Russia's homeless animals
Retrospective
December 23, 1999 - Animal welfare proponents rally world-wide in wake of sudden Russian Government division over anti-cruelty legislation
From a press release: MOSCOW -- Russia’s first-ever, animal anti-cruelty legislation and the committed efforts of the country’s parliamentarians, now stand in jeopardy, as President Boris Yeltsin reviews the unexpected recommendation of his Deputy Prime Minister, Vladimir Scherback. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prn3/19991223/HSTH009)
On December 1, 1999, following four years of close consideration of Russia’s interests, Russia’s Lower House of Parliament - the Duma of the Russian Federation - passed groundbreaking anti-cruelty legislation providing for basic protection of animals in Russia.
This action was welcomed internationally and supported by Russia’s Upper House of Parliament - the Federation Council, which on December 21, 1999 also voted to support the anti-cruelty legislation. Regardless of this powerful show of support for the legislation by Russia’s committed parliamentarians, the people of Russia, and the international community, Deputy Prime Minister Scherback yesterday presented President Yeltsin with a written recommendation to veto the legislation.
Despite this, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin reiterated yesterday, in a Moscow press conference, that he was aware of Russia’s animal welfare problems, and that the country was in need of anti-cruelty legislation. The proposed legislation is considered important in Russia, a country that continues to define its role as part of the Council of Europe, the Strasbourg based organization whose main role is to strengthen democracy, human rights and the rule of law throughout its member states. The Council of Europe has seven existing animal welfare treaties, of which Russia has only ratified one related to the transport of animals. To fulfill its commitment to the Council of Europe, it is crucial that Russia bring its own anti-cruelty legislation up to par with other member countries.
"If President Yeltsin were to veto this important legislation providing for basic animal protection," said Masha Vorontsova, Russia Country Director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), "Russia’s commitment to become a more democratic, anti-cruelty conscious society would be dealt a hard hit." "In Canada, we are particularly aware of the need for effective animal welfare laws, as Canadian Justice Minister Anne McLellan has recently introduced a Criminal Code amendment that would greatly strengthen Canadian anti-cruelty legislation," stated Dr. Rick Smith, Director of IFAW-Canada. "We join our colleagues in Russia in urging President Yeltsin to do the right thing and approve a strong anti-cruelty law for Russia. In doing so he will be setting an example for the whole world." The International Fund for Animal Welfare has been a key proponent of animal anti-cruelty law in Russia and around the world, and has worked closely with parliamentary officials in developing the proposed legislation.
"We are talking about very basic standards of animal welfare being set here," said IFAW President Fred O’Regan. "This legislation has been carefully considered by the elected representatives of Russia’s parliament. It is now clearly what the Russian people want. Deputy Prime Minister Scherback’s last-minute actions should not be allowed to threatened the important long-term conservation efforts of the Russian Government." President Yeltsin is must decide within seven days to approve or veto the legislation. Individuals wishing to show support for this issue may write one letter to President Boris Yeltsin urging him to sign the legislation, and one letter to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin applauding him for his support of animal anti-cruelty legislation. The letters should be sent c/o the International Fund for Animal Welfare, 1 Nicholas Street, Suite 1100, Ottawa, ON, K1N 7B7,
January 3, 2000 - Vladimir Putin vetoed the "Law on the protection of animals from cruel treatment" (Project N 97802163-2) the Russian State Duma which was approved by the Council of Federation on 01/12/1911.
As a result of Russia's president's inhumane decision, Russia today has one of the weakest animal cruelty laws in the developed world. It was first introduced in 2000 and remains virtually since then. Another Law was passed leaving intact all the loopholes in the way offences are defined. These loopholes continue to prevent the prosecution of many serious animal abusers.
Dogs and cats are protected only by a small section of the Penal Code given to them because they have the status of property - they are considered not living beings but only the property of their owners. Those animals, who are homeless and have no owner, do not have any rights at all.
EXISTING LEGISLATION (Laws relating to the treatment of animals/animal abuse):
A very comprehensive list of groups/organizations that help animals in Russia is compiled on the website of eswa - European Society for the Wellbeing of Animals
December 23, 1999 - Animal welfare proponents rally world-wide in wake of sudden Russian Government division over anti-cruelty legislation
From a press release: MOSCOW -- Russia’s first-ever, animal anti-cruelty legislation and the committed efforts of the country’s parliamentarians, now stand in jeopardy, as President Boris Yeltsin reviews the unexpected recommendation of his Deputy Prime Minister, Vladimir Scherback. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prn3/19991223/HSTH009)
On December 1, 1999, following four years of close consideration of Russia’s interests, Russia’s Lower House of Parliament - the Duma of the Russian Federation - passed groundbreaking anti-cruelty legislation providing for basic protection of animals in Russia.
This action was welcomed internationally and supported by Russia’s Upper House of Parliament - the Federation Council, which on December 21, 1999 also voted to support the anti-cruelty legislation. Regardless of this powerful show of support for the legislation by Russia’s committed parliamentarians, the people of Russia, and the international community, Deputy Prime Minister Scherback yesterday presented President Yeltsin with a written recommendation to veto the legislation.
Despite this, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin reiterated yesterday, in a Moscow press conference, that he was aware of Russia’s animal welfare problems, and that the country was in need of anti-cruelty legislation. The proposed legislation is considered important in Russia, a country that continues to define its role as part of the Council of Europe, the Strasbourg based organization whose main role is to strengthen democracy, human rights and the rule of law throughout its member states. The Council of Europe has seven existing animal welfare treaties, of which Russia has only ratified one related to the transport of animals. To fulfill its commitment to the Council of Europe, it is crucial that Russia bring its own anti-cruelty legislation up to par with other member countries.
"If President Yeltsin were to veto this important legislation providing for basic animal protection," said Masha Vorontsova, Russia Country Director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), "Russia’s commitment to become a more democratic, anti-cruelty conscious society would be dealt a hard hit." "In Canada, we are particularly aware of the need for effective animal welfare laws, as Canadian Justice Minister Anne McLellan has recently introduced a Criminal Code amendment that would greatly strengthen Canadian anti-cruelty legislation," stated Dr. Rick Smith, Director of IFAW-Canada. "We join our colleagues in Russia in urging President Yeltsin to do the right thing and approve a strong anti-cruelty law for Russia. In doing so he will be setting an example for the whole world." The International Fund for Animal Welfare has been a key proponent of animal anti-cruelty law in Russia and around the world, and has worked closely with parliamentary officials in developing the proposed legislation.
"We are talking about very basic standards of animal welfare being set here," said IFAW President Fred O’Regan. "This legislation has been carefully considered by the elected representatives of Russia’s parliament. It is now clearly what the Russian people want. Deputy Prime Minister Scherback’s last-minute actions should not be allowed to threatened the important long-term conservation efforts of the Russian Government." President Yeltsin is must decide within seven days to approve or veto the legislation. Individuals wishing to show support for this issue may write one letter to President Boris Yeltsin urging him to sign the legislation, and one letter to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin applauding him for his support of animal anti-cruelty legislation. The letters should be sent c/o the International Fund for Animal Welfare, 1 Nicholas Street, Suite 1100, Ottawa, ON, K1N 7B7,
January 3, 2000 - Vladimir Putin vetoed the "Law on the protection of animals from cruel treatment" (Project N 97802163-2) the Russian State Duma which was approved by the Council of Federation on 01/12/1911.
As a result of Russia's president's inhumane decision, Russia today has one of the weakest animal cruelty laws in the developed world. It was first introduced in 2000 and remains virtually since then. Another Law was passed leaving intact all the loopholes in the way offences are defined. These loopholes continue to prevent the prosecution of many serious animal abusers.
Dogs and cats are protected only by a small section of the Penal Code given to them because they have the status of property - they are considered not living beings but only the property of their owners. Those animals, who are homeless and have no owner, do not have any rights at all.
EXISTING LEGISLATION (Laws relating to the treatment of animals/animal abuse):
- Russian Criminal Code - Art. 245 - in Russian | in English
- Animal Protection Law (Federal) (in Russian)
- Municipal laws regarding the treatment of animals - Kaliningrad (in Russian) and Moscow (in Russian)
A very comprehensive list of groups/organizations that help animals in Russia is compiled on the website of eswa - European Society for the Wellbeing of Animals
Stray dogs and cats in Russia are killed cruelly in the cities and in the countryside; they are shot, poisoned, beaten, and all this often in presence of little children. After Putin's veto in 2000, a country-wide slaughter of companion animals began when mentally challenged sadists organised themselves under the name of "doghunters" that lawfully engaged in a mass destruction of animals. Not a day passed without them killing animals with machine guns and crossbows or knifes and by poisoning them by the thousands.
Still today cases of animal abuse go by unpunished and local authorities frequently slaughter hundreds of strays, breaking the existing laws and arousing mass protests. Local residents may wake up to discover the carcasses of dozens of animals on the streets, and brutal murders often occur in front of passers-by, including children and the elderly.
Timeskov Andrey Nikolaevich
goes on hungerstrike
On January 3, 2013 exactly 13 years since that black day, when Vladimir Putin vetoed the adopted 01.12.99 the State Duma and approved by the Council of Federation of the Law "About protection of animals from cruel treatment" (Project N 97802163-2), Timeskov Andrey Nikolaevich started an indefinite hunger strike.
The following text is taken from an entry posted at Care2 by Andrey Timeskov:
Over the past 13 years defenders of animals all over the World tried absolutely all legal ways to withdraw the Veto : starting from the collective letters and Petitions to the address of the President of Russia and ending with crowded rallies on the streets of cities of different countries. Any one of these appeals Vladimir Putin has not responded positively.
And now, unable to look at the endless torment of the least of these my brethren, I Timeskov Andrey Nikolaevich, being of sound mind and good memory, starting from the afternoon of 3 January 2013 indefinite hunger strike of protest against inhuman Putin's Veto.
The voluntary termination of the hunger strike would only be possible for two reasons :
1. Vladimir Putin will lift its Veto with Federal Law, 1999 "On protection of animals from cruel treatment"
2. Vladimir Putin will lose the physical capability to apply and remove the Veto on the laws of the Russian Federation.
Reports about the progress of the hunger strike and the changes in my body, with photos, will be published in the diary http://timeskhan.livejournal.com/ and other blogs.
The following text is taken from an entry posted at Care2 by Andrey Timeskov:
Over the past 13 years defenders of animals all over the World tried absolutely all legal ways to withdraw the Veto : starting from the collective letters and Petitions to the address of the President of Russia and ending with crowded rallies on the streets of cities of different countries. Any one of these appeals Vladimir Putin has not responded positively.
And now, unable to look at the endless torment of the least of these my brethren, I Timeskov Andrey Nikolaevich, being of sound mind and good memory, starting from the afternoon of 3 January 2013 indefinite hunger strike of protest against inhuman Putin's Veto.
The voluntary termination of the hunger strike would only be possible for two reasons :
1. Vladimir Putin will lift its Veto with Federal Law, 1999 "On protection of animals from cruel treatment"
2. Vladimir Putin will lose the physical capability to apply and remove the Veto on the laws of the Russian Federation.
Reports about the progress of the hunger strike and the changes in my body, with photos, will be published in the diary http://timeskhan.livejournal.com/ and other blogs.
Moscow's stray dogs are famous
because they ride the train
Russian scientists say that Moscow stray dogs became much smarter
The four legged oldest human’s friends demonstrate real smartness such as riding the Moscow metro every morning to get from their suburban places of living to the fat regions of Moscow center. Once they arrive to the downtown they demonstrate different new, previously unseen for the dog skills. Those skills can include “the hunt for shawarma” for example, the popular among Muscovites eastern cuisine dish. This hunt scene can be seen as this:
Regular Moscow busy street with some small food kiosks. A middle-aged man buys himself a piece of hot fast food and walks aside chewing it without a rush. Then just in a second he jumps up frightened – some doggy has sneaked up on him and barked out loudly. His tasty snack falls out from his hands down to the ground and the dog gets it. Just ten minutes later, on the same place, the teen youngster loses his dinner in exactly the same manner. The modern Russian dogs are on their urban hunt.
“This method of ambushing people from their back is widely exercised by Moscow dogs”, saying A. Poiarkov, working in Ecology and Evolution Institute of Moscow. “The main point here is to define who would drop the food scared and who won’t, but the dogs are great psychologists they can do it better than us”.
Moscow ecologists think that dogs started acquiring this habits in 1990s, when the Soviet union collapsed and Moscow has fell into the hands of new class of Russian capitalists. They understood the true value of the downtown realty underestimated by previous Communist owners and became removing all the industrial complexes Moscow had in its centre to its outskirts. Those places were used by homeless dogs as a shelter often, so the dogs had to move together with their houses, so they had to learn how to travel Moscow subway – first to get to the centre in the morning then back home in the evening, just as us people.
The commercial revolution of Moscow made their usual feeding places like trash bins out of direct reach, so they had to get to know new ways of getting their piece of food. That’s how appeared those “Shawarma hunts”. Sometimes though they use more gentle methods. Young girl sits on the bench to eat her hot dog – a big cute looking dog appears from the surrounding bushes and puts her head on her knees. The girl can’t help herself sharing the hotdog with a dog.
Among some more amazing skill those Moscow dogs are the ability not to miss their stop while going on the subway train. Biologists say dogs have very nice sense of time which helps them not to miss their destination. Another skill they have is to cross the road on the green traffic light. “They don’t react on color, but on the picture they see on the traffic light”, Moscow scientist tells. Also they choose often the last or the first metro car – those are less crowded usually.
It’s funny but the ecologists studying Moscow stray dogs also tell the dogs don’t miss a chance to get some play while on their travel in the subway. They are fond of jumping in the train just seconds before the doors shut closed risking their tails be jammed. “They do it for fun, just they have enough food”, they conclude.
Source
Regular Moscow busy street with some small food kiosks. A middle-aged man buys himself a piece of hot fast food and walks aside chewing it without a rush. Then just in a second he jumps up frightened – some doggy has sneaked up on him and barked out loudly. His tasty snack falls out from his hands down to the ground and the dog gets it. Just ten minutes later, on the same place, the teen youngster loses his dinner in exactly the same manner. The modern Russian dogs are on their urban hunt.
“This method of ambushing people from their back is widely exercised by Moscow dogs”, saying A. Poiarkov, working in Ecology and Evolution Institute of Moscow. “The main point here is to define who would drop the food scared and who won’t, but the dogs are great psychologists they can do it better than us”.
Moscow ecologists think that dogs started acquiring this habits in 1990s, when the Soviet union collapsed and Moscow has fell into the hands of new class of Russian capitalists. They understood the true value of the downtown realty underestimated by previous Communist owners and became removing all the industrial complexes Moscow had in its centre to its outskirts. Those places were used by homeless dogs as a shelter often, so the dogs had to move together with their houses, so they had to learn how to travel Moscow subway – first to get to the centre in the morning then back home in the evening, just as us people.
The commercial revolution of Moscow made their usual feeding places like trash bins out of direct reach, so they had to get to know new ways of getting their piece of food. That’s how appeared those “Shawarma hunts”. Sometimes though they use more gentle methods. Young girl sits on the bench to eat her hot dog – a big cute looking dog appears from the surrounding bushes and puts her head on her knees. The girl can’t help herself sharing the hotdog with a dog.
Among some more amazing skill those Moscow dogs are the ability not to miss their stop while going on the subway train. Biologists say dogs have very nice sense of time which helps them not to miss their destination. Another skill they have is to cross the road on the green traffic light. “They don’t react on color, but on the picture they see on the traffic light”, Moscow scientist tells. Also they choose often the last or the first metro car – those are less crowded usually.
It’s funny but the ecologists studying Moscow stray dogs also tell the dogs don’t miss a chance to get some play while on their travel in the subway. They are fond of jumping in the train just seconds before the doors shut closed risking their tails be jammed. “They do it for fun, just they have enough food”, they conclude.
Source
October 4, 2011
Moscow to spend $76 million on stray dogs in 2012-2014
Moscow authorities are set to allocate over 2.5 billion rubles ($76 million) to care for stray dogs and cats in the Russian capital over the next three years, the chairwoman of the city's ecology committee said on Tuesday. stated an article published October 2, 2011.
There are currently 12 shelters able to house 12,500 stray dogs.
This year, 260 million rubles ($23.2 million) were allocated for the purpose.
Moscow Ecology Committee spokeswoman Vera Stepanenko said Russia will spend 798 million rubles ($24 million) in 2012 to sterilize stray animals and keep shelters running. In 2013, a total of 838 million rubles ($25.6 million) will be allocated, and the spending will further increase to 880 million rubles (almost $27 million) in 2014.
"As of September 1, approximately 12,000 dogs are being kept in the city's animal shelters, foster owners were found for 3,300 dogs this year," said Anton Velikhovsky, the head Moscow's public utilities and land improvement department.
He said the population of stray dogs in the city is unknown and is estimated to range between 30,000 and 10,000 dogs. This year, a total of 8,600 animals were caught, and 7,500 of them were sterilized.
Every year the number of strays in Moscow increases by up to 5,000 animals, states an article published October 2, 2011.
Source
The truth about how the authorities deal with
the stray dogs issue
The following 2 video reports have been uploaded onto youtube by Mikhail Novikov, the President of The Saint-Petersburg's Noble assembly, and the President of the Russian society of protection of animals.
According to Mr Novikov, Russian officials kill stray animals by shooting them with the help of syringes filled with the poison Adelin, or Ditilin.
According to Mr Novikov, Russian officials kill stray animals by shooting them with the help of syringes filled with the poison Adelin, or Ditilin.
Russian 'Dog Hunters' wage death campaign on strays
November 23, 2012 - via Irish Dogs - A shadowy group of "dog hunters" that communicates via the Internet is waging war on packs of feral dogs in Russia's cities, killing the dogs with poison and airgun bullets.
But dog owners and animal rights activists are up in arms, saying the campaign is cruel and ineffective and that beloved pets are dying after accidentally eating the poisoned bait.
The semi-clandestine Doghunters network has grown steadily and spread from Moscow to other large cities including Novosibirsk in Siberia and Yekaterinburg in the Urals.
The group's members say they want to solve the problem of stray dogs, both abandoned pets and their offspring born on the streets, which have bred vigorously and often attack passers-by.
The members post graphic photos of slain dogs on specialised Internet forums where they also exchange tips on the best poisons and how to kill a dog with an airgun.
In the Moscow region, some 1,300 dogs have been killed -- most of them poisoned -- by the group members in the last three years, according to animal rights activists.
In a manifesto published on a website called Vredy.org, or Nuisances, Doghunters say their goal is to "fight against the parasitic fauna that stops humans from living safely and comfortably".
"We are fighting wild dogs. We do not exterminate pet dogs," Doghunters say on their website, titled "No to vermin!"
But pet owners complain their dogs are also falling victims to the poisoned baits.
Some 500 dog owners rallied last month after dozens of dogs were poisoned over the course of a few weeks while being taken for walks in a Moscow park.
Threatening signs put up in the park said that dogs must be muzzled and on leads and "if you do not respect these rules, your dogs will die too".
The signs were illustrated with photographs of children bitten by dogs.
The dog owners demanded that the Doghunters be put on trial, calling them "sadists" and "butchers" and threatening physical reprisals.
"If I ever see someone poisoning a dog, I will skin him -- even if I go to prison for it," popular actor Leonid Yarmolnik said during the protest.
The Soviet authorities routinely captured and killed stray dogs, but after the fall of the Soviet Union, the population ballooned, reaching 30,000 in Moscow alone by 1996.
Nearly 400 people died in Russia between 2000 and 2010 after being attacked by dogs and over 13,000 are bitten every year in Moscow.
"We do not want to become victims," activist Dogmeat said, adding that he joined Doghunters after several people he knew were attacked by dogs.
"There are packs of very aggressive stray dogs," animal trainer Yelena Orochko told AFP. "These are big and strong animals capable of surviving on the streets."
While the dogs have to survive harsh conditions and sub-zero temperatures, members of the public feed them and they also take food from easily accessible rubbish bins.
A programme for stray dogs launched in 2001 by Moscow city hall under which the dogs were sterilised and then let free proved ineffective.
Since 2008 the dogs have not been re-released after a 55-year-old jogger was attacked and killed by stray dogs.
The city has built shelters that can accommodate almost 15,000 animals, but that is still insufficient.
"We would prefer for the dogs to be captured and placed in shelters, where if no one claimed them, they would be put down," one "Doghunter" member from Siberia, who gave only his nickname of Dogmeat, told AFP.
He claimed that government efforts "had no effect" so far because the state funding allocated for tackling the problem "had apparently been embezzled".
But animal rights activists slam the Doghunters as sadistic animal abusers.
"The Doghunters are maniacs. They enjoy killing. Unfortunately, the police do not want to react," said Daria Khmelnitskaya, an activist with animal rights group Vita.
Killing or abusing an animal is a criminal offence punishable with up to two years in prison, but activists complain that the authorities fail to enforce this law.
Russia’s terrifying new law to allow animal cruelty
April 5, 2013 - written by Mikhail Novikov -- The State Duma (Parliament) of the Russian Federation is preparing the law which will officially allow killing of stray dogs by any methods the officials want. In article 21 of this law, it is written: “Federal governmental authorities have powers to establish methods and regime of killing of animals (including stray dogs)”.
This law has the hypocritical name: «Закон об ответственном обращении с животными».
The State Duma (Parliament) of the Russian Federation ignores the opinion of representatives of societies for the protection of animals. According to this law, the public won’t have the right to inspect the ways of killing of animals in the state points for homeless animals, and in butcheries and in state stockyards. Only officials will have this right (according to this new law). Here lies a bright example of the pseudo-democracy in the Russian Federation. It lives in the Russian Federation as dictatorship was in the USSR. The new law will approve this lawlessness!
Now in the Russian Federation, lawlessness reigns in this area of the right and in many other areas of the right. But this law will absolutely legalize death camps for homeless animals and will turn the entire Russian Federation into a huge camp of death for animals as it was in the USSR. This law offends the highest human feelings – the sense of morality, which is above religious and even national feelings. This law throws the Russian populace below the level of barbarity assigned to an animal (because even barbarians and animals have a level of compassion toward other species). This unmoral law throws the populace down to the level of Neanderthal double morals and a species-specific egocentrism. Similar laws satisfy only the lowest, and most morally retarded segments of the population and provoke the best representatives of society, ethical, civilized people to challenge and violate such pseudo-laws. Similar pseudo-laws force people not to develop, but to degrade. They push the population down to an abyss of immorality and insensitivity.
Killing camps for homeless animals are in many cities of Russia (except St. Petersburg and Moscow). They are still being constructed in the USSR today. In spite of the fact that such camps of death are preset in many cities of the Russian Federation, it is very difficult to take a photo of these sites. Defenders of animals are denied any right to enter these camps of death and to supervise their work. Still, young courageous guys and girls recently broke into one such camp of death in the Russian-Zyryan’s city Syktyvkar at night. They photographed this camp of death by means of a video camera showing the fire in the furnace in which workers of camp of death burn corpses of dogs. But they can burn live animals too. Reports of the biggest Russian mass media tell about such cases.
As photographed by the group of activists, dead dogs with a slit throat were lying near the furnace. The working day had ended. Workers left without having managed to burn a few corpses of dogs. One dog was cut in its stomach. Obviously, she died a painful death. And about fifty dogs expected the death penalty in the morning. The activist guys and girls broke cages and let the dogs out.
Every year, officials of the Russian Federation kill more than 700 thousand homeless animals by cruel methods. But the majority of such cases remain unknown because journalists and defenders of animals have no right to witness or report it. Officials take budget’s money for the solution of problems of stray dogs. But they kill dogs by the cheapest, cruelest methods. They steal the remaining money, filling their pockets thus.
The president, the Government, and deputies of the Russian Federation look at this situation with absolute indifference, despite all protests of activists for the rights of animals.
Thus, in modern Russian Federation, there is a peculiar structure which consists of the corrupt officials, deputies, employees of camps of death for homeless animals, and hitmen of stray dogs. And the government of the Russian Federation allows them to do it.
Mikhail Novikov is a teacher of mathematics, the President of Noble Assemly of Saint-Petersburg, and the President of the Russian society of protection of animals. He lives in St. Petersburg, Russia.
This law has the hypocritical name: «Закон об ответственном обращении с животными».
The State Duma (Parliament) of the Russian Federation ignores the opinion of representatives of societies for the protection of animals. According to this law, the public won’t have the right to inspect the ways of killing of animals in the state points for homeless animals, and in butcheries and in state stockyards. Only officials will have this right (according to this new law). Here lies a bright example of the pseudo-democracy in the Russian Federation. It lives in the Russian Federation as dictatorship was in the USSR. The new law will approve this lawlessness!
Now in the Russian Federation, lawlessness reigns in this area of the right and in many other areas of the right. But this law will absolutely legalize death camps for homeless animals and will turn the entire Russian Federation into a huge camp of death for animals as it was in the USSR. This law offends the highest human feelings – the sense of morality, which is above religious and even national feelings. This law throws the Russian populace below the level of barbarity assigned to an animal (because even barbarians and animals have a level of compassion toward other species). This unmoral law throws the populace down to the level of Neanderthal double morals and a species-specific egocentrism. Similar laws satisfy only the lowest, and most morally retarded segments of the population and provoke the best representatives of society, ethical, civilized people to challenge and violate such pseudo-laws. Similar pseudo-laws force people not to develop, but to degrade. They push the population down to an abyss of immorality and insensitivity.
Killing camps for homeless animals are in many cities of Russia (except St. Petersburg and Moscow). They are still being constructed in the USSR today. In spite of the fact that such camps of death are preset in many cities of the Russian Federation, it is very difficult to take a photo of these sites. Defenders of animals are denied any right to enter these camps of death and to supervise their work. Still, young courageous guys and girls recently broke into one such camp of death in the Russian-Zyryan’s city Syktyvkar at night. They photographed this camp of death by means of a video camera showing the fire in the furnace in which workers of camp of death burn corpses of dogs. But they can burn live animals too. Reports of the biggest Russian mass media tell about such cases.
As photographed by the group of activists, dead dogs with a slit throat were lying near the furnace. The working day had ended. Workers left without having managed to burn a few corpses of dogs. One dog was cut in its stomach. Obviously, she died a painful death. And about fifty dogs expected the death penalty in the morning. The activist guys and girls broke cages and let the dogs out.
Every year, officials of the Russian Federation kill more than 700 thousand homeless animals by cruel methods. But the majority of such cases remain unknown because journalists and defenders of animals have no right to witness or report it. Officials take budget’s money for the solution of problems of stray dogs. But they kill dogs by the cheapest, cruelest methods. They steal the remaining money, filling their pockets thus.
The president, the Government, and deputies of the Russian Federation look at this situation with absolute indifference, despite all protests of activists for the rights of animals.
Thus, in modern Russian Federation, there is a peculiar structure which consists of the corrupt officials, deputies, employees of camps of death for homeless animals, and hitmen of stray dogs. And the government of the Russian Federation allows them to do it.
Mikhail Novikov is a teacher of mathematics, the President of Noble Assemly of Saint-Petersburg, and the President of the Russian society of protection of animals. He lives in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Sources & references:
http://foodsafety.k-state.edu/en/news-details.php?a=3&c=29&sc=220&id=54369
http://www.change.org/petitions/introduce-federal-laws-on-animal-protection-in-russia
http://en.rian.ru/society/20111004/167385137.htmlhttp://www.irishdogs.ie/news/2012/11/23/russian-dog-hunters-wage-death-campaign-on-strays.html
http://greenheritagenews.com/russias-terrifying-new-law-to-allow-animal-cruelty/
http://foodsafety.k-state.edu/en/news-details.php?a=3&c=29&sc=220&id=54369
http://www.change.org/petitions/introduce-federal-laws-on-animal-protection-in-russia
http://en.rian.ru/society/20111004/167385137.htmlhttp://www.irishdogs.ie/news/2012/11/23/russian-dog-hunters-wage-death-campaign-on-strays.html
http://greenheritagenews.com/russias-terrifying-new-law-to-allow-animal-cruelty/