The sterilization campaign for homeless dogs in Chisinau has been postponed until August 1. Deputy Mayor Nistor Grozavu has told Info-Prim Neo the decision was made to allow time for sanitizing the places were the procedure will take place. The suspension moved the end of the campaign from late September to December 31. An average of five dogs will be sterilized each week. Initially, only female dogs will be spayed. After sterilization, these will be released at the places where they were caught. The dogs will also get shots against rabies. The vaccine will be provided by the State Veterinary Service. Nistor Grozavu has said that the sterilization of dogs will be mainly done by the Moldo-German animal rights organization “Laika”, with the support of the municipal veterinarians. Asked to comment on the allegations by Valentina Dudnic, the chairperson of the Association for the defense of homeless animals in Chisinau, that the stray dogs caught for sterilization on July 15 had been killed, Nistor Grozavu stated that the information was wrong. “I went to the place together with the head of Motorsanitation, Tudor Maniv, and with councilor Oleg Cernei and saw nothing inside the compound that could arouse suspicion”, the deputy mayor remarked. “This is just money-laundering. Nothing good will come out of this campaign”, Valentina Dudnic told Info-Prim Neo. She maintained that the city had 15,000 stray dogs and not 30,000 as the municipality stated. The sterilization of one dog costs roughly 300 lei. The municipality promised to cover a third of the costs, but no formal warrant has been granted by the City Council yet.