Stray dogs shall be caught, killed, flayed... These instructions are contained in the only valid document that was approved by the Ministry of Ecology in 2001. “It is an inhuman decision that the “Autosalubritate” Division does not obey. The dogs are caught, sterilized and freed. Only the sick dogs are euthanized,” the deputy mayor of Chisinau Vlad Cotet said at the last meeting of the Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC). The official informed the councilors that the problem of stray dogs became more serious. All the earlier projects have failed, while the seven teams of “Autosalubritate” cannot cope with the problem. Vlad Cotet proposed creating an independent body that would deal with the given issue. “A person from Beriozchi village of Anenii Noi district offered us his farm, which was earlier a cattle farm, to set up an asylum for dogs. The CMC can allocate money for repairing the farm and maintaining the dogs. The sterilization costs would be covered by the Representative Office in Romania of the Austrian foundation Vier Pfoten, whose specialists are ready to come to Chisinau from July 15,” the deputy mayor said. Councilor Oleg Onishchenko submitted another proposal. He urged the councilors to vote for the allocation of money for neutering stray dogs to the Union of Kinologists of Moldova. “Why should the Romanians come to sterilize our dogs? We have enough NGOs in Moldova that can do this,” Onishchenko stressed, saying that about 300,000 lei will be needed for the purpose. The councilors made no decision. The issue could be discussed on Thursday, when the Council’s meeting will continue. The Romanian experts of Vier Pfoten who sterilized about 30 stray dogs in Chisinau before Easter could not return to Moldova owing to the visa regime imposed by the Moldovan authorities on Romanian travelers. The team planned to neuter by 35 dogs a day during two months. The project was financed from European funds. A female dog is sterilized at a cost of 200 lei, while a male dog – of 150 lei. Euthanasia costs 60 lei per dog.