The State Duma adopted a law allowing the regions not to comply with the humane treatment of stray dogs

The law, which will allow the regions to independently regulate the attitude towards stray dogs and cats, was adopted by the deputies on July 12. The initiative was introduced by a group of deputies headed by Dmitry Kobylkin, chairman of the State Duma committee on ecology, on April 12, and approved in the first reading on May 16.

Before the second reading, the committee approved the amendments on the eve of the meeting of the lower house of parliament on July 11. But the text of the changes in the Duma database appeared only at noon on July 12.

As a result of the amendments, the deputies almost completely changed the text (but not the essence) of the initiative.

The provision was removed from the bill that, by decision of the governors, the procedure for organizing events for the treatment of homeless animals can be established by the law of the subject of the Russian Federation.

It was assumed that in this case the provisions of Parts 1, 2, 5 and 6 of Art. 18 (organization of activities for the treatment of stray animals) of the federal law on the responsible treatment of animals. These provisions deal with the capture of animals and their transfer to shelters, the return of lost animals to their owners, the humane capture of homeless animals without the use of means that will lead to their death, etc.

Instead, the deputies, in fact, referred questions about the treatment of animals to the level of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. They added to the powers of regional authorities in the field of treatment of animals a clause stating that local authorities can establish the procedure for the implementation of activities for the treatment of homeless animals and determine the list of activities for such activities.

In Art. 18 of the law on the responsible treatment of animals added a rule on the priority of regional legislation.

For example, all measures for the humane treatment of homeless animals will now be carried out only unless otherwise provided by the legislative acts of the subjects. That is, if it is now forbidden to use substances that will lead to their death when trapping homeless animals, now if the regional law establishes other trapping measures, then federal trapping standards will not apply.

In addition, if now the procedure for handling stray animals is established by the authorized state authority of the subject in accordance with the instructions of the Russian government, then under the new law it will be established in accordance with government instructions, but only “unless otherwise established by the legislative acts of the subjects.”

The deputies also added new rules to the law on the responsible treatment of animals – now it is forbidden for pet dogs to walk without a leash. They can be let off the leash only in places that are allowed by local authorities for walking.

There was almost no discussion of the bill during the plenary meeting on July 12. Deputy Oleg Nilov (Fair Russia – For Truth) said that the parliamentarians were not given time to familiarize themselves with the amendments.

Nilov said that the party is opposed to the haste with the adoption of the law, since this will not solve the problem: “I doubt deeply that the problem will be solved and that we will no longer hear about these inhuman, such atrocious crimes and breeders of especially dangerous dogs, and municipal authorities, who were not given money to solve this problem, and are not given today. They are simply told: yes, take and adopt laws, and somehow resolve this problem yourself. We have been solving it for decades, we have not been able to solve it, now we are shifting it from the shoulders of the State Duma to the shoulders of legislators in the regions. That’s all, you know, just for show: they passed the law, reported, and then at least the grass does not grow.”

If this law does not specify sources of funding, then this problem will not be solved, said Anatoly Greshnevikov, another deputy from the Right Russians faction.