The court overturned the act on the lifelong keeping of dogs in shelters in Buryatia

The owners of Buryat animal shelters, Kommersant has found out, declare their refusal to comply with the court decision, which previously canceled the decree of the head of Buryatia on the treatment of stray animals. In January 2022, Alexey Tsydenov obliged shelters to keep large dogs (above 25 cm at the withers) for life. However, at the end of last week, the appellate court, considering the claim of animal rights activists, considered that the head of the republic did not have the authority to do so. The regional government stated that more than 4 thousand large dogs will have to be released onto the streets of Ulan-Ude alone at once. However, shelter owners are not yet going to do this, explaining the refusal by concern for the safety of citizens and the dogs themselves.

At the end of last week, the Fifth Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction in Novosibirsk decided to cancel the decree of the head of Buryatia, Alexey Tsydenov, dated January 24, 2022, “On establishing a ban on the return of animals without owners to their former habitats.” According to the decree, large and dangerous dogs caught on the streets must be kept in shelters for life. These included individuals larger than 25 cm at the withers, as well as animals of fighting breeds, including mixed breeds. “A dog can behave calmly, but in our conditions of winter, frost, lack of food supply, any dog ​​becomes aggressive,” explained Mr. Tsydenov. “Taking into account the fact that stray dogs pose a real threat to people, and people are more expensive than dogs, it is accepted such a decision.”

A year later, a group of animal rights activists from Buryatia went to court demanding that this regulation be repealed. The Supreme Court of Buryatia partially satisfied the claim; the decision was appealed by the administration. The appellate court decided to overturn the decree.

“The basis is the lack of authority of the head of the republic at that time to adopt this normative act, as well as a number of other reasons,” explained the main motive of the statement of claim by representatives of the human rights organization “Egorov and Partners,” which provided legal support for the process. — A representative of the prosecutor’s office who participated in the process , also insisted on the repeal of the normative act.”

At the same time, they urged “not to be too happy”: “We all know how the conveyor belt for the production of new laws, regulations and decrees works. Today’s meeting is only a won battle, but not a victory.”

The government of Buryatia noted that since the court decision is final and cannot be reviewed, regional authorities now do not have the right to help financially to shelters. “This will be an inappropriate use of financial resources,” noted Dmitry Kalugin, deputy head of the Veterinary Department of Buryatia. “Today the decree is no longer in effect, and we cannot keep animals in these shelters. Shelter owners are threatening to release the animals. Now there are about 3 thousand dogs in the Ananda shelter, 1.1 thousand in the TsASS shelter. That is, about 4 thousand dogs can return to their previous habitat where they were caught.”

The commentary is accompanied by statistics from the regional Rospotrebnadzor, demonstrating the “significant role of the decree” in reducing cases of dog attacks on people in the republic. In 2019, 4,134 complaints of bites were registered in Buryatia, in 2020 – 3,491 attacks. In 2022, after the decree of the head of Buryatia came into force, the number of attacks decreased to 2.5 thousand. Over the nine months of this year, 2,170 bites were recorded.

“Indeed, we have 3 thousand dogs, but we are not going to let them out into the streets even after the court’s decision,” Nargiza Muminova, manager of the Ananda shelter, told Kommersant. “We understand perfectly well that this is dangerous for both people and for the dogs themselves. We have been keeping some animals continuously for more than a year and a half; they simply have nowhere to go. In their former habitats, other flocks have already formed that will not accept them.”

At the same time, Ms. Muminova notes that “the budget of Ulan-Ude has not transferred funds for three months already, citing the exhaustion of expenses allocated for this item.”

According to her, “the authorities will be forced to return to considering the issue of allocating money to shelters,” since fines for damage caused to people who were bitten “will still be levied on official authorities.” “The situation is difficult. We have nothing to feed the dogs, but we also can’t let them go,” sums up the shelter manager.

Let us note that the animal rights activists who acted as plaintiffs in court did not want to officially comment on the process, without explaining the reasons. One of the applicants informally (asking not to mention their first and last names) explained to Kommersant: “The Veterinary Department of Buryatia is a little disingenuous in this regard. The decree will no longer apply to dogs that will be caught after the court decision comes into force.”

In the meantime, regional authorities intend to adopt a law “On establishing a procedure for carrying out activities related to the treatment of animals without owners and a list of measures when carrying out such activities on the territory of Buryatia.” Bill allows animals to be euthanized if they are not adopted by new owners within two to three months after being placed in the shelter. In addition, it is proposed to euthanize dogs in a number of other cases: incurable diseases or consequences of acute injury, diseases that threaten other animals. The list also refers to “socially dangerous” animals, that is, animals that have already bitten people. The bill will be considered on November 16; its developers refer to similar work being carried out by the authorities of the Saratov and Magadan regions.

Vlad Nikiforov, Irkutsk