Romania’s stray dogs and the constitution
The issue of Romanias community dogs has not ceased to divide Romanian society these days, since on the one hand there are those who want dogs to be euthanized straight away, while on the other side there are those who want a long-lasting solution.
Corina Cristea, 17.09.2013, 14:59
As many as 29 senators from all Romania’s’ parliamentary parties have submitted an official notification to Romania’s Constitutional Court, deeming the Parliament’s bill on stray dogs unconstitutional. As a result, the Constitutional Court on September 25th will analyze the law on stray dogs.
The Parliament’s Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this case, has voted with a vast majority in favor of the bill. We recall that recently a four-year old boy has been fatally bitten by dogs nearby one of Bucharest’s parks. The law stipulates that aggressive animals, or those that are declared fatally ill shall be euthanized straight away.
The law also grants an extension of the deadline from 7 to 14 days in the case of the dogs from a dog shelter to be claimed or adopted. If those involved fail to meet that deadline, the local authority is entitled to decide the euthanization of dogs, or it may even extend their time in the shelter, provided they have enough financial resources for the paddocks’ maintenance.
In Bucharest alone, the estimated number of stray dogs stands at 65 thousand. That is an outcome of the authorities’ lack of reaction over dozens of years. We recall that in the early 1980s Romania’s former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu ordered the demolition of a sizeable number of buildings, which is considered the starting point of the stray dogs’ plight, since in lots of neighborhoods houses were replaced by blocks of flats, which led to a growing number of stray dogs being left with no master.
Romania’s President Traian Basescu, a former mayor of Bucharest, said he would have no restraint promulgating the stray dogs’ law, in the form the Parliament had passed it. “It is just as I think things should happen. After we bring the canine population to a manageable number, we can also think of another way of dealing with the problem. But right now it is a danger for kids, for the elderly, for people in general”, President Basescu said.
Those opposing the law say they want a European solution to the problem, so that no single stray dog should be found in Romania’s streets, that can jeopardize people’s lives. At the same time, however, these people do not want Romania to be rated as a country with people with no soul. Protesters on both sides have pointed their fingers at the relevant NGOs. In recent years, those responsible with the problem of stray dogs have had hefty sums of money at their fingertips, but the results of their action in this respect are barely visible.
Meanwhile, prosecutors continue the hearings in the file that has been opened following the death of the four-year old boy. The Head of the Authority for Animals’ Monitoring and Protection, subpoenaed to the General Prosecutor’s Office announced he had increased the number of dog catchers in Bucharest. 11 crews made of at least two employees are on the ground, as compared to the number of three members of such crews so far.
