Our organization expresses its indignation about the statements in the “Info plus” program of RTK, of the Director of the Directorate of Animal Health and Welfare within the FVA (Food and Veterinary Agency), Mr. Sadik Heta, and the advisor for security in the municipality of Pristina, Mr. Bajram Gecaj, regarding the situation with dogs without owners (stray dogs).
Unfortunately, in this conversation, despite many proposals from international professional organizations, the conversation about the systematic killing/euthanasia of street dogs prevailed, and very little was said about the sources of this problem.
First of all, it should be mentioned that the national strategy for the management and control of dogs with and without owners, foresees the management of the general population of dogs, with the main focus on the sources of the problem, which are owned dogs.
Mr. Heta very often mentioned the legal basis for the current situation as a justification, especially for the lack of shelters. While it is true that there is currently no legal basis for determining the standards and rules of operation of shelters, it is not true that this has so far prevented serious work to be done to prevent the current situation of the stray dog population.
CNVR (capture, neutering, vaccination and release) was very often cited as the “cause” of the large number of dogs on the street, which is not true because CNVR is only a measure to control the reproduction of dogs currently on the street and does not work as a single measure to sustainably reduce the number of dogs that are continuously abandoned on the street. Why CNVR has not had an effect, is precisely because the sources of the problem such as: the continuous abandonment of dogs and the uncontrolled breeding and sale have never been taken seriously by the FVA or even the MAFRD. If the source of the problem is not addressed, the measure of mass killing will be neither effective nor sustainable, except that it is a cruel measure.
The country’s institutions from 2008 to 2021 have implemented 68 contracts for the management of stray dogs through killing with guns, euthanasia and treatment of stray dogs with the CNVR method. FVA has implemented two one-year contracts in 2018 and 2020, while municipal authorities have implemented 66 contracts since 2008. The total value of municipal projects has reached a value of up to €1,223,153.00 and in total together with FVA’s projects, value spent has reached up to €3,223,153.00. The municipalities with the most contracts over the years are Prishtina, Shtimja and Prizren. While the other municipalities mostly had a very small number of contracts, with a maximum duration of up to 1 year. From 2017 to 2021, 7 municipalities had active CNVR projects, while in 2021, 15 municipalities implemented such projects through public contracts. None of these contracts have had evaluation and monitoring reports, and consequently, the impact of the various projects to control the number of dogs on the streets has never been measured.
Apart from some short-term civil society initiatives, no public project has been implemented in terms of informing and raising awareness among citizens about responsible dog ownership, dog behavior and general information to ensure a good human-dog relationship to avoid potential incidents and to encourage responsible dog ownership to avoid uncontrolled and unintended breeding and abandonment because of the mismanagement of dogs that many owners keep.
Mr. Gecaj mentioned that since the killing of dogs has been banned, the problem with stray dogs has started. Until 2016, dogs were killed in Kosovo. Why hasn’t the problem been solved 15-20 years ago? Killing has been banned because it has been proven to be a cruel way of trying to manage the problem, which has no effect whatsoever. This evidence comes from Romania and some neighboring countries such as Montenegro, Serbia, Albania (even though they euthanize illegally).
Unfortunately, one of the most important measures to reduce the possibility of incidents between people and dogs, which is community information and awareness, was never mentioned in this show. The largest world organizations, including the World Organization for Animal Health (formerly OIE), emphasize that without changing the behavior of people with and around dogs (including prevention of abandonment and abuse) the situation with dogs on the street cannot change either. Until now, no municipality has organized continuous awareness campaigns.
Also, a lot was said about the aggressiveness of dogs, but the question was never asked why this aggressiveness is happening in some dogs? Mr. Heta, as director of a directorate for animal health and welfare, would do well to mention that incidents between humans and dogs occur precisely through endangering the welfare of dogs. It is also good that Mr. Heta mentions that inspections of animal keeping, and inspection of animal owners have never been done by FVA. Animals that are mistreated and abused in their homes are of no interest to the Directorate of Animal Health and Welfare.
Moreover, very little was said about the sources of the problem, and about plans for dealing with these sources. Are state officials trying to cover up the tendecy of removing dogs from the street through mass euthanasia without really working on the sources of the problem? For your information, since Mr. Gecaj and Mr. Heta were using the legal basis as a justification: In March 2021, the Administrative Instruction for the identification and registration of dogs with owners came into force, and the FVA has not been able to start this very important measure for more than a year now. Registration of dogs and puppies is also recommended by the EU and world animal welfare organizations to track animal diseases, lost animals and most importantly, to prevent or identify owners who abandon their animals.
Likewise, another source of the ongoing problem lies in the uncontrolled breeding of dogs throughout Kosovo. MAFRD has had time since 2006, when the Animal Welfare Law came into force, to draft and approve an administrative instruction to control the breeding of animals and their sale, but it has not yet done so. A draft of this administrative instruction (by-law) was prepared by FVA in 2021 (where our organization was also part of the working group) and was submitted to the MAFRD in September 2021, and there is still no response from MAFRD. It means the officials agree that the number of dogs is constantly increasing and also agree that the mass and systematic killing of street dogs is the only measure to control the dog population. THIS SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED!
In Prishtina, but also in other municipalities, garbage prevails in almost every neighborhood, where animal remains of various products are often thrown. How can we be surprised that we have a large presence of stray dogs in Kosovo, when we are surrounded by garbage at every corner? For many stray dogs, food found in garbage is their main source of survival. By removing garbage from the city and creating feeding points near the city borders, away from human traffic, the presence of stray dogs in highly frequented urban areas can be reduced.
Of course, dogs should be removed from the street, but this can only be done gradually and by not getting idea that all the dogs will be rounded up and euthanized at once. Anyone who says otherwise is misinforming. Only with a sustainable approach which focuses on the real sources of the problem will the number of dogs on the street be effectively and humanely reduced.
Mr. Heta and Mr. Gecaj often mentioned euthanasia as a comparison with other countries. But they never mentioned that euthanasia as a single measure has not worked in any country so far and without serious measures to promote dogs for adoption. Also, it is not entirely true that there is interest in adopting street animals in Kosovo. While people also abandon “breed” dogs, how can it be assumed that there is interest in adopting street animals in Kosovo? Most dogs adopted from the streets of Kosovo are in the countries of the EU and the USA (foreign adopters) who are not citizens of Kosovo. The costs for adoptions abroad are quite high and we hope that the municipalities design serious programs and allocate an adequate budget for the costs of adoptions of dogs abroad.
However, a solution must be made, because it makes no sense to risk neither animal welfare nor public health and safety, but only with measured and well-thought-out solutions. Citizens rightly demand security to walk freely on the street without fear of any incident, but on the other hand animal activists rightly demand humane and sustainable solutions.
Our organization is very concerned with cases of dog attacks, especially on children, and we invite citizens to identify aggressive dogs in their neighborhoods and notify the municipal authorities to remove aggressive dogs from the street.
We also urge citizens to report abuse of street dogs (whether by minors or adults), as dog abuse is one of the main factors of dog attacks on humans.
Our organization always seeks a sustainable and comprehensive approach, which focuses on the roots of the problem and not only on its symptoms. Our organization is also seeking to ensure full and sustainable effectiveness through transparent and accountable work.