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Ukrainian government agrees to meet demands of animal welfarists

Naturewatch is full of praise for Ukraine’s heads of Government, in particular, the Minister of Environment and the Prime Minister for pulling together to address stray animal control issues in a humane manner.

On January 25, following a protest in front of the Cabinet Minister’s building in Kyiv by Ukrainian animal welfare group “Stop it!”, the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of Ukraine, Mr Mykola Zlochevsky, assured animal welfarists that their demands will be met in relation to protecting homeless animals.

    

Stop It! issued a list of demands to the Government, with the aim bringing the extermination of street dogs using inhumane methods to an end.   In addition, protesters appealed to the Interior Minister to investigate cases of organised crime by so-called ‘dog hunters’ who work together to destroy dogs.

In addition, participants are paying attention of Interior Ministry to the need to investigate cases, so-called doghunters that coordinate their activities for the destruction of animals. A separate appeal addressed to the head of Kharkiv City Council Gennadiy Kernes, as the situation of Kharkov homeless animals in extremely acute.

A separate appeal has been presented to the Mayor of Kharkiv City, Mr Gennadiy Kernes, as the homeless animal situation there is particularly critical.

    

Mykola Zlochevsky states: "I promise to pass all these appeal to the recipients and inform the Prime Minister on the measures to be taken to address the problem of homeless animals.  I ask the head of the Government's appeal to the heads of local administrations, demanding to stop the destruction of animals, and to direct funds to programs of sterilization and building shelters.  In 2012 the Government has planned to spend 30 million to build new shelters for dogs. I am convinced that together with environmental NGOs we will ensure effective and transparent use of these funds."

The following has been agreed upon:

1. Contact the Association of Cities of Ukraine to end the killing of stray animals.
2. The Ukrainian law enforcement to investigate and stop the organised crime of the ‘dog hunters’, and prosecute those involved in animal cruelty.
3. Change the working group under the Ministry of Environment to develop the legal framework for the implementation of the Law of Ukraine "On Protection of Animals from Cruelty."  The new commission is to approve the agreement with the Environmental Public.
4. Remove the law that requires animals to be euthanized after five days from capture, from the Law of Ukraine “On Protection of Animals from Cruelty”. 
5. Address the problem of stray animals in line with European methods and values.