Dear Mayor Mr. Agim Bahtiri and Director Nehat Bahtiri,

We firstly hope that this email finds you well.

We are writing to you on behalf of our organization (below mentioned) about the situation of stray dogs in the Municipality of Mitrovica.

Initially, from our own sources, from people who work for the common good in providing help and expertise on stray dog ​​issues and their relationship with humans, we have received information that the Municipality of Mitrovica has planed to execute all stray dogs in the municipality. More specifically, to have the hunters’ associations kill the them.

Later, we talked with Mr. Nehat Bahtiri (Director of the Directorate for Protection and Rescue in Mitrovica), today on 16 February. He confirmed that the municipality did not take any of such actions and it is a no go for them killing stray dogs; – a measure that would be outlawed and not at all professional.

Furthermore, Mr. Nehat Bahtiri informed us that a week ago that you issued an official decision on protecting dogs from any possible killings in such situations.

We kindly ask Mr. Bahtiri to send us that decision. On the web site, we have not found it anywhere. We only found the meeting of the director Nehat Bahtiri with the Police and the Hunters Association: https://kk.rks-gov.net/mitroviceejugut/news/directory-for-protection-and-shpetim-contract-travel-to-mirefillte-te-qenve-nomadic/

In addition, we kindly ask, if you may tell us more about the presence of the hunting association in the meeting you have had. I hope the association was there as an animal protection organization and to provide suggestions of positive and legal measures on issues of potential aggressiveness of stray dogs in the municipality of Mitrovica, and we hope they were not there for any proposal that would lead to any action such as in the past in Kosovo: the mass murder of dogs, exactly by them.

The stray dogs will be treated this year too (CVNR) and the registration of owned dogs will be implemented as well (according to Administrative Instruction 02/2018), according to the meetings we had with Mr. Arbër Taraku, the ‘National Coordinator’ on stray dog ​​issues in Kosovo. The moment all dog owners register together with their dogs, the issue of stray dogs will be solved more easily and in a more efficient way, so that there are no longer abandoned dogs on the street by irresponsible owners; – who would be punished for abandoning/dumping their dogs.

In terms of news and as an example to follow, we would like to inform you that in the Municipality of Prishtina and Prizren the ‘Temporary Care Center” for all stray animals, will be built soon, foreseen by Administrative Instruction 04/2017. This center will serve at the municipal and regional level, on stray dog ​​issues, their treatment, registration, aggressive dog identification and potentially aggressive dogs alleviation. This means, soon in those municipalities, there will be a more sustainable and long-term solution for stray dogs.

In conclusion, we suggest two preventive measures to citizens against potential canine attacks:

As an initial measure, it would be good for minor children (as specified by the legislation in force for child protection): to not go out on the streets nearby garbage or even in peripheral/rural areas of the city, without supervision of parents. In every developed countries in the world, (even without stray dogs around) children are accompanied and supervised by adults, while in our country, children stay out for hours without any supervision, being at risk not only from stray dogs but also from many other dangers. Dogs in this winter season protect food much more than usual, so they can be more “aggressive” in some cases.

As a second measure, it would be ideal for people not to be so aggressive towards dogs (especially when they are puppies – the moments when they get traumas from humans). We kindly recommend, to suggest to people, to take and have some food with them for the dogs, rather than kicking them. We are proposing these based on our experiences, because as activists we also do face dogs who look more aggressive at first contact, because dogs sometimes protect their territory and food, but when they realize we have food and are not threatening them: they do not attack, but rather, associate with us, people.

We kindly ask you to invite us in your future meetings (in the same way as you did with the hunting association), because as told by z. Bahtiri, we have common goals and because in these meetings you talk about the best choices for dogs and people. We strongly believe that we can make a useful contribution.

We also look forward to the official decision of the Directorate mentioned above, and we look forward to a solid cooperation that guarantees the safety of all: humans and stray dogs.

Thank you!

Sincerely,
Animal Rights Foundation in Kosovo