BATTERSEA Dogs and Cats Home, Dogs Trust and North Shore Animal League, in conjunction with Wetnose Animal Aid wetnose@btinternet.com have joined forces to urge people to contact the Romanian Embassy in the UK, or in any other country where you live, following the decision understood to have been taken to kill all street dogs in Bucharest, following the death of a Japanese citizen.
While we have enormous sympathy for the family and friends of the man who died, the killing of street dogs will not provide a solution to this tragedy. It was an isolated incident and it has not yet been confirmed whether the dog was a street dog or one owned by a member of the community.
The only humane way of dealing with the over-population is to use the catch, neuter and release method, in conjunction with an educational programme, which is working so well in Oradea. SOS Dogs Oradea was set up in 2003 by Dogs Trust, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, alongside US charity North Shore Animal League, with the aim over time to make street dogs a thing of the past. Wetnose has helped ProAnimal Shelter in Gorj, Romania, and also supported others with neutering programmes.
The Pro-Animal Shelter in Gorj, Romania is trying to save as many dogs as possible, Patricia & Carmena Serbaniou have been working around the clock to do whatever they can. Wetnose is raising money for them.
It is vital that the authorities understand that the street dogs problem must be solved in a humane and civilised way, especially taking into account the international laws and conventions that Romania signed in order to join the European Union in 2007.
It has been reported that local body authorities had hundreds of dogs rounded up and released in the forest, then issued hunting permits and paid a bounty for each one killed. The authorities deny that this ever happened.
The charities have urged the Romanian Government to take action and put an end to this truly appalling action. To voice your opinion in support of our campaign, please contact the Romanian Embassy in the UK (or in any other country where you live).
His Excellency Mr Dan Ghibernea, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Romanian Embassy in the UK, Arundel House, 4 Palace Green, London W8 4QD. Email: roemb@roemb.co.uk
To contact other authorities over the matter, please write to:
Bucharest mayor Adrean Videanu avideanu@bucuresti-primaria.ro
Vice-mayor Ludovic Orban ludovic.Orban@bucuresti-primaria.ro
Vice-mayor Razvan Murgeanu Razvan.Murgeanu@bucuresti-primaria.ro
Anca Daniela Boagiu, Minister of European Integration, anca.boagiu@mie.ro, presa@mie.ro
Gheorghe Flutur, Minister of Agriculture, Forests and Rural Development comunicare@maa.ro
For more information, please contact:
Claire Duke, Dogs Trust Press Office, Tel: +44 (0)20 7833 7616, e-mail: Claire.Duke@dogstrust.org.uk, or Karol Lazar, SOS Dogs Oradea Manager, Tel: 0723656621, or Andrea Gamby-Boulger, Tel: +44 (0)1508 518 650, e-mail as above, or www.ProAnimals.ro
