The mayor of Chisinau Ion Ceban said the municipality is looking for humane solutions to the problem of stray dogs in the city. He complained that owing to the shortage of veterinarians, the sterilization process is vexing. The problem of stray dogs became topical again after a child the previous day was attacked by a pack of dogs and the incident was filmed with a mobile phone, IPN reports.

It is estimated that there are over 5,000 stray dogs in the municipality of Chisinau. The mayor said they are trying to solve this problem by humane methods.

“I proposed continuing the sterilization process, promoting the program to adopt stray dogs. The sterilization of a dog costs now 500-900 lei. At least 25 lei is spent daily on food. Furthermore, the stray dogs, even if they are neutered, behave very aggressively,” Ion Ceban stated in the program “Natalia Morari’s Politics” on Tv8 channel.

The municipal authorities earlier announced that by 150 dogs would be caught and sterilized monthly, but now the mayor says the process becomes more testing as they do not have medical personnel.

“As many as 2,500 dogs were neutered last year. The process is very difficult and we have a shortage of veterinarians as no one wants to deal with this,” stated Ion Ceban.

There are now over 800 dogs at the animal shelter of Chisinau.