A 43-year-old woman died on Saturday after being attacked by a pack of dogs while jogging in the Lacul Morii area of ​​Bucharest. This is not the first time this has happened in Bucharest. In 2013, Jonuc Angel, a four-year-old child, died after being attacked by Maidan dogs on private land in Tay Park, and in 2006, a Japanese citizen lost his life after being attacked by Maidan dogs right outside the Romanian government. . Thousands of Maidans were euthanized during the tenure of mayors Sorin Oprescu and Traian Basescu, but the problem soon returned. Why can’t the Bucharest administration get rid of stray dogs and why do they end up killing people?

Who takes care of stray dogs in Bucharest and what does he do with them?

The institution responsible for the management of stray dogs in Bucharest is the City Hall through the Office for the Supervision and Protection of Animals. Thus, the responsibility rests with Mayor Nikushore Dana and ASPA management – Giorgianna Constantini Preda (General Manager) and Catalina Trenescu (Deputy General Manager). In February 2021, Nikusor Dan delegated responsibilities for ASPA to City Manager Diana Punge, who is the person from City Hall who oversees the agency’s operations.

Last year, ASPA had about 17.8 million lei and about 60 employees. ASPA employs 7 teams of 2-3 people each to catch dogs. In 2022, approximately 1,500 stray dogs were captured, ASPA representatives recently informed HotNews.ro.

Captured dogs are delivered to three shelters of the municipality. Since 2017, dogs are no longer euthanized, and those caught are given up for adoption.

Shelters of the municipality, full

According to HotNews.ro sources, these three shelters are designed for 1,200 places. We also applied for information about the capacity of the shelters to the capital’s mayor’s office, but by the time of publishing the material we had not received it.

At the end of December 2022, there were 1,400 dogs in the municipality’s shelters, after 1,200 were given up for adoption. As of 2021, 1,228 dogs remained in ASPA shelters, according to last year’s activity report.

The figures clearly show that the capacity of the municipality’s shelters is at its limit.

In the public space, they began to accuse that the representatives of the capital city hall even asked the breeders to stop catching dogs, because there are no more places in the shelters.

• “I am leaving the report I sent two months ago to the police to report a breach of ASPA that they have stopped taking dogs because the shelters where they keep dogs at our expense have been full for years!!
• Just this week they bragged on the ASPA page that they had kept a dog in a public shelter for 6 years! With our money, taking into account the fact that Mayor Nikušor Dan canceled assistance to mothers, children, and the disabled!” Ana Măiță, president of the Initiative for Civic Responsibility association, wrote on her Facebook page.

Representatives of the capital’s mayor’s office deny this information and say that dogs are captured every day and would even intensify the capture, and there would still be free places in shelters.

• “There was never any order, verbal or written, from State Administrator Diana Pung or ASPA management for the dogs to stop catching dogs.
• There are reports that every day homeless dogs were picked up and taken to the shelter. The management of ASPA, together with the head of the city council, took measures to intensify the activity of catching and collecting stray dogs from the streets, additional equipment for catching is being purchased,” the press service of the capital city hall informed HotNews.ro.

As a guide, we looked at ASPA’s activities in 2021. According to the activity report on the site, the situation is as follows:

• in 2021, ASPA received 1,051 reports from citizens regarding homeless dogs;
• 2,863 dogs entered ASPA shelters through capture and surrender;
• 2023 adopted dogs;
• at the end of 2021, 1,228 dogs remained in shelters.

In 2020, 2,146 dogs were captured, about 1,960 were given up for adoption, and at the end of the year, 958 dogs remained in shelters.

In 2019, 2,633 dogs were caught, of which 2,096 were adopted and 122 were declared. At the end of the year, there were still about 800 dogs in ASPA shelters.

Thus, between 2019 and 2021, more dogs were caught each year than in 2022.

As for ASPA’s budget, that’s how it is. In 2017, the budget was 8.4 million, in 2018 – 16 million lei, in 2019 – 22.8 million lei, in 2020 – 17.6 million lei, in 2021 – 14.4 million lei, in 2022 – 17, 8 million lei.

Where dogs appear in public

In addition to the problem of places in shelters and the capture of dogs, the main problem is their source, and the authorities have been unable to find a solution for years.

One of the main sources is owner dogs that are not spayed, breed and have puppies left on abandoned or public land. There is also the situation, often reported by ASPA, where own dogs are let out of yards and onto public land. When the Hingers try to catch them, they hide in yards where ASPA no longer has authority.

According to GEO 155/2001 on the approval of the program for the treatment of stray dogs, the owners of dogs of ordinary or mixed breeds are obliged to sterilize them. Failure to comply with this legal provision is a violation and is punishable by a fine of 5,000 to 10,000 lei.

According to the latest amendments to the Law 205/2004 on the protection of animals, leaving them in public access is punishable by a fine of 3,000 to 12,000 lei.

In 2013, after dogs killed a 4-year-old boy, the Government issued Stray Dog Regulations requiring owners of mixed-breed or mixed-breed dogs to neuter, chip and register their dogs. in the Register of dogs with owners. This is done by a veterinarian. After December 31, 2014, it is prohibited to own unidentified and unregistered dogs.

Owners of dogs of ordinary breeds or mixed breeds born after January 1, 2015 are obliged to sterilize puppies in the following way:

• females aged 4-6 months;
• males aged 6-8 months.

If this happened, firstly, animals would stop breeding out of control, puppies would no longer be abandoned, and owners who allow dogs to roam the streets could be punished if the dog is found on public land. But the law is not followed.

ASPA notes that in 2021, it ran an awareness campaign about the responsibilities of dog and cat owners as part of the free neutering program, and of the 4,000 households visited, only 35% found neutered and microchipped dogs.

• “We managed to cover 15 residential neighborhoods on the outskirts of the capital, including Pantelimon, Aparatorii Patriei, Ferentari, Rahova, Ghencea and Colentina.
• We discussed with fellow owners the importance and obligation of microchipping, RECS registration and sterilization of regular breed dogs.
• According to the results of these visits, it turned out that only 35% of the dogs living in these buildings were sterilized and microchipped,” says the report on the institution’s activities for 2021.

However, ASPA has no legal leverage to verify that dogs are spayed and microchipped.

• “Control over the application of these methodological norms is carried out by the National Administration of Veterinary Medicine and Food Safety through competent bodies in cooperation with representatives of public organizations for animal protection.
• In order to monitor compliance with the provisions of these methodological norms, mixed control groups may be created, which are formed by authorized persons in accordance with their responsibilities of the State Health Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. “, the documents say. implementation of the Law on the Treatment of Stray Dogs.

In a response sent in 2016 by the ANSVSA to a request from HotNews.ro, inspectors said they cannot enter people’s yards and homes to check whether animals are sterilized or not, and they cannot issue fines, only warnings.

Fines are imposed by the local police of Bucharest. Between April and July 2022, 48 people were fined for failing to sterilize and microchip quadrupeds, according to GEO no. 155/2001 on the approval of the program for the management of stray dogs.

Entrepreneurs are prohibited from entering private property

Another problem is related to the access of hinges to the private domain. Basically ASPA can only catch dogs if they are on public land.

If it enters the private domain, the local police or national police must also intervene.

The situation became known at the end of last year, when TVR TV presenter Dorina Florea was attacked by a pack of dogs. Timisoara from the capital. ASPA officials said at the time that they tried to catch the dogs every day, but were unsuccessful because the animals only come out at night, when they can’t be tranquilized. guns, and during the day the dogs retreat to private areas where the establishment has no authority. ASPA accused the Sector 6 local police of failing to support them, and Mayor Ciprian Chuku accused ASPA of saying “it’s an inefficient disaster”.

In practice, the division of powers between several institutions only reduces responsibility and allows the blame to be shifted if something happens.

Coordination between all these institutions and establishing clear tasks for each can be the beginning of solving the problem.

Dogs are not detained at the administrative border

Another problem is that although Bucharest and Ilfov are united, the problem of Maidan dogs is not solved comprehensively. Thus, dogs from neighboring settlements arrive in Bucharest, given that not all settlements in Ilfovo have homeless management services and the ability to properly address the problem.

The problem is managed by mayors, everyone has their own plan. There are 32 communes and 8 cities in Ilfov.

How certain settlements in Ilfov deal with the problem of stray dogs attracted the attention of the media in early 2020 in connection with the death of journalist Cristina Shopescu. In a press release published in January 2020, the Federation for the Protection of Animals and the Environment – Romania reported on the contract for the management of stray dogs between Tunari Local Council and ASPA Ivets and how this company picked up several belonging to Cristina Shopescu and her had to drive hundreds of kilometers to get them and never found any.

In conclusion, we can say that revision of the legislation and adaptation to reality could ensure that such tragedies do not recur.

How many people were killed by dogs in Bucharest

In 2006, a Japanese citizen was killed near the government of Romania by a group of Maidan protesters.

In 2013, representatives of the capital’s mayor’s office estimated that there are about 65,000 maidans in the city.

As a result of a tragic incident in which a 4-year-old child died after being attacked by dogs, a law came into force in October 2013 that allowed the euthanasia of dogs that had been in municipal shelters for more than 14 days. . In February 2014, the capital city hall began euthanizing animals that were not adopted.

According to data provided at the beginning of 2016 by the Metropolitan City Hall upon request by HotNews.ro, between 2013 and 2016, 32,933 stray dogs were caught on the streets of the capital, 16,103 were adopted, and 13,187 were euthanized. Euthanasia of Maidan residents began after the death of a 4-year-old boy, Ionuts, who was bitten by dogs.

The decision to euthanize the dogs drew fierce criticism in the public space, citing the example of cities that have solved the problem with sterilization and adoption.

Since 2017, ASPA has changed its approach, in the context of which the number of maidans has also significantly decreased, and has focused on adoption and sterilization.