Stray dogs may be taken away from “Casa Catarinei” shelter

About 200 stray dogs held at the animal shelter “Casa Catarinei” that is based in Bacioi, Chisinau municipality, risk being taken away under a court decision. Members of the animal protection nongovernmental organization “Alga” called upon the authorities to intervene and prevent such an act, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a news conference on December 19, the organization’s head Valentina Dudnic said that persons living near the shelter complained to court about the noise there. Recently, the Botanica district court decided that the stray dogs must be taken away within 30 days. “The dogs may find themselves again in the street,” she stated. Under the court decision, the dogs must be taken away by January 14. There is no place yet to which the dogs can be taken. Therefore, the NGO will ask the Chisinau Court of Appeals to give them another half a year as they hope that the authorities will allocate a plot of land on which a new shelter will be erected. The Chisinau Municipal Council allotted a plot on Balcani St, but the authorities do not have money to start the construction works. Valentina Dudnic said that if the authorities offer this plot to “Alga”, they will build a shelter themselves. “We call on President Nicolae Timofti and Mayor of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca to become involved. There are many problems and there will always be problems, but this issue should also be addressed,” she said. NGO member Natalia Tofan said that the problem of stray dogs is dealt with by ordinary people, but this is also the problem of the authorities that should become engaged to help the people. Nicolai Parcevschii, a member of the Independent Union of Officers in Reserve, said that the Union decided to support “Alga” because the army and the animals, especially the dogs, are connected by a tradition of hundreds of years, when the dogs saved the people on the battlefield. He voiced hope that the authorities will lend a hand.