Bucharest City Hall organizes referendum on stray dogs euthanasia

Newsroom 06/09/2013 | 14:06

The Bucharest City Hall announced that it will organize on October 6 a referendum to consult the capital inhabitants on the euthanasia of stray dogs.

The referendum was approved by the Bucharest general council and will cost EUR 1.34 million. (RON 6 million). This represents one third of the total annual budget allocated to the city hall for the management of stray dogs.

Bucharest inhabitants who show up at the referendum must answer Yes or No to the question: “Do you agree with the euthanasia of dogs without owner captured on the Bucharest public domain and not adopted within the legal stipulated term?”

The decision came after a 4- year- old boy was bitten to death by dogs in the proximity of Tei Park in Bucharest on Monday, September 2. The boy, together with his 6- year- old brother, were out in the park with their grandmother. At some point, the two children left the park and ventured into a private property which was not properly enclosed and were attacked by a pack of stray dogs. The older brother managed to escape with a few bites and announce his grandmother of the incident, but his little brother was bitten multiple times and bled to death. The boy was beyond help when the paramedics arrived.

The authorities captured the dogs and found that one of the dogs involved in the incident belonged to an NGO which had committed to keep the dog in its care. The dog had been spayed and then released back on the street by a volunteer of the NGO back in 2008.

Two of the other dogs had been spayed and released by the city hall. After complaints were received that the pack of dogs was dangerous, the city hall captured the dogs but then released them again on the property where the young boys were bitten.

The incident triggered public outcry, with many people fearing that their children will be bitten or complaining that they themselves were bitten by stray dogs at some point. The subject has been amply covered on television channels, online and print outlets, and on the social media ever since. While many are in favor of mass euthanasia, others blame the authorities for the failure to act and say that the mass spaying solution is efficient if performed properly.

At this point, the Romanian law forbids the euthanasia of stray dogs, except for the cases when they are sick or aggressive.

The Bucharest mayor, Sorin Oprescu, made a press statement 3 days after the fact. Oprescu said he regretted the incident but refused to resign. Instead, he said he will organize a referendum and do “exactly as the citizens want him to.” However, the referendum is contested by a part of the Bucharest inhabitants who only see it as a way of uselessly spending public funds and accuse the mayor of failing to assume responsibility.

According to Mediafax newswire, the Bucharest City Hall has an annual allocated budget of EUR 4.15 million (RON 18.6 million) especially for managing the stray dog population in the city. This includes the spaying and collecting the dogs from the streets.

However, by August 31, the city hall had only spent nearly 626,000 from this money.

Furthermore, two days ago there were only 400 dogs in the Dogtown shelter inaugurated in the presence of the Bucharest mayor on May 3, 2012. The shelter was opened with private funds in value of EUR 1.5 million, while the city hall committed to collect the dogs from the streets and vaccinate them. The center has a capacity for 2,000 dogs.

The Prosecutor’s Office started an investigation into the causes that led to the death of the 4-year-old boy, with both representatives of the incriminated NGO and the Bucharest city hall being called to testify.

About 8,000 people were bitten by dogs in Bucharest in 2012. There are currently 65,000 stray dogs in the capital, according to the city hall.

 Otilia Haraga

 

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