Romania has received a great deal of attention lately in animal welfare communities, especially given a recent massacre in which over 200 dogs were killed at a public shelter in Botosani Romania at the order of the mayor. Now, the dogs in Brasov, Romania are at risk.
Since 2004, an estimated ten million stray dogs have been brutally murdered in Romania. Princess Maja von Hohenzollern of “Europäische Tier- und Naturschutzverein (ETN e.V)” (European Animal and Nature Protection Ass.) travels to Romania regularly to work with local animal rescue groups to help the stray dogs. They have been trying to spread the world about a law being proposed in Brasov that could result in the killing of thousands of stray dogs.
In 2009, a law was instituted that stopped stray dogs from being killed. However, the mayor of Brasov has now sent a proposal for a new euthanasia law (called: PL 912) to the Romanian parliament, which would allow the city to start killing the stray dogs again. The mayors of Romanian cities receive € 25 from the Romanian government for each dog killed. This provides an incentive for legalizing the mass killing of stray dogs with a euthanasia law, rather than treating the problem with a more humane solution.
The ETN e.v., Romania Animal Rescue, Inc., and other welfare organization’s believe that there are more humane ways to deal with the stray overpopulation problem in Romania, such as trap, neuter, and release programs. This has successfully reduced the number of stray dogs in some cities in Romania.
The proposed law is being protested through demonstrations, letter writing campaigns and petitions. The hope is that more people globally will become aware of this threat and contact Romanian officials. Protests have been held all over Europe and photos from a recent demonstration in Berlin can be seen in the slideshow link to the left. Also shown are some photos of stray dogs being captured in Brasov.
To see a video about the stray dog problem in Romania, click on the video link to the left. For more photos and to learn more about the situation in Brasov, click here. (The website also provides contact information for Romanian officials.)
Please write to the Mayor and other officials, urging them to cancel plans for this proposed euthanization law. Please also ask that they transfer the care and responsibility for the Brasov dogs to the local animal welfare organizations.
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