On January 13, 2024, a meeting was held in Termokiss, between the community for the protection of animals.
It is very important that the civil society (community for the protection of animals) meet as often as possible, so that we can talk about the problems we all encounter when caring for or protecting animals, especially stray ones, and the possibilities of overcoming these challenges together.
As we discussed in the meeting, below are only a few points of discussion, although there was a much longer and constructive conversation, for which we thank the participants very much.
- Joint reaction in relation to institutions for issues related to animals
It is very important that for important topics related to animals, civil society presents itself with a common attitude and demands, always prioritizing animal welfare and rights. The more pressure is put on the institutions, from the more organizations and activists, the greater will be the likelihood of our demands for sustainable animal protection being met.
In this regard, whenever there is a need to respond to certain issues, our organization will reach out to civil society with proposals for a joint response. Normally, we will try to include other actors of civil society, who were not at the meeting but were invited by us, at least to be informed and if they express interest, to join the common demands.
We also expect that everyone will write to us about a certain problem and if they think to raise any problem at institutional levels, we will react together for action. We know that we cannot expect quick results from the institutions, but even if there are no results, institutional silence will give us more space to complain to other instances and list each institution as non-cooperative and non-transparent with civil society, for matters that they have a legal obligation to fulfill. Perhaps soon we will have more collaborations and see more work done by the country’s institutions for the benefit of animals.
- Requests for subsidy
It is important that NGOs (but also individuals) address the institutions with requests for subsidizing activities related to the protection and care of animals. Although it is likely that these requests will not be met at first, it is still important that these requests are sent consistently. Civil society does a great job in rescuing and protecting street animals and should be supported by institutions. From our experience, if the public projects are not monitored and there is no accountability, the likelihood of the projects succeeding is almost non-existent and there will be no real management of projects for the management and control of dogs, but also of other projects regarding wild animals. In the next meetings, we will also address other topics related to wild animals and animals used for livestock.
Regarding this point, our organization is ready to help everyone in drafting requests for subsidies, to then direct them to the institutions.
- Working with the media
During the meeting, it was also discussed that the media often sensationalize stories with street dogs, and that work should be done in this direction. However, compared to previous years, many media have improved, but a lot of work still needs to be done in media awareness.
Also for this topic, it is important that whenever there is an exaggerated story (for clicks) related to street dogs, we react as much as possible to that media. We can also coordinate so that as many people as possible react and send complaints to Association of Journalists of Kosovo.
- A list of stores/businesses that are animal friendly
We talked about creating a list of all stores or private entities that help or are friendly to animals or that are also vegan/vegetarian friendly. The final list will then be published online.
- Common website with various resources for animal protection
One of the participants volunteered to create a simple website, where different resources could be entered, such as: the different organizations dealing with the protection of animals in Kosovo, different animal care tips, etc.
- Project (long-term) for mental health
Bind Skeja from the QIPS organization was also present at the meeting and proposed that, as a long-term project, we think of something to connect animals with mental health, since this idea has been discussed between QIPS and the ARF for a long time. Knowing how positively animals affect human mental health, and how important it is for animal protection activists to accept even a little psychological help for the emotional and spiritual burdens they experience working every day to protect animals, we think that this proposal it should be elaborated further, to come up with concrete proposals that can then be implemented in practice. Even Rozafa Maliqi from Termokiss shared with us that they had a similar activity in the past, so this very necessary idea can be discussed further. If something is not done in the short or medium term, we are sure that with joint commitment something will be done in the long term.
We thank everyone again for participating and the fruitful discussion and for the wonderful work that everyone does every day for animals. The tireless activists are hope for this country and we wish you to be healthy and strong to face the great challenges in this field.
Finally, we are grateful that Termokiss opens its doors for any activity with good intentions and we thank them very much for their cooperation and for everything they do.