Information about spread of rabies in Moldova is false, NGO

The nongovernmental association ALGA has said the information that several persons had been bitten by rabid dogs is false and those who disseminate it pursue hidden goals, Info-Prim Neo reports. “We contacted a number of veterinarians, the virusological laboratory in Chisinau and the general veterinarian and all of them told us they identified no case of rabies. Quarantine would have been established if there had been several dozens of cases, as it is rumored,” the organization’s head Valentina Dudnic told a news conference. She believes that there may be certain pecuniary interests. “It can happen as in the case of bird flu. Money was spent, but there was no epidemic,” said Valentina Dudnic. In the same news conference, ALGA volunteer Sabina Birsan referred to a recent case that happened in Poganesti, Hancesti. Two puppies were killed because they bit a woman, as the locals said. “The puppies were stabbed with pitchforks in the presence of children,” she said. Lawyer Ion Dron, who provides legal services to ALGA, said the authorities managed to divide society into two – those who love animas, but ‘don’t care about the people’, and those who do not love animals. “They should understand that loving the animals does not mean hating the people,” said Ion Dron. The lawyer also said that the minors who see grownups killing animals will do the same. “A kind of reflex appears and when all the animals are killed, these children will start to hit the people with crowbars. In several years, we will flee Moldova not because of poverty, but because of cruelty. I do not want to go to European countries and be regarded as a person who came from the wildness,” stated Ion Dron. Volunteers of ALGA said they are in favor of the civilized resolving of the problem of stray dogs, stressing those who spread information about a possible epidemic of rabies in Moldova should be held accountable.