of them are trying to react to the ongoing disaster caused by the new law, but their goodwill is being penalised by the legislation. The mass killing of dogs in Romania is bringing with it a climate of fear, and most dog owners are now experiencing that fear.
The AnimalWelfareAndTrade director therefore asked the Romanian ambassador to the UK to present these concerns to the Romanian government. In the meanwhile, the AnimalWelfareAndTrade website will continue to offer space to news and activities communicated by Romanian dog lovers.
Here follows the text of the letter.
His Excellency Mr Ion Jinga
Ambassador of Romania to the United Kingdom
9 April 2014
Dear Ambassador,
Re: The killing of stray dogs in Romania
As Your Excellency may be aware, in September 2013, after the death of a boy allegedly mauled by stray dogs in Bucharest, the Romanian Parliament approved a new law on stray dog management, which allows the killing of healthy dogs for overpopulation control.
There is abundant evidence that killing healthy dogs is not only cruel but also ineffective as a strategy to tackle stray dog overpopulation. However, in this letter I would like to focus on the damaging effects that the new law is having on Romanian dogs, on dog lovers and on the general population.
The new law does have some positive aspects, including mandatory identification and registration, sterilisation programmes and adoption campaigns. However, there is no evidence that these positive aspects are being properly implemented by the competent authorities, even after the production of the law’s implementation guidelines. Animal welfare NGOs are continuing to develop such programmes independently, despite having to deal with increased difficulties since the approval of the new law, and in a climate that has become hardly tolerable for anyone who genuinely wants to work for the welfare of stray dogs in Romania.
As you know, good human-dog relationships have beneficial effects not only on animal welfare, but also on human health and welfare. Sadly, the huge public resources that are being spent in Romania on dog population welfare and management do not seem to have produced visible progress on the implementation of the positive measures that are were included in the new law alongside the deplorable authorisation to kill healthy dogs. The active implementation of the positive aspects of the law, as opposed to the killings, would offer a humane and sensible way forward to tackle the problem of canine overpopulation.
Every week we read public statements issued by some local authorities and especially by the director of Bucharest’s veterinary authority, ASPA, in which the killing of thousands of harmless dogs is proudly announced as something to celebrate, and the work of animal welfare NGOs is disparaged or slandered. Furthermore, intimidation actions were recently conducted in the Bucharest area, including an incursion organised by ASPA into shelters and clinics managed by NGOs. On one such occasion, dozens of dogs were taken away in brutal ways (videos of this operation are available), to the point that some died because of the treatment they received. The dogs were eventually returned to the NGOs, but the people in charge of these intolerable acts have not been held accountable. On the contrary, they have kept their jobs and continue to operate in ways that are presenting a catastrophic image of Romania around the world.
Many Romanians love dogs, and many of them are trying to react to the ongoing disaster caused by the new law, but their goodwill is being penalised by the legislation. The mass killing of dogs in Romania is bringing with it a climate of fear, and most dog owners are now experiencing that fear.
I am therefore writing, Your Excellency, to ask you to present these concerns to the government you represent. In the meanwhile, the AnimalWelfareAndTrade website will continue to offer space to news and activities communicated by Romanian dog lovers.
It is my hope – and the hope of people who respect and love animals both in Romania and around the world – that the killing of harmless dogs will be ended immediately in Romania, that those public officers who are responsible for threatening acts against animal welfare NGOs will be removed, and that effective and humane canine population management methods will, in the shortest possible time, replace the inhumane and ineffective killing of dogs in your country.
I thank you for your kind attention.
Yours sincerely,
Adolfo Sansolini
Director
AnimalWelfareAndTrade
