Yahoo – AFP,
Jan 11, 2018
Moscow (AFP) - Stray dogs are being killed in Russian cities set to host the 2018 World Cup as authorities follow orders to get thousands of feral animals under control, Russian MPs claimed Thursday.
The World Cup will be held in 11 Russian cities this summer, from the enclave of Kaliningrad in the West to Yekaterinburg in the East (AFP Photo/Mladen ANTONOV) |
Moscow (AFP) - Stray dogs are being killed in Russian cities set to host the 2018 World Cup as authorities follow orders to get thousands of feral animals under control, Russian MPs claimed Thursday.
"We
have received many appeals from animal rights activists and just caring
citizens saying mass shooting and euthanasia of stray animals is taking place
in a number of World Cup-host cities," the head of the Russian lower
house's environmental protection committee Vladimir Burmatov told Parlamentskaya
Gazeta newspaper.
Packs of
stray dogs are a common sight in Russian cities, fuelled by public reluctance
to sterilise pets, and some can be aggressive or beg for food.
Last month
first deputy prime minister Vitaly Mutko estimated there are some two million
stray animals in the host cities and urged them to solve the problem humanely.
Burmatov
said his committee had sent an official letter to sports minister Pavel
Kolobkov warning of "mass destruction of homeless animals" in host
cities, and asking him to ask the regional authorities to use "humane
methods without causing death or mutilating or injuring the animals."
Burmatov
called for stray dogs to be placed in temporary holding centres and sterilised,
saying this would be no more costly than killing them and would improve
Russia's image.
"These
troubling signals must stop, our country's reputation is at stake. Because
we're not savages carrying out mass killings of animals on the streets,
throwing their bloodied bodies into vans and driving them round the city.
"For
the same money you can easily carry out catching, vaccination and sterilisation
and accommodating the animals in holding centres," Burmatov said.
In response
to the letter sports minister Kolobkov said he had told the host cities to use
humane methods in order to avoid a negative public reaction, Parlamentskaya
Gazeta newspaper reported.
The World
Cup will be held in 11 Russian cities this summer, from the enclave of
Kaliningrad in the West to Yekaterinburg in the East.
Outcry over alleged mass killing of stray dogs in Russia's World Cup host citieshttps://t.co/hrXtrJRstp pic.twitter.com/Y7KhMMzZsI— AFP news agency (@AFP) January 11, 2018
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