Deputies of the Kazan City Duma inspected the work on catching and keeping homeless animals

They visited the OOO “VetDom” and also the dog walking area in the Gorkinsko-Ometievsky forest.

(KZN.RU, May 23). Deputies of the Kazan City Duma inspected the work on catching and keeping stray dogs in the capital of Tatarstan. During the meeting, they visited the temporary holding facility for homeless animals in the Privolzhsky district, and also inspected the area for dog walking in the Gorkinsko-Ometievsky forest.

The first object visited by the deputies was the temporary center for stray dogs, organized on the basis of the OOO “VetDom”. Since 2014, the authority to capture and maintain homeless dogs has been transferred to the municipal level. All activities are carried out in accordance with regional acts and a decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of the RT, said Andrey Kutyrev, the deputy chairman of the Committee on Housing and Communal Services. “The activity of catching and keeping animals is carried out at the expense of subsidies allocated from the budget of the RT. Today the only organization in Kazan that claims is “VetDom”, explained A. Kutyrev.

Deputy Rastam Bakirov, a member of the Kazan City Duma Public Commissions for the Health of the Citizens and the Environment, asked how many dogs are caught per year in Kazan. “In 2017, the organization caught 8126 dogs from the streets of Kazan, 10417 in 2010”, answered Aliya Garaeva, the director of the OOO “VetDom”. “After catching dogs, they are taken to a temporary center, where they are examined by veterinarians for 10 days. If the animal is completely healthy, then it is sterilized and taken back to the street. If not, the dog is sent to euthanasia. Funds are not provided for the treatment”.

In total, there are 20 enclosures and a dog walking area in the temporary center.

From the beginning of next year, the amendments to the federal legislation at the end of 2017 will come into force. According to the new requirements, it will be prohibited to let the dogs out after sterilization back to the street or put it down. “The problem of stray dogs is relevant for the whole of Russia. From January 1, 2020, it will increase many times”, said Evgeny Yashin, the head of the Kazan State Veterinary Association. “From January 1, each municipality should have either municipal or private shelters. There shouldn’t be such temporary shelters”.

“What are the first steps we should take to start solving this issue?” asked deputy Alexey Serov.

The problem is with people who are irresponsible to their pets. To solve it, it is necessary to make changes to legislation at the federal level, answered E. Yashin. “People can take a dog and throw it out after 3 months”, he said. “Therefore, we need mandatory registration and chipping of dogs, these requirements are needed in federal laws”. Mandatory registration will allow forming a single database of pets, will facilitate the search for lost pets and will provide an opportunity to track unscrupulous owners and breeders who leave their pets on the street.

The deputies also visited one of the dog walking grounds, built in the Gorkinsko-Ometievsky forest. Play zones for pets are organized, training grounds are equipped, and also dog-boxes are installed in the fenced area.

“Requirements for sites are calculated based on the available data on animal registration. But, given that people do not register their pets, we cannot always find out where there is such a need”, said A. Kutyrev.

At the end of the meeting, the deputies instructed the Executive Committee to prepare specific proposals for improving the legislative framework, as well as provide analytical information on the work in the field of supervision of homeless animals in comparison with other cities.

At present, there is a development of regulatory legal acts at the federal level regulating the scope of activities for catching and keeping homeless animals. The deputies decided to re-examine this issue in quarter 3-4 of 2019 at a joint extended meeting of three commissions with the participation of regional authorities.