Sanctioned dog killings in Romania
FOUR PAWS hands over petition signed by 60,000

Tens of thousands of people all over Europe have joined FOUR PAWS in protests against a new law passed by the Romanian Parliament, allowing the mass killing of stray dogs. A FOUR PAWS press conference was held in Bucharest followed by a spontaneous demonstration by opponents of the law calling for President Băsescu to revise the controversial bill and introduce animal-friendly, sustainable stray population management instead, a path that is also supported by many Romanian EU delegates in Brussels. Dog lovers picketed in front of the Romanian embassies in five European cities against the much disputed decision.

According to the new law, stray dogs will have to be caught and kept in shelters for 30 days, where they are being castrated, vaccinated and dewormed. At the end of this period they are free to be killed if they haven't been adopted. The adoption process, however, is humiliating and complicated: unlike in a pet shop, people willing to take on a stray dog have to provide evidence of sufficient income and space, and have to obtain the consent of their neighbours. Apart from the immense costs that are now being shifted onto municipal level, the whole procedure is ineffective and unlikely to have any effect on the size of the stray population, but it will lead to the mass killing of dogs again. It is a huge step backwards in terms of modern animal welfare and the efforts made by FOUR PAWS in the past decade, as well as recent advances by the EU.

Protest letters and petitions handed over to Romanian officials
In London and Hamburg symbolic letters of protest were handed over to embassy representatives, after the situation of stray animals in Romania gained the attention of many citizens throughout Europe. In the course of only five days 60,000 people have signed a FOUR PAWS petition demanding an end of the senseless killings and the implementation of effective, animal-friendly methods. Only a policy of responsible dog ownership can stop the constant increase of stray animals, supported by neutering programmes such as Stray Animal Care (SAC), which was introduced by FOUR PAWS Romania in 2001.

2011.12.02

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