13 March 2009, 23:00
Animal advocates: homeless animals are brutally treated in Sochi
In Sochi, the service for catching homeless animals has sped up its work, which contradicts the Russian legislation, runs the application sent to the prosecutor's office of the city by animal advocates.
According to the Civil Code of Russia, employees of the municipal enterprise "Special Motorized Facility for Urban Cleaning" (SMFUC) shall catch an animal, without causing any damage or injury to it and report, within three days, about the found animal to the militia or local authority.
Then, six months shall be allocated to find the owner of the animal, and all this time it should be kept in a special shelter or with temporary caretakers. Meanwhile, as the animal advocates assert, Sochi has no shelters for animals, and nothing is known about accommodation of the animals caught by the SMFUC.
With that, it is known that last year 5605 dogs and 1737 cats were caught in Sochi. Outgoing from these figures, the authors of the application assume that animals are killed either at once or with violation of the terms established by the legislation.
One of the main reasons for catching homeless animals is prophylaxis of rabies spread not only by dogs and cats, but by other animals.
Instead of killing homeless dogs and cats, the animal advocates a different solution to the problem: building shelters, humane catching and sterilization, and a mastered system for accommodating animals from shelters.
With the aim to attract a broader attention to the problem, on March 28-29 an All-Russian action in defence of homeless animals will be held in more than 30 cities of the country. Sochi plans to hold a picket on March 29 in the square opposite the city's administration.
Author: Semen Simonov Source: CK correspondent
