"Come in, and die!"
'Natural death' haunts Romania's public 'shelters'
A report by investigative journalists from RISE Project, released on 24th of July, 2014, confirms that the reality inside Romanian public shelters is shocking, with more than half the animals dying of 'natural causes'.
The report states that, according to the city hall of Ploiesti (50 km from Bucharest), more than half of the 2.445 stray dogs captured last year (2013) from the streets died from ‘natural causes’ inside the public pound, while 297 were euthanised. A further 639 dogs out of a total of 1.516 dogs died of ‘natural causes’ this year – which brings the death rate at 42-56%.
However, the local mayor assured the journalists that the dogs would eat well as the institution has an "agreement with various hypermarkets and slaughterhouse to supply by-products that are not intended for human consumption". The mayor further assured that the shelter fully complies with the legal requirements.
In Galati, from the 502 captured strays, 184 died last year - all of 'natural causes'. In the local pound in Tulcea, 1.057 of 1,059 captured strays were euthanised in 2013. This year, the municipality show consistency in activity: from 444 dogs captured, 419 were euthanized during the period from January till April 2014.
The report states that, according to the city hall of Ploiesti (50 km from Bucharest), more than half of the 2.445 stray dogs captured last year (2013) from the streets died from ‘natural causes’ inside the public pound, while 297 were euthanised. A further 639 dogs out of a total of 1.516 dogs died of ‘natural causes’ this year – which brings the death rate at 42-56%.
However, the local mayor assured the journalists that the dogs would eat well as the institution has an "agreement with various hypermarkets and slaughterhouse to supply by-products that are not intended for human consumption". The mayor further assured that the shelter fully complies with the legal requirements.
In Galati, from the 502 captured strays, 184 died last year - all of 'natural causes'. In the local pound in Tulcea, 1.057 of 1,059 captured strays were euthanised in 2013. This year, the municipality show consistency in activity: from 444 dogs captured, 419 were euthanized during the period from January till April 2014.
AFTER the introduction of Romania's Animal Welfare Law 9/2008, which was a condition for Romania's entry in the EU, and which prohibited euthanasia in the absence of clear medical criteria, and BEFORE the introduction of the Romanian Slaughter Law 258/2013, many public shelters, or public financed shelters run by dog-catching companies, simply let the animals die of thirst and/or hunger, or of the consequences of diseases and injuries (often inflicted during the catching) left without veterinary care, and to die of one of these causes is considered "to die of natural causes".
In the past, "euthanasia" in fact meant: poisoning, strangulation, being burnt alive, beaten to death or injected with magnesium sulphate. Today, "euthanasia" means starving to death, freezing to death, or being left to die of the consequences of diseases, of injuries inflicted during the catching, or of unprofessional sterilizations left without veterinary care.
This is the common fate of almost all Romanian stray dogs who have the misfortune to enter such a public shelter, or publicly financed animal shelter, of which most are nothing less than extermination camps run by untrained, poorly educated, underpaid and cruel shelter workers.
The report released by Rise Project, follows only days after Vier Pfoten released a shocking video on the horrible shelter conditions in Romania's public shelters which made headlines in the Romanian and international news.
Indeed, between March and May 2014, a team of Vier Pfoten investigators visited and assessed 43 public shelters in Romania -- from around 81 currently registered with the Romanian vet authorities. The results of the investigation are shocking: dog cadavers lying among living dogs, a mixture of food and waste, including urine and excrement, on the floor of the dog cages.
Unsurprisingly, one day after the release of this report, on 25th of July, 2014, the Romanian government finally announced the implementation of their 'Animal Police', which had been discussed since quite a few years now and whose creation was also part of the contract that Victor Ponta signed with FPAM. The Romanian Animal Police is now said to be operational by October, 2014.
After the EU-delegation visited Romania for the second time on January 28th, 2014 - but this time without announcing their visit - and found shocking conditions in public shelters with dogs being left without food and water, Polish MEP Janusz Wojciechowski called on the Romanian authorities to put a monitoring system in place to avoid that shelter animals were left at the mercy of uncaring, scrupulous people, and that shelter conditions be improved.
In early February, 2014, a delegation of representatives of European organisations met with representatives of ANSVSA, the National Romanian Veterinary Authority, in Bucharest. During this meeting, the authorities announced the creation of the Animal Police that would also deal with the situation of stray dogs in shelters.
By end of February, 2014, Kuki Barbuceanu - until then project coordinator at Vier Pfoten - was employed by ANSVSA and appointed head of the future Animal Police.
According to an article published in the Romanian news on 25th ofJuly, 2014, the Animal Police has now finally be authorized by the government and is expected to be operational in 60 days, meaning by October, 2014.
The article states:
"As of October, any complaint of ill-treatment of an animal will be resolved by the new department of veterinary departments in the country.
"The animal police's role, besides animal status tracking, will be to punish authorities or NGOs if they breach the animal welfare laws," said Vladimir Mănăstireanu President ANSVSA."
History will tell if the implementation of the Animal Police, after so many years, is only (more) dust in the eyes of the public and the European authorities, or if there is a real will to improve shelter conditions in Romania's horror shelters.