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Introduction
Stray dogs are everywhere in Serbia, a country where even people struggle with hunger and have little sympathy for animals. The numbers are staggering, fueled by years of war, poverty and the lack of any government strategy to neuter or control strays.
In the capital Belgrade, strays have doubled in recent years to about 15,000, according to government estimates from 2011. While there are no exact figures for the rest of Serbia, officials estimate there could be around 50,000 dogs out there - according to an article published in the 'Washington Post' in 2011 - many facing hunger, cold, diseases, harassment and sometimes unimaginable cruelties.
The number of abandoned animals grew sharply in Serbia during war years of the early 1990s, when many impoverished dog owners couldn't feed their pets and authorities allowed uncontrolled breeding. Officials who had been preoccupied with postwar and global economic issues have been forced to announce urgent measures to try to deal with the problem of strays. A new administration that took over in 2000 launched programs to sterilize, vaccinate and microchip animals with some success, but the effort was overwhelmed by other problems such as high unemployment and poor living standards. [1]
Today, there are limited CNR programs for stray dogs in the capital, Belgrade. [2] Poisoning, shooting and illegal euthanasia of strays remains a problem, especially outside Belgrade. Serbia, which is seeking membership in the European Union, knows it will be judged by how it treats its abandoned dogs, does have local laws which are in accordance with EU laws and declarations, but from the many cases of horrible animal cruelty that are being reported but never prosecuted, and from the disastrous conditions in their so-called shelters, we believe it is fair to say that these laws only exist to make a positive impression on the EU, as they are rarely applied in the real life.
The new laws aimed at improving the life of animals in Serbia which have been introduced to attempt to bring the country closer to EU standards include the Veterinary Medicine Law was which was passed in 2005 and the new Criminal Law, passed in 2006. The Criminal Law defines the killing and the abuse of an animal as a crime and has a sentence of imprisonment for those involved. Amendments to the criminal law have increased prison sentences from six months to one year for the abuse and murder of animals. Organising animal fights is now a crime which carries a sentence of between three months and three years. The law on raising awareness of animal rights is been implemented at all levels of education in Serbia’s schooling system, according to OIPA. [3]
The law orders all local governments to construct shelters for stray cats and dogs, which should result in reducing the horrific suffering and deaths of many animals who try to survive living off the streets. Sadly, the conditions are horrendous in most of Serbia's shelters and the animals who previously suffered on the streets, now suffer in their so-called shelters.
OIPA wrote: A law is only as good as the system that enforces it. To date, despite these laws being passed in 2005/06, there has been no evidence presented to show that anyone has actually been prosecuted for cruelty to animals. To date the Serbian government and authorities have ignored the No Kill sterilization route, preferring instead to round up animals and simply kill them in the most terrible ways. But this policy of killing strays leaves areas and regions of towns and cities with some less strays for simply a week or two.
Within a very short time, ‘new’ strays from outside the area, encouraged by the possibility of finding more food, enter the area and very rapidly mate, increasing the stray numbers back to original, or possibly even higher numbers of animals than existed before the government killing policy was introduced.
The solution is that No Kill sterilization does work to reduce stray animal numbers – the government / authorities policy of simply killing at random does not.
Unfortunately, the government and authorities do not appear to agree that a No Kill sterilisation programme is the only way forward for stray animal numbers reduction. As a result of their attitude, stray animal numbers in Serbia will never reduce; despite the terrible and cruel killings inflicted on stray animals each and every day.
In the capital Belgrade, strays have doubled in recent years to about 15,000, according to government estimates from 2011. While there are no exact figures for the rest of Serbia, officials estimate there could be around 50,000 dogs out there - according to an article published in the 'Washington Post' in 2011 - many facing hunger, cold, diseases, harassment and sometimes unimaginable cruelties.
The number of abandoned animals grew sharply in Serbia during war years of the early 1990s, when many impoverished dog owners couldn't feed their pets and authorities allowed uncontrolled breeding. Officials who had been preoccupied with postwar and global economic issues have been forced to announce urgent measures to try to deal with the problem of strays. A new administration that took over in 2000 launched programs to sterilize, vaccinate and microchip animals with some success, but the effort was overwhelmed by other problems such as high unemployment and poor living standards. [1]
Today, there are limited CNR programs for stray dogs in the capital, Belgrade. [2] Poisoning, shooting and illegal euthanasia of strays remains a problem, especially outside Belgrade. Serbia, which is seeking membership in the European Union, knows it will be judged by how it treats its abandoned dogs, does have local laws which are in accordance with EU laws and declarations, but from the many cases of horrible animal cruelty that are being reported but never prosecuted, and from the disastrous conditions in their so-called shelters, we believe it is fair to say that these laws only exist to make a positive impression on the EU, as they are rarely applied in the real life.
The new laws aimed at improving the life of animals in Serbia which have been introduced to attempt to bring the country closer to EU standards include the Veterinary Medicine Law was which was passed in 2005 and the new Criminal Law, passed in 2006. The Criminal Law defines the killing and the abuse of an animal as a crime and has a sentence of imprisonment for those involved. Amendments to the criminal law have increased prison sentences from six months to one year for the abuse and murder of animals. Organising animal fights is now a crime which carries a sentence of between three months and three years. The law on raising awareness of animal rights is been implemented at all levels of education in Serbia’s schooling system, according to OIPA. [3]
The law orders all local governments to construct shelters for stray cats and dogs, which should result in reducing the horrific suffering and deaths of many animals who try to survive living off the streets. Sadly, the conditions are horrendous in most of Serbia's shelters and the animals who previously suffered on the streets, now suffer in their so-called shelters.
OIPA wrote: A law is only as good as the system that enforces it. To date, despite these laws being passed in 2005/06, there has been no evidence presented to show that anyone has actually been prosecuted for cruelty to animals. To date the Serbian government and authorities have ignored the No Kill sterilization route, preferring instead to round up animals and simply kill them in the most terrible ways. But this policy of killing strays leaves areas and regions of towns and cities with some less strays for simply a week or two.
Within a very short time, ‘new’ strays from outside the area, encouraged by the possibility of finding more food, enter the area and very rapidly mate, increasing the stray numbers back to original, or possibly even higher numbers of animals than existed before the government killing policy was introduced.
The solution is that No Kill sterilization does work to reduce stray animal numbers – the government / authorities policy of simply killing at random does not.
Unfortunately, the government and authorities do not appear to agree that a No Kill sterilisation programme is the only way forward for stray animal numbers reduction. As a result of their attitude, stray animal numbers in Serbia will never reduce; despite the terrible and cruel killings inflicted on stray animals each and every day.