How does the Yerevan Municipality explain to its partners of European “sister” cities that stray animals in our country, particularly the dogs are not sterilized as it is accepted in the civilized world but are shooting and leaving the corps of bleeding dogs in the yard of a residential building. Animal lovers ask to the public official of the Yerevan Municipality.
Recently, at night, the hunters of the Municipality shot down the dog by the name “Boris”. “Boris” had died of the shot in the heart. This was reported by the forensic medical examination, which was told today by the “Dingo Team” NGO members at the “Noyan Tapan” press hall, who had come for a press conference with the material evidence: the photos of dead dogs and the bullets taken from the dead body. The details in the video. The Chair of the NGO, Ovsanna Hovsepyan said that the illegal slaughter of the animals and the shooting at night in the streets of Yerevan have reached their peak.
According to her, one of the reasons is the imperfection of the Law on Animal Protection. The members of the organization have turned to the police about the shootings at nights and the killing of the dog. Lawyer Heghine Khachikyan said that the police is turning a blind eye on the night shootings, and when the NGO members have asked why they do not bring the hunters of the municipality to responsibility as when shooting the dogs, it is not excluded that the bullet may reach people or kill any other pet, the police responded, “but nothing has happened, hasn’t it?” According to the lawyer, it means that our law enforcers do not perform their duties if some armed people are shooting in the streets.
In her words, when the members of the “World Association of Veterinarians” visited Armenia, there were shocked when learning that the stray dogs in our country are destroyed by shooting while these specialists stated that the stray dogs can gradually be destroyed only thru sterilization, and the use of a gun against animals is considered to be cruel action and is condemnable by the law.
The members of “Dingo” are sure that the “Unigraph X” organization, which already for 6-7 years in a row wins the competition for delivering control and sterilization to stray animals, it is beneficial that the stray animals are not eliminated so that they would receive millions of dollars every year from the state budget. The company carries out the shooting of the animals in the participation of the municipality and its specialists based on the alarm of the citizens. However, as Heghine Khachikyan says, “Unigraph X”, in such a case, should not destroy the dogs attacking people but first of all find out the reasons of why the dogs become furious and then sterilize, after which the dogs will become quite harmless and the problems of their offspring will be were solved.
NGO members assure that this organization belongs to one of the senior officials of the Yerevan Municipality and that is why another organization cannot participate in the contest and the supervisory body – the municipality – turns a blind eye on illegalities of the organization. “Instead of looking for imaginary sponsors, I will suggest for this organization to come and take part in the tender for service,”- said the Head of the Public Relations Department of the Yerevan Municipality, Arthur Gevorgyan, in an interview with Aravot.am, to whom we conveyed the accusations made by the animal-lovers.
According to A. Gevorgyan, each year an open tender is announced and so far, no organization other than “Unigraph X” had submitted an application for participation. Mr. Gevorgyan noted that neither the municipality nor the administrative regions have hunters. There is a service providing company – “Unigraph X” – which should answer all the questions. To our questions that the animal-lovers also point out that the owners of “Unigraph X” are actually senior officials of the Yerevan Municipality and this is why, they always win the tender, Arthur Gevorgyan said that no official in the staff of the Yerevan Municipality has anything to do with this organization. As to why they are shooting the dogs rather than sterilizing, Aravot.am failed to get the answer from “Unigraph X” company.
Lusine BUDAGHYAN
