TAKE ACTION: A Brutality on Animals that Must Stop

July 15, 2005

MORE INFO: http://www.phpbbforfree.com/forums/infonature-post-533.html#533

A Brutality that Must Stop

during the war in Bosnia in the 1990s, each side accused the other of “acting like animals.” Sure, the barbarity factor was horrific .But people weren’t acting like animals. More accurately, they were behaving like humans. The war in the Balkans has been over for a decade. Most of the violence between ethnic groups has stopped. But now it seems to be turning on other species – especially homeless pets. Alarming reports have been filtering in from citizens and tourists alike who have been witnessing the brutal massacre of dogs and cats around the country. Even obviously well-cared-for pets who venture onto the streets have been at the mercy of the extermination campaign. In large cities like Belgrade, there have been mass poisonings. In other towns, like the winter tourist resort of Zlatibor, the mayor issues hunting permits that allow people to shoot dogs on sight – often right in front of vacationing tourists and children. (And before anyone writes off Serbians as totally uncivilized “and quite different from us,” bear in mind that a similar proposal to shoot feral cats on sight was on its way to become law in Wisconsin until the governor stepped in to rule it out of bounds, and two states actually have similar laws on their books.) Brave souls in Serbia who try to step in and save animals that they see being hunted have found themselves facing retribution themselves. There have even been reports of private humane groups participating in the destruction. Serbia faces a very real problem of stray animals. During the war, when pets weren’t allowed into human shelters, some 20,000 were pushed onto the streets. And the population kept growing from there. There are few animal protection laws on the books, and those that do exist are routinely ignored. Still, hope is on the horizon. As reports filter out to the larger world, international attention is increasingly being turned on Serbia. Former screen siren and longtime animal activist Brigitte Bardot has appealed to Serbian President Boris Tadic to stop what she described as the “brutal cleansing” of stray animals. And her Brigitte Bardot Foundation, working with another group, Respectons, has created a new shelter for dogs. The plan is for them to be spayed or neutered and to receive veterinary care before being set free in a refuge managed by a local association, Oaza. Operating in Belgrade, the group is taking in animals that are being rounded up by the municipal government and saving them from being killed. As with many start-up rescue efforts, it’s a small step – but a lucky one for the animals who make their way there.

http://www.bestfriends.org/allthegoodnews/magazine/bfmjul05pdf.pdf

Write to the Serbian authorities asking that the brutal treatment and extermination of animals be stopped.

E-mails can be sent to Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica at Office of Prime Minister VOJISLAV KOSTUNICA

predsednikvladesrbije; to the Minister of Agriculture at office.yu ; to the Minister of Science & the Environment at info.yu ; and to the Embassy of Serbia and Montenegro in Washington, D.C. at ambassador.

A barefoot man carries a dog during a flood at the village of Jasa Tomic, near Belgrade, Serbia, in April AP Photo / Srdjan Ilic

ALSO

Please write a letter of protest to the Serbian Embassy in your county

SERBIAN EMBASSIES WORLDWIDE