Animal protection in general, and stray animal population control in particular, represent a big problem in Moldova, both in urban and rural areas. Moreover, our country lacks modern legislation to protect animal rights and regulate intervention methods. The findings belong to the National Environmental Center and a group of animal rights defenders, who worked together to develop draft legislation for animal protection.

Elena Culighin, president of the National Environmental Center, told a press conference that regulating stray animal population control, in terms of both animal and human welfare, is important for a number of reasons:

“While at the local level, some local councils intervened by putting in place a modicum or rules, this fails to offer a uniform approach to all local authorities as to how to manage certain situations, or allocate funds, or create special services, or set up standard-compliant shelters”.

“Considering the current context, as well as Moldova’s EU candidate status, we identified a lack of a consistent national framework on animal protection. Moreover, we found that Moldova has not ratified the European Convention for the Protection of Apt Animals. Perhaps one of the main reasons why a legislative framework for the protection of homeless animals has not yet been developed at the national level would be the failure to ratify the Convention. Our neighbors, Ukraine and Romania, ratified the Convention in 2003 and 2004, respectively”, added Elena Culighin.

In this context, one of the goals of the EU-funded “Help our little friends” Project has been to develop a draft law on animal protection. It aims to regulate the way animals are raised, kept, bred, sold and transported, as well as other procedures, including the punishment of cruelty to animals, including stray ones. The drafters, a group of animal rights defenders, say the document is comprehensive and includes aspects of veterinary medicine, hunting, fishing, as well as the welfare of animals in zoos, in sports, exhibitions or scientific experiments. Another aspect covered by the proposed legislation concerns keeping track of stray animals.