Today, the representatives of our organization met with the Head of the General Department of the Basic Prosecution in Prishtina, Mrs. Jehona Grantolli, to discuss the phenomenon of animal mistreatment in the Republic of Kosovo, the phenomenon of organized crime of dogfights, and the commitment of the Prosecution to investigate such cases with more seriousness and priority.

Over the past months, our organization has filed dozens of criminal charges against animal abusers and some of them were dismissed by prosecutors without exhausting all legal remedies: without conducting any investigations, without seeking expertise from professionals in the field, and without managing to properly argue decisions to dismiss criminal charges. For this reason, our organization has addressed this issue to the highest instances of the State Prosecutor’s Office.

During the meeting with Mrs. Grantolli, we discussed the need for additional awareness and training for prosecutors on the protection of animal rights, and the urgent need for cases of animal abuse to be treated more seriously by the Prosecution in Kosovo. Mrs. Grantolli was very open to hearing our concerns, and was open to cooperating with our organization, to address the issue of animal cruelty, and the phenomenon of organized crime with dogfights.

In the framework of cooperation with the Prosecution, our organization, with the support of our partner organizations, has offered the readiness to bring experts in the legal protection of animals, especially prosecutors or lawyers specialized in the prosecution of animal crimes, to organize trainings or seminars for prosecutors and police officers of the Republic of Kosovo.

Animal abuse and dogfights are punishable offenses under the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo, and unfortunately this phenomenon is quite present in our country, so it must be addressed very urgently by the judiciary.

Our organization is always ready to help the institutions of Kosovo in the field of animal protection, therefore we have often requested and initiated meetings with officials of various institutions of Kosovo, to address animal protection in Kosovo, and offering concrete suggestions for solving problems that related to animal protection on the one hand, and public health and safety on the other.