Bucharest, 22 November: in a vote already postponed several times amid international appeals to reject the proposal, the Romanian Parliament approved a controversial law that allows mayors to conduct mass killings of stray and abandoned dogs.
168 MPs voted in favour of this law (a majority of 167 was required), 111 voted against it, 14 abstained and 3 did not vote.
The next step is the promulgation of the law by the Romanian president, Traian Basescu.
This law can be challenged in the Constitutional Court of Romania if at least 50 MPs sign a request to that effect.
Under current Romanian law, 30 days after their capture dogs can either be killed, returned to their owners or kept in public shelters. Dogs considered aggressive or dangerous can be killed within three days.
Some catch-neuter-release programmes are conducted by international animal welfare NGOs, but the new law undermines these efforts.
Adoptions are difficult too: dogs can be adopted only if their prospective adopters can demonstrate that they have an adequate living space and financial resources, pay a fee and obtain their neighbours’ approval.
Romanian animal welfare organisation FNPA has launched an international appeal to write to the following Romanian authorities asking for this law to be rejected:
1. Mr. Traian Basescu, President: traianbasescu@presidency.ro – procetatean@presidency.ro
2. Mrs. Elena Udrea, Minister of Regional Development and Tourism: info@mdrt.ro
3. Mr. Augustin Zegrean, President of the Constitutional Court: ccr@ccr.ro
4. Mr. Emil Boc, Prime Minister: drp@gov.ro
5. Mrs. Livia Doina Stanciu, President of The High Court of Cassation and Justice: relatii.publice@scj.ro
6. Prof. Dr. Gheorghe Iancu, People’s Advocate, Romanian Ombudsman Institution: avp@avp.ro
More information is available on the CAROdog website
