19 July 2006

BELGRADE - Belgrade authorities have set aside 5.2 million dinars (62,000 euros) for massive sterilization of abandoned dogs at the shelter for dogs and cats in Ovca, near the Serbian capital.

Unwanted and unsterilized stray dogs and cats are one of Belgrade’s biggest problems.

The city of Belgrade has assigned the funds to the Veterinary Station „Belgrade”, for the project „Plan for massive sterilization of abandoned dogs in multipurpose objects of the Shelter for dogs and cats" in Ovca.

– The sterilization of 250 dogs per month will begin on September 1st 2006. About 1000 dogs will be sterilized this year, and the same dynamics will be repeated the following year, depending on the situation in city streets. Since, in the meantime, the Regulation on labeling and tracking of dogs is passed and started being enforced, we hope that the number of stray dogs in the streets of Belgrade will diminish – says Elizabet Paunovic, Belgrade’s Deputy Secretary for Environmental Protection.

The Belgrade-based non-governmental Organization for Respect and Care of Animals – ORCA expressed satisfaction with decision of the Belgrade authorities.

Within the effort to control the number of stray dogs and cats in a humane way, according to the procedures of the World Health Organization and the World Organization for Animal Protection, the city of Belgrade has adopted the Strategy to solve the problem of stray dogs within city limits. The strategy states that sterilization is the best way to successfully perform a humane regulation of the population of dogs and cats, and thus keep their number under control.

Source: EkoForum