BOSNIA IS ABOUT TO IMPLEMENT A KILL LAW THAT REPLICATES WHAT IS HAPPENING IN ROMANIA. TO STOP THIS LAW COMING INTO EFFECT THE NEXT TWO WEEKS ARE CRITICAL.
It is crucial that everyone, especially in Europe, lobby their embassy and MEPs and also write letters to international welfare organisations.  We need to keep the momentum, with press, meetings, lobbying and letters.

On Thursday the 3rd of October the Bosnia-Herzegovina Parliament held a debate on whether or not to change the existing animal welfare law to allow ‘euthanasia’ of dogs held in shelters for more than 14 days without adoption (see below if you think this is an effective means to curb stray populations).

Those opposing the change in the debate (local representatives from Dogs Trust, various pro-animal NGOs, ordinary citizens, veterinary experts from the Veterinary Faculty, professors, lawyers) spoke out strongly to oppose the changes. They took more room and were in all ways more articulate than those recommending the change. See this article on Klix.ba ( translated here: The problem of street dogs in Bosnia and Herzegovina: The solution is in registration, sterilization, and Punishment.)

However, the government representatives and in particular SDP representative Nermina Zaimović Uzunović (who originally presented a Bill on changes and amendments to the Animal Welfare and Protection Act at the assembly on July 6 2013) behaved as if they heard none of the facts, explanations of the cause of the problem and how to remedy the problem.

It will be hard to keep the law as is. The next 2 weeks are critical.

PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE THE NEW PETITIONS:

STOP BOSNIA FROM IMPLEMENTING KILL LAW!
And the same petition on Change.org https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/stop-bosnia-from-implementing-kill-law – it’s important to sign both petitions, thank you!

PLEASE GO TO OUR CAUSES.COM CAMPAIGN AND SHARE THE PLEDGE WITH AS MANY FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK AS YOU CAN.

There are other petitions you can sign.

What is even MORE important right now is to lobby your embassy representative in Bosnia Herzegovina and at home, and the Bosnian Embassy in your country, and your EU Member of Parliament.

Write a PERSONAL, POLITE LETTER asking them to strongly urge the Bosnia-Herzegovina government to not change the law but instead to start actually implementing it! (For a full translation of the existing law, please download this PDF.)

A DRAFT LETTER CAN BE DOWNLOADED HERE (word document). PLEASE PERSONALISE, ADD YOUR NAME AT THE BOTTOM AND THE NAME OF THE PERSON YOU ARE SENDING IT TO AT THE TOP.

Find the Bosnia-Herzegovina Embassy in your own country:
http://embassy-finder.com/bosnia-and-herzegovina_embassies

Find your Embassy in Bosnia-Herzegovina:
http://embassy.goabroad.com/embassies-in/bosnia-and-herzegovina

Find your MEP and write a personal letter to them as well.
See here to find any MEP in Europe –  ‘Euromap’.

Also on the  ACTION TO TAKE page there are further links and suggestions of particular MEPs to write to. Make sure to end your letter with your name and contact details. 

THE NEXT TWO WEEKS ARE CRITICAL.
We need to keep the momentum, with press, meetings, lobbying, letters. Please also write to any and every international animal welfare organisations you can.

A key member of the animal welfare lobby has stated:

“We need to play this smart, plan good timing for every action and save some ammunition for the days and weeks to come!”

If you are from the UK, you can mention in your letter an incident concerning SDP representative Nermina Zaimović-Uzunović, the Member of House of representatives of Parliamentary Assembly who proposed amendments to the law.  Nermina Zaimović-Uzunovi said she was disappointed the discussion focused on Dogs Trust and their project (spay-neuter of 3000 strays in June 2013 in Sarajevo) which was financed by “the Queen” – and that Dogs Trust only worked in their own interest and this interest was financed by the “Queen”. Instead of acknowledging the good work done by Dogs Trust, and at great expense, she dismisses it, and certainly does not acknowledge that if her changes come into effect, the 3000 dogs sterilised by Dogs Trust will probably be killed. What a waste!

If you have been reading this blog (see in particular this post, and this) you will know that to reverse or change the existing law (which, although not implemented, has an excellent basis for a humane management programme) for a kill law will be a disaster for a number of reasons, not least of which:

•  It will damage Bosnia-Herzegovina’s international image
•  It will fail
•  It will allow wholesale murder of stray dogs and cats

We already have documentation of how ‘shelters’ tend to ‘euthanise’ animals: by clubbing, injections of bleach and so on. So you can be sure that if the existing animal welfare law is changed, such means of ‘euthanisation’ will become commonplace.

Also, the studies on management of stray dog and cat population are unanimous in that euthanisation is NOT the most effective way to control populations. Euthanasia deals only with the symptoms and not the cause of the problem. It is expensive, inhumane and will not provide a permanent solution. Studies have shown that TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) and CNR (Catch-Neuter-Return) programmes are far more effective (and far more humane) than euthanasia to reduce the street animal population. Please read this post for more information.

Please join the Facebook Event for latest news and updates: STOP BOSNIA FROM IMPLEMENTING KILL LAW

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITIONS!

RELATED POSTS ON THIS BLOG:

• THE HORROR SHELTERS OF BOSNIA – SOMETHING MUST BE DONE!
• Bosnia Killing Dogs – No Different to Romania!
• BOSNIA! IMPLEMENT HUMANE STRAY-DOG AND CAT POPULATION CONTROL AND TREATMENT
• Dog Shelters in Bosnia: A Complex Situation
• Horror Camps for Animals in Bosnia
• Concentration Camp for Man’s Best Friend
• Concentration Camp for Man’s Best Friend PART TWO
• Mass Graves Found Near Dog “Shelter”

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DONATIONS
Funds are needed not only to help individual rescues and to help us keep safe the rescued dogs we are sponsoring but also to continue our advocacy work in Bosnia, uncovering the truth about what is happening there.

On our sister site, Animal Welfare Advocates for Bosnia, you can set up a monthly donation via PayPal, or if you want to make a one-off donation, please go to your PayPal account (or set one up, it’s very easy) and send the money to: donations@awabosnia.org as a ‘gift’. Click on the image below to be taken to PayPal’s home page.

Or if you want to use the customised PayPal form, click the link below. However, a transaction fee and a percentage (2- 5.4%) will be deducted by PayPal for any contribution made.

If you want your contribution to go to a specific dog or cause, please make a note in the PayPal comment box. If you wish to contribute via bank transfer or have other difficulties or questions, please go here.

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This site is dedicated to Vučko. Read his story and don’t let him have suffered and died in vain. Please help the stray dogs and cats in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The situation there is utterly dire, Vučko is but one amongst many horrifically abused animals. Go here to find out how to help them.  Money is needed for food, medicine and foster housing. Even just one dollar or one euro will help.