Allocation of land for building shelter for stray dogs is put off

The Chisinau Municipal Council forwarded for re-examination a decision draft regarding the allocation of land, covering an area of 60 sq. m located on Doina Street, to “Shelter Patrupedul” Public Association. The association was to build a shelter for stray dogs in Chisinau. Municipal councillors have justified this postponement saying that the allocation of land near the “St. Lazar” Cemetery on Doina Street was not debated within committees. They have welcomed the idea to build a shelter for vagrant dogs, but stated it is not clear on whose money it will be built. Premier Vasile Ursu explained that the association only seeks for the land, while the shelter is to be built using foreign funds of the Association. Ursu said that there are five associations that protect homeless animals in the capital and want to build a shelter for them. In addition, communist councillor Grigore Mara proposed in this regard to announce an auction for the best bid, while the respective associations are to compulsory specify the capacity of the future shelter and the deadline it will be built. Independent councillor Ion Mamaliga proposed to forward the project for re-examination, also specifying that the zone in which the shelter will be built must not be near the cemetery. Mamaliga was backed by the AMN councillor Oleg Cernei, who suggested that the Architecture and Land Relations Division should identify the territory. Earlier, Vasile Ursu told Info-Prim Neo that, as long the land is not assigned and the shelter built, the local authorities will continue catching and sterilizing stray dogs, as they bit about 2,000 persons last year only. At present, stray dogs are being sterilized in Ciorescu suburban village. According to estimates, the number of homeless dogs in the municipality amount to about 20,000.