Stray dogs can now be put down

The Chamber of Deputies adopted on Tuesday the stray dog bill, according to which, dogs can be put down after the local authorities consult the citizens through public polls and meetings.

The Chamber plenum passed the bill, although social democrat Aura Vasilache requested that the bill should be sent back to the Administration Committee proving that there were 57 other Parliament members who had signed for it.

The decision was taken with 168 votes in favour, 111 votes against and 14 abstentions.

According to the report issued by the Administration Committee on modifying and updating the OUG 155/2001 related to the adoption of the programme for managing the stray dog population, killing dogs will be possible after the local authorities consult the citizens through public polls and meetings.

Local councils together with the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest must appoint in 60 days since the bill has been adopted specialised service to deal with the stray dogs’ inventory.

Moreover, local councils must set up public animal shelters and they must finance these shelters with their own funds.

Severely ill dogs will be killed within three working days

The dogs will be kept for a period of 30 days in shelters set up by councils, except those dogs claimed by their owners.

“If the dogs are neither claimed nor adopted after the 30-day period, they can be kept in shelters, taken back to where they had been found, killed or a combination of all these possibilities, according to the decisions made by the local councils, respectively the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest after consulting the citizens in the administrative area”, the bill says.

The owners will have to bear the charges decided by the local councils.

The unclaimed dogs can be adopted within seven days by natural persons, legal persons or by the adopting centres set up by the animal rights organisations.

Dogs that are younger than five months will be kept in shelters until they are claimed or adopted, but not more than 12 months.

The bill also provides that those dogs which are extremely ill, cureless or aggressive and whose owners cannot be found should be killed after three working days.

The Chamber of Deputies is the decision-making body in in charge of this bill, which was adopted by the Senate as well in 2007.

The bill is to be sent to President Traian Basescu in order to be promulgated.

Translated by: Angelica Ţăpoca
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University