The following is a translation of the article published yesterday on Tacno.net: Shelter dogs in Prijedor
“Here is one of many similar – or exactly the same! -stories about the sad life of shelter animals and the negligence of authorities.
The only shelter for stray animals in Prijedor area is located on Kurevo Hill, on the local landfill, eight kilometres away from Prijedor. The shelter opened in 2009.
According to official information, since then, for four years, they have killed 2000 dogs.
“In spite of many organizations for animal rights and animal welfare repeatedly stating publicly the horrible conditions in Prijedor dog “shelter“, the situation is unchanged and has remained the same for years.
“When you visit the shelter, it’s not unusual to see dogs eating dead dogs, or to see dogs starving, freezing or dehydrated,“ said our interviewee who wants to stay anonymous for their safety.
For the shelter’s maintenance Prijedor municipality allocates 108 000 KM (about 55,000 Euros). If that money actually is used for the dogs is still under question. Our interviewee, harshly judged the authorities who, in her own words, “treat dogs extremely cruelly and inhumanely.”
“I was the witness when dog catchers from Komunalne Usluge company caught a dog with a gripper and, while the dog still had that cable around its neck, the worker threw the dog into the trunk. The dog’s neck had been broken and everything happened in front of children. Can you even imagine how many similar cases happened that no one witnessed? For animal abuse, no one is held responsible and especially the authorities are not held responsible,” claimed our interviewee.
Locals say that dog catchers mainly catch dogs early in the morning. For the constant problem of a large number of stray dogs on the streets, locals blame the people from the abroad (local people who work abroad and come home for holidays) who seasonally “adopt” dogs, and later leave them on the street.
Another major problem are hunters who experiment with inbreeding hunting dogs, as well as combinations of different breeds of working dogs. All unwanted puppies are left on the street. Also, their own dogs are usually free to walk around on street and breed with strays.
“In some parts of the municipality towards Mount Kozara there are packs of wild dogs that kill sheep and owner’s dogs in the yard. When the dogs wander into the hunt zone, hunters just kill them all. On the other hand, there are places where such dog packs are far away from hunting area and shelter workers should act to catch these dogs as a priority. However, they claim that they cannot do anything with these dogs because they are neither equipped nor trained to catch them. There is no need to mention what problem they represent because nothing is being done to control the population of dogs in general.
The streets are still full of abandoned and abused animals, and for the four years of the shelter’s existence and over 2,000 dead dogs later, the problem is still there. Nothing is achieved by killing, ” says our interviewee.
The Law on the Protection and Welfare of Animals has provided measures to control the population of stray animals and to prevent irresponsible ownership in the Prijedor region, as in many other parts of B&H, but nothing has been done about it. Spay and neuter programs don’t exist, there is no register of ownership of dogs and cats. Irresponsible ownership is not prevented, nor are there any training programs on the need for humane treatment of animals.
Zoran Bulić, the manager of the working unit “Deponija”, who is also in charge of the dogs’ shelter, told us during a phone conversation, that, due to bad experience with the media, he did not want to give any statements via telephone. He asked us to deliver the questions to him in writing, but even after we have delivered inquiries in writing Mr. Bulić failed to respond.”
The photo above was taken in January 2012. It was taken by a man from Ljubija town (Prijedor Municipality) who wanted to drop off puppies at the shelter that he found near his home. When he arrived at the shelter he saw that dogs inside the shelter were eating a dead dog. He took pictures and returned home with the puppies that his wife took care of and found homes for throughout 2012.
The following photographs were taken at the ‘shelter’ 2011:
In six days Bosnia-Herzegovina Parliament will vote on changing the Animal Welfare Act. If these changes are implemented, it will not only be ineffective in dealing with the stray dog problem but will mean untold suffering for thousands of strays. Please read the posts listed below especially BOSNIA ABOUT TO IMPLEMENT KILL LAW! where you will find details of how to help stop changes to the law. We need your help URGENTLY.
Please join the Facebook Event for latest news and updates: STOP BOSNIA FROM IMPLEMENTING KILL LAW
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RELATED POSTS ON THIS BLOG:
- KILL-LAW DEBATE IN BOSNIA
- BOSNIA ABOUT TO IMPLEMENT KILL LAW!
- 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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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 . Click on the image below to be taken to PayPal’s home page.
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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.
IN MEMORY OF VUČKO 
IFAW representatives visited this shelter back in January 2012 and published this description :
When we visited the shelter, there were 78 dogs and 15 puppies in a space that would best suit half that many at the very most.
When we drove up to the shelter and got out of the car, the dogs crushed against the fence to get closer to us, begging for the human touch that dogs crave. There was barking from inside the enclosure but there was also barking in the distance from a group of dogs hiding in the trees on the steep hill across the garbage dump. We walked up to the fence line and the dogs shifted, tails wagging, eyes pleading, bodies pushing against each other to reach us. I stuck my finger through the fence and rubbed the noses of the skinny, shivering dogs I could reach. Along the side of the shelter, were other fenced enclosures with bigger, shepherd type dogs and one young puppy trying to wedge his way in, maybe to see his mother. At the back corner were three dogs who stayed lying against each other and who didn’t try to get to us for attention. Another dog was standing facing into the other corner and when he turned to us, we could see that his eyes were white and seemed sightless.
link to full article:
http://www.ifaw.org/united-states/news/best-intentions-lead-crowded-shelter-bosnia
Thanks so much – may I add this to the post?
It’s a public article on IFAW.org site and as you can see on the top of the article page IFAW encourages visitors to share that article on Facebook, Twitter and generally anywhere else. Hope this helps…
Reblogged this on Sherlockian's Blog.
Shocking and heartbreaking.
Reblogged this on Wolf Is My Soul and commented:
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.
this is so sad, so fixable by fixing the males, spaying females. and I HATE to say it but if there are not ANY people whom care enough to take care of their own dogs, let alone people to adopt AND THEN care for the dogs, euthanasia seems the kindest thing to do to keep the ‘shelter’ dogs from starving or dying worse deaths. I LOVE DOGS, HAVE 2, BUT WE CANT LET THEM SUFFER FOR THE SAKE OF MAKING OURSELVES FEEL BETTER BY TRYING TO RESCUE AND HAVE A HEALTHY UNWANTED DOG WAITING FOR NO ONE.