Euthanizing dogs is not a solution, sterilization is

The town halls of Cluj county spend, annually, hundreds of thousands of lei for the euthanasia of stray dogs. The numbers are increasing year by year, although killing dogs is not a solution to reduce their numbers.

The money should be put into sterilization because, otherwise, Cluj County risks being filled with community dogs, according to representatives of the Federation for Animal Rights Transilvania.

Hundreds of thousands of lei thrown in Cluj on euthanizing dogs. Without sterilization programs, the county will be filled with quadrupeds

The irresponsibility of dog-owning citizens, non-sterilization, non-compliance with animal protection laws, and the inefficient use of public money to spay community dogs are just some of the factors that lead to local councils spending ever-increasing sums, which grow exponentially, from one year to another.

“The main cause of the large number of dogs, present in the public domain, which suffocate public and private shelters and which attract more and more money spent by municipalities for animal management, is ignorance or refusal to comply with animal protection laws.

An unsterilized dog with an owner breeds continuously and unchecked, being the source that feeds the streets with abandoned animals, which end up producing accidents and incidents for which the municipalities are responsible.

Sterilization is the only effective method to reduce the dog population, not euthanasia.

The sums spent so far by the municipalities have been allocated to euthanasia, but the problems have not been solved, on the contrary, they have multiplied”, said Ana Maria Nemeș, vice-president of the Federation for Animal Rights Transilvania.

Inefficient solution

The amounts spent by some local councils in Cluj county for euthanizing dogs are constantly increasing, clearly showing that this is not an effective solution.

Moreover, the European Convention for the protection of companion animals, signed in Strasbourg on June 23, 2003, adopted by the Chamber of Deputies, in the meeting of February 17, 2004, in art. 12 b and art. 13 the following were accepted:

• that measures be taken to reduce the number of animals by methods that do not cause avoidable pain, suffering or fear;
• reducing the unplanned reproduction of dogs and cats and encouraging their sterilization;
• encouraging people who have found a stray dog ​​or cat to report this to the competent authority;
• slaughtering animals to be allowed only under government disease control programs.

Dogs pay with their lives, citizens with hard money for the lack of effective actions

Most local governments are only interested in getting rid of dogs without caring what happens to them after capture and without accepting solutions that, in the long term, would solve their problem.

“Unfortunately, animals pay with their lives, and we, regardless of whether we represent public or private institutions or are simple citizens, pay with heavy money for the lack of effective actions so far”, Nemes specified.

From the sums presented, which are public on the SICAP website – the public procurement platform, it can be seen how more and more town halls choose to give money for the spaying of dogs without investing money in sterilization programs. Most stray dogs come precisely from these rural areas where dog owners cannot afford or are not interested in sterilizing the dogs they own.

In 2023, some town halls in Cluj county paid over 600,000 lei to “My Alba Shelter” (from Lancrăm, Alba county), and in the first four months of this year, over 500,000 lei have already been allocated for the same shelter .

Source: www.sicap.ai

The Lancram shelter

“Adăpostul Meu Alba” from Lancram is one that euthanizes dogs.

Over time, a lot has been written in the press about the way the association treats the dogs, and a lot of complaints have been made about the suffering and the conditions in which these dogs live their last days here.

The shelter does not have a web page, it does not have a Facebook page, as is normal for any shelter that gives dogs for adoption.

The dogs from Lancrăm are promoted by Florina Diana Steau from the Association “Prieteni cu labuțe” (https://www.facebook.com/horiaciprian.steau) for the purpose of adoption. Anyone who wants to help rescue dogs from the shelter, adopt or even look for a lost dog can do so by visiting the Facebook account above.

The dogs, taken to foster homes

Together with other associations from outside the country, Florina manages to save and send for adoption some of the dogs brought to euthanasia.

“Sometimes we manage to get 20 dogs out a week, but they still bring that many back. There are weeks, like this one, when we don’t manage to get anything out due to the lack of funds, places, etc.

Rescued dogs go to foster homes where they are prepared for adoption. The foster (placement) is 50 euros/dog, plus vaccines, tests,” said Steau.

Take good care in Cluj

The dogs captured within the radius of the Cluj-Napoca municipality are managed by the Center for Management of Dogs without Owners, a service of RADP, the only center in the county that does not euthanize dogs, and they take care of them as best they can until they are able to give them up for adoption.

“These stock animals deserve an extra chance over purebreds, which are sought after by everyone. These, the poor, are more afflicted.

Here at the center they are very well cared for. It’s clean, they get food, water, affection, they have everything. But if we adopt them, they have something extra and we will also have a gain”, says Dr. Mioara Macrinici, head of the center, in the article published by Cluj24.ro which can be read here.

In 5 years, the number of stray dogs could be manageable

In Cluj county there are 191,061 microchipped dogs, but the number of quadrupeds is much higher considering that, in rural areas, less than 50% of dogs are microchipped.

Of these, only 16% are sterilized, thus resulting in a number of 160,278 unsterilized dogs, of which 62,508 are unsterilized female dogs.

If, following the mating of two dogs, another 16 can result in one year, and in two years 128 dogs, with a simple calculation we can also find out how many dogs can be born, annually, in Cluj county, then we will ask ourselves where are they: in shelters, abandoned or killed on public money.

Decrease in dog breeding

“What can be seen now, in reality, are the effects of non-sterilization and violation of laws, respectively: unkempt, abandoned, killed animals, dogs attacking people, animal trafficking, overpopulation of public and private shelters, exhaustion of animal protection associations, the need to invest in animal housing infrastructures, expenses for the care of these animals, sanctions applied to citizens and euthanasia.

Only through sterilization can we reduce the number of dogs that multiply, and in no more than 5 years, if the actions are carried out simultaneously, in all town halls in the county, we will reach a manageable number of dogs”, concluded Ana Maria Nemeș, vice president of the Federation for animal rights Transylvania.

Alina Ciupei