The economic operator “Animal Treatment Center”, headed by the veterinarian Taulant Kastrati, who was contracted by the Municipality of Pristina for the KSVL project, is suspected of negligent and incorrect work.

The veterinarian from the Municipality of Peja, who did questionable work in Peja in 2018, is being negligent when it comes to catching and releasing dogs.

Taulant Kastrati is working under the umbrella of Animal Treatment Center (ATC) that has been operating in Harilaq and has been contracted by the Municipality of Pristina since 2013.

For the dubious work of ATC over the years, there have always been complaints from many activists for the protection of stray dogs as many dogs that have been taken by ATC in the past have not been returned to the place of capture.

The last case of a citizen who lives in Novobërdë has proven to us that the work of this center is not in order and the welfare of the animals is being compromised. A dog belonging to a citizen in Novobërdë was taken by the dog capture team of TC and when the owner of the dog noticed that someone had taken his dog, he did everything possible to find the people responsible for taking his dog. When on that day of capture (without sending the dog to the center) the ATC team returned the dog to the owner, but dead. It means, the ATC team took an alive dog in their car and on that day, they brought it dead after the dog’s owner reported the case to the Police.

This case says a lot about the work that is being done and the risk of many dogs that will come into the hands of the ATC team. Although in their center the condition of the dogs and the castration/sterilization wounds were in order, it does not mean that many dogs that were taken there did not have the same fate as the dog of the citizen in Novobërde.

We have complained to the Municipality of Pristina, but apparently these complaints are unimportant to them, and they have not dealt with this issue, and we must take other legal steps anyway and guarantee regular and humane work with public money.

We have also asked the Food and Veterinary Agency (FVA) to do regular inspections and they have also done the autopsy of the dog after the owner’s request. In the autopsy report, it is stated that the dog was pregnant for 40 days and during the examination, bleeding was observed in the myocardium (heart muscle) and that the lungs were edematous. Edematized lungs come as a result of trauma or torture. According to our organization, this dog did not die by itself, but in any case, the persons involved in this case will be held accountable, as our organization will ask the prosecutors that this case does not pass in silence.

Another interesting fact was that the head of ATC, Mr. Nexhmedin Kabashi, told our organization that he “didn’t know” that the capture, treatment and release of each dog must be done with video and photo documentation. All other operators have understood this in many meetings with the Municipality, where ATC representatives were also present.

The municipality of Pristina must explain many cases of bad work during this project and for the lack of transparency shown in the veterinarians’ reports on the treatment of stray dogs in Pristina.