The Sarajevo Canton government met in assembly today and a decision was made to reactivate the dog catching service to remove the stray dogs from the streets of Sarajevo.

While this decision might on the surface seem benign, the question must be asked: what methods will be used to catch the dogs? What will be done with the stray dogs once caught? Where will these dogs be removed to? And what then will be done with them?

If you have read this blog you will know that the public shelters are entirely inhumane with documentation of dog corpses lying amongst living dogs, dogs crammed into tiny cages without food or water or veterinary care and that ‘euthanasia’ is usually undertaken by brutal means as the legal methods are too costly to perform. The decision made today will in theory be to remove dogs that are aggressive, ill or dogs too old to survive on the streets. It is the experience of the activists in Bosnia Herzegovina that these decisions are used as an excuse to kill as many strays as possible, regardless of disposition or health.

“Those dogcatchers are killers, real killers.They used to kill strays in the most horrible ways. After the Animal Protection and Welfare Act had been enacted, their activities were forbidden. Today the Government of Canton Sarajevo issued decision and ordered Ministry of physical planing and environment to form that service today. It is against our constitution.  This decision is unconstitutional and illegal since local governments must not issue decisions that are contrary to state acts. This company/service is illegal since it is a killing company and their work is forbidden,” says Dalida Kozlic L.L.B.

Dogs Trust BiH will start a mass sterilisation project on September the 15th. Another question to ask is will there will be any dogs left to sterilise?

For more details please read today’s post on Journalists for Animals: Bosnia: Sarajevo set to become the next Bucharest.

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DONATIONS

Funds are needed to help individual rescues, for spay-neuter projects, for education also to continue advocacy work in Bosnia, uncovering the truth about what is happening there.

Donations are managed by AWABosnia, an independent group of animal advocates. On their website, 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.

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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. Even just one dollar or one euro will help make a difference.