Pet Suffering and Mass Slaughter in Serbia
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Mr. Boris Tadic, President of Serbia
People’s Office of the President of the Republic, Masarikova 5 / VI
11 000 Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro
Mr. Vojislav Kostunica, Prime Minister of Serbia
Belgrade, 11 Nemanjina St. (Serbia)
Web email: http://www.srbija.sr.gov.yu/vlada/kontakt.php
Office of Deputy Prime Minister
Belgrade, 11 Nemanjina St.
Dr. Dejan Krnjaic, Veterinary Director
Predrag Bubalo, Minister of Economy and Coordinator of the Ministry of
Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management
Belgrade, 22-26 Nemanjina St.
Mr. Bojan Dimitrijevic, Minister of Trade, Tourism and Services
Belgrade, 22-26 Nemanjina St.
Mr. Slobodan Jankovic, General Prosecutor Public Attorney General of Serbia
Nemanjina 22-26 - 11000 Belgrade (Serbia)
Mrs. Gordana Stojanovic Milosevic, Deputy Prosecutor General of Serbia
Mr. Smiljko Kostic, Mayor of Nis
President of the City Assembly of Ni
Ni City Hall
7. Juli Street 2, Ni 18000, Serbia and Montenegro
web email: http://www.nis.org.yu/indexe.html
SERBIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICE OF MEDIA RELATIONS
Internet Department
Belgrade, 36 Kralja Milana (Srpskih Vladara) St.
Media Relations and Foreign Media Department
Press Office, Belgrade, 11 Nemanjina St.
Dear Honorable Officials and Members of the Serbian Press:
News regarding South Serbia's mass slaughter of dogs and cats continues to
circulate the globe via Internet and press, with the present cull scheduled
on or around December 18-21 in the City of Nis.
I understand JKP Medijana, the municipal garbage service, is behind the
capture and poisoning of some 5,000 dogs at the city dump in Nis. Dogs are
to ingest T-61, a poison that paralyzes their lungs. Whether the present cull is underway or has yet to begin -- any large-scale purge of street animals is wrong. A comprehensive spay/neuter/vaccination drive to humanely control animal numbers in Serbian cities is right. Please do the right thing!
Mass eradications are not new in Serbia. Observers contend the City of
Belgrade annually exterminates tens of thousands of dogs in the region.
Garbage dumps in Zrenjanin and Novi Sad have functioned as execution sites
for strays in Belgrade. In fact, garbage collectors are paid for each animal killed. The government has done nothing to stop these bounty kills.
I call upon officials to enforce animal protection laws and ban the cruel
destruction of domesticated animals. I respectfully ask public prosecutors
to uphold the Criminal Code of Serbia, article 269, paragraph 2: "Anyone who uses cruelty towards animals or kills an animal in violation of the Law of veterinary standards must be punished for up to three years in prison."
Those who crudely poison, beat, hang, burn and shoot animals should be
arrested, prosecuted and penalized to the full extent of the law. Anything
less depicts the government's failure to fulfill legal and ethical
standards.
I urge you to seek aid from local and foreign organizations with expertise
in animal protection legislation and humane education. Rather than subsidize vulgar forms of killing, please allocate funds for affordable nationwide spay/neuter programs. I encourage you to invest in a network of municipal shelters that maintain veterinary supervision, mandatory sterilization, vaccinations, microchip identification, and responsible adoption policies.
Lastly, Serbia's welfare laws need to embody all animals, not just those
intended for human companionship. In Belgrade's private city zoo, distressed and sick animals display stereotypic pacing, head bobbing, bar biting and self-mutilation from years of confinement in shabby, cramped enclosures.
As images of animal suffering resonate around the world, people who value
sentient life will boycott Serbia as a travel destination. Personally, I
cannot visit your nation until mass killing programs are outlawed and
visible strides are made to enforce welfare laws.
Sincerely yours,
