Animal Lovers Protest In Bucharest Over Plans To Euthanize Stray Dogs

NGOs, animal rights activists and citizens oppose a bill put forth by the capital's prefect, which states strays that are not adopted in one week can be put down.

Bucharest Prefect Mihai Atanasoaei said Tuesday a draft law on stray dogs has been sent to Romania's Chamber of Deputies and provisions include the euthanizing of dogs that are aggressive, gravely ill or that are not adopted within seven days.

The prefect said that the proposals, which conform to EU legislation, are based on data collected during the past four years from local authorities and from the National Institute for Infectious Diseases Matei Bals. According to NGOs, there are nearly 40,000 stray dogs in Bucharest, while according to local authorities there are nearly 100,000.

Bucharest mayor Sorin Oprescu, a doctor, said Wednesday he cannot agree with euthanizing stray dogs, adding that he must, nevertheless, observe the law. Oprescu added procedures to spay stray dogs in Bucharest have just begun, adding that, no matter how hard he tries to speed up the process, no more than 4,000 stray dogs can be spayed and neutered in a month.

Romanian animal rights organization Vier Pfoten also expressed their opposition to euthanasia in a press release issued Wednesday. According to the organization, it costs about EUR20 to neuter a medium-sized dog and overhead charges reach about EUR8, while euthanasia costs EUR62. Animal rights activists added that several studies, including recommendations of the World Health Organization, lean toward reproduction control programs rather than euthanasia, which the organization said is "radical, inhumane, expensive and inefficient".

Vier Pfoten said that their offers of free reproductive control programs and specialized staff have been repeatedly ignored by authorities.

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