Please note – The EPAR letters to the OIE are still to be included.  At present they are not included in the text; we have to transfer them onto the system asap.

 

From 2005 through the rest of the decade; the issue of Serbian strays; along with my live export investigation work, was a paramount issue. SAV https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/ was getting more visitors on a daily basis; and the world was beginning to learn about the attrocities in a European nation named ‘Serbia’. My idea of trying to be a voice for the animals of Serbia; with lots of hard work and input also from Slavica, a Serbian campaigner; was starting to get the message across. https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/about-us/    There was no time for ‘wheel watching’ – but there were desks to bang !

 

Were we crazy ? – probably; Diana; a German girl and friend of mine, joined up also and together we made an effective little team. Language was a big problem, but gradually we got things sorted and with our mutual aim of wanting to help the animals, we moved on.

Fortunately, Diana was a brilliant English speaker and writer; much like Venus; and we discussed methods of promoting the Serbian strays issue. In 2008 we decided that one way to do this was to compile a report and present it to the ‘International Court of Justice for Animal Rights’ – Fondation Franz Weber; located in Montreaux 1, Switzerland.

We compiled a comprehensive report, with many photographs, providing detailed information on how Serbian stray animals were being abused.

We called it ‘The Case for Serbia’s Strays’; and you can see the front page of the report here:

 

 

 

Please note – both myself and Diana had to give our addresses and contact information; along with lots of other info specific to the report. We still do not want to show this; hence this is why only the front page is shown.

 

We worked with Slavica also; who made fantastic contributions at a time when she was having major health issues.

 

In 2009 we also produced a report for 3 EU parliamentarians -Mr Alain Hunchinson MEP; Mr David Hammerstein; and Mr Neil Parish; who were producing a written declaration at the EU on the welfare of pets and stray animals. The declaration called for harsh punishments for abandoning and mutilating both pets and Europe’s stray animals. It was hoped that this proposal of new EU wide legislation would see the EU lading thee way forward in establishing both new and more stringent animal welfare standards for both existing EU member states and also for future accession states, which would include Serbia.

 

A copy of both the front page of our report to Mr Hutchinson, along with one page from our Summary in the report are given below.

 

 

Sadly for the animals of the EU; and as we have shown many times regarding EU ignorance relating to the transport of live farm animals across the EU, there was no progress or adoption of legislation which would cover better stray animal welfare legislation in all EU member states. It is still the same today, 2020.

 

These are just 2 of the reasons why we personally hate the EU institution and target their lack of compassion whenever we have the opportunity. We undertake a lot in both time and money to present evidence and information; as do many other European welfare groups; and you simply get shot down by EU legislators who think they are more important than the issue. We all hate the EU and what it does NOT do for the welfare of animals – enough said !

 

So, now we move on back into 2020 and all the things we have outlined in our recent post https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2020/02/13/serbia-puppies-drowned-and-their-bodies-hung-from-trees-the-terrible-suffering-of-stray-animals-due-to-a-corrupt-and-illegal-regional-authority-system/

 

Here are a few videos which show the ‘shinters’ at work catching dogs at various location around Serbia. This is the main issue that is being contested in our other post, as the actions are illegal with existing Serbian animal welfare legislation. It is all outlined in the other post (link above). We also enclose a video of a recent protest (9.2.2020) which took place to protest against all the killings outlined in the other post. It is great to see many people now attending the demos, and getting information about what is happening illegally with the stray dogs. We send our support to all the protesters who have recently started to campaign against the abuse, and we are sure that the public involvement will grow and grow.

Videos still to be downloaded.

 

Public demonstration link – Serbia:

 

https://youtu.be/aCrs0dPpH1o

 

Shinter teams at work in Serbia:

 

There are tons more that we could write here about all this – a book literally of the campaign work; but we simply ask people to look at the SAV Archives which are on the left hand side of the site https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/ to read and see more of our past work.

It has not been an easy ride; and many people (including us) have been threatened in different ways for their actions in exposing the wrongdoings within Serbia – for ‘being that voice for the animals’; the very thing I set out to be when SAV was formed back in 2005 – https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/about-us/

 

 

There were threats about exposing live animal exports from Serbia; which it constantly denied – https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/2015/09/18/serbia-breaking-news-serbia-exports-live-sheep-to-israel/

An angry government (which had always denied the exports but who we proved did undertake them) then decided to try and take revenge on campaigners and animals shelters such as those run by Slavica by attempting to close them down. Like the Serbian dogs, it was a kind of ‘kill your critics’ policy by the government; they were angry at being exposed by investigations and they tried therefore to shut up all those involved with the exposes.

The good news was that they failed. All the shelters who were threatened because of being part of the ‘truth’ team continued to operate, and still do today. As the song by Depeche Mode says; “you can run but you cannot hide” – I think this is the attitude and aim of all animal campaigners; to expose the truth whatever the threats or risks. It is a kind of global animal rights attitude / philosophy brotherhood; and at WAV / SAV we are very happy to play a tiny part in that.

 

 

“you can run but you cannot hide”

 

I personally want to pay tribute to Slavica and all other animal friends in the Balkans region who despite the threats and terrible things they see and hear, have the tenacity to carry on with their so very important work by exposing the truth. Well done all of them !

 

See also from our site:

 

Macedonia – https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/category/macedonia-capital-skopje/

Bosnia and Herzegovina – https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/category/bosnia-and-herzegovina-capital-sarajevo/

Croatia – https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/category/croatia-capital-zagreb/

Romania – https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/category/romania-stray-animal-killings-2013/

Slovenia – https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/category/slovenia-capital-ljubljana/

Shnters (Dog Catchers) – https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/category/shinters-dog-catchers/

 

Some you win, some you lose – and as a whole, Serbia remains a loss for us; animals there still suffer terribly through the wrong attitudes of government and authorities; but we hope we have made a bit of a difference and helped campaigners out there to expose and shine a light on the suffering using our sites WAV and SAV. People across the world are now, thankfully aware of the wrongdoings in the Balkans states; and public opposition to the current approaches of governments and authorities there will change given time; which we hope will be sooner rather than later. They have to !

We are proud to be a small cog in the massive wheel of animal liberation and the aim of ending all global animal suffering. The fight goes on, as always !

 

For Suffering Animals;

Regards Mark

 

 

 

Puppies Drowned and Their Bodies Hung From Trees.

 

Above – the fate of the poor Serbian strays – drowned and then hung from trees !

 

We give a full and detailed overview of Serbian animal welfare legislation on our sister site – ‘Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)’. – click on: https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/about-serbian-animals/ – and so as you can also see from the ‘Archives’ on the left of the same site; we have had a lot of past experience with illegal stray animal abuse (in Serbia) in the past.

We thus (2020) invited Serbian activists to give us some updates of the current situation for stray animals (dogs but also cats) in Serbia now; so that we can publish on this site; WAV, and also SAV. And so here is the first of the reports we have from Slavica at ‘EPAR -OIPA Serbia / Alliance for Nature Protection, the rights of animals and people’.

We need to make it clear to readers that Serbia is currently not a member state of the EU, but is a ‘Candidate Country’. As such it is given EU financial support at present. But there is no EU strategy or legislation for stray animals within EU member states anyway; something which welfare groups have been pressing the EU about, with no result, for many years.

As with most issues; especially those relating to animals, the EU simply passes the buck back to individual member states, declaring that it is their individual responsibility to undertake controls. So why do EU politicians exist we ask if they just hand issues back to member states ?

Stray animals, unlike livestock which is traded and sadly transported all over the EU constantly, do not make money for the nations in which they exist; thus they are of no real concern for EU legislators who are solely financially driven. We say what a very sad situation; as to us, all animal lives matter, be they prize bulls or stray dogs struggling to survive on the streets.

Financial contributions to the OIE – or the ‘World Organisation for Animal Health’; are made by all national member states around the world; and this includes Serbia. Thus, we would expect compliance with; or very close to, OIE strategy by member states regarding strays; sadly, Serbia does NOT follow this; irrespective of what is said.

 

The OIE web site can be found at: https://www.oie.int/

Here is the link to the missions of the OIE: https://www.oie.int/about-us/our-missions/

 

We would like to draw your attention to stray dog information published by the OIE:

https://www.oie.int/index.php?id=169&L=0&htmfile=chapitre_aw_stray_dog.htm

 

Article 7.7.5 states:

 

In the development of a dog population control programme it is recommended that the authorities establish an advisory group, which should include veterinarians, experts in dog ecology, dog behaviour and zoonotic diseases, and representatives of relevant stakeholders (local authorities, human health services/authorities, environmental control services/authorities, NGOs and the public). The main purpose of this advisory group would be to analyse and quantify the problem, identify the causes, obtain public opinion on dogs and propose the most effective approaches to use in the short and long term.

Important considerations are as follows:

1. Identifying the sources of stray dogs
   1. Owned dogs that roam freely;
   2. dogs that have been abandoned by their owner, including puppies resulting from uncontrolled breeding of owned dogs;
   3. unowned dogs that reproduce successfully.

 

 

1. vaccination against rabies and other preventive measures against zoonotic diseases, as appropriate;
2. veterinary procedures (e.g. surgical procedures);

 

 

As we have always argued from our (SAV) founding in 2005; the capture and killing of stray dogs in Serbia; despite being illegal to kill health dogs; can be a very financially profitable business for some; whilst wrongfully misleading the public; tax paying citizens; that stray dog numbers are being controlled. It is called ‘corruption and deceipt’.

 

The reality is that the Serbian government and regional / local authorities do NOT want to undertake veterinary procedures as suggested in Article 7.7.5 (see above) such as sterilisations of strays, which would gradually reduce their numbers; as they (the authorities) desire a constant supply of ‘new’ stray animals to capture and kill; – thus, it is not financially profitable for them to reduce stray numbers; and thus reduce their financial gains to be made by the capture and killing of strays ! That is the reality of how the Serbian stray system works; animal abuse and suffering; leading to eventual death; solely for financial profit by those involved in the process.

 

As far as we are (still) aware, there is no ‘advisory group’ involving either the public or NGO’s in a population control programme anywhere within Serbia. In addition, the Serbian authorities; who appear to work on their own; using contractors, or ‘shinters’, have a simple policy of ‘kill and more kill’; whilst misleading the public that they have the situation under control. As such they do not follow any of the OIE suggested procedures mentioned above, such as ‘surgical procedures’ (sterilisation) in order to reduce stray animal population numbers over time. They simply continue to want an endless supply of strays; in order to kill endless numbers of strays; and make endless money from the process.

 

Read more at

 

https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/2016/03/19/serbia-mass-killing-of-stray-dogs-in-nis-serbia-a-pathetic-government-not-complying-with-the-law-inform-them-and-the-eu-now/

 

http://www.esdaw.eu/dogs—serbia.html

 

http://www.prijatelji-zivotinja.hr/index.en.php?id=388

 

https://www.foxnews.com/world/flooded-with-stray-dogs-serbia-struggles-to-cope

 

2020 – We are currently aware that 3 private shinter firms’ – companies hired by local authorities in Serbia to ‘control’ dog numbers using illegal practices which are non-compliant with existing national animal welfare legislation, include Avenija MB – they have probably have killed up to 10,000 dogs in more than 60  Serbian cities by the means of illegal contracts with various city authorities. If NGO’s and the public were represented in these OIE suggested ‘advisory groups’ throughout the country in accordance with OIE stray management guidelines; we very much doubt that such mass killings (as the 10,000) would ever be allowed to happen. We think not very much !

Also, (2020) it has been alleged that in just one day, in more than 40 cities throughout Serbia, illegal mass poisonings have been undertaken again; most probably by shinters working under the private control and public misleading of local authorities. We understand that the illegal killings may have been undertaken using the ‘Kreozan’ poison.

 

Killing with Nuvan and Kreozan poisons.  These cause death by suffocation to the animal after the following prolonged effects – headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal cramps, excessive sweating, salivation, blurred vision, tightness in the chest, weakness, muscle twitching, and confusion.  Also convulsions, severe respiratory depression, unconsciousness, and eventual death. http://www.actionagainstpoisoning.com/CRY%20FOR%20HELP/serbiaT61/crySerbiaT61.html

In this post or the other still to be written and published, you will find copies of the recent letters sent by Serbian activists to the OIE. We ask you to make of the letters to the OIE what you read – and several examples of non compliances by authorities with the current Serbian animal welfare laws are given.

Finally for this post; to become a member state of the EU. The enforcement of ‘the rule of law’ is a requirement for nations wishing to join. Serbia is NOT enforcing its own laws; and as such there is currently no reason why it should be allowed to join the EU. We think in the end the EU will conveniently ignore such things as animal welfare legislation and welcome Serbia into ‘the club’ regardless of its non compliances.

 

As for dogs hung from trees, we will be publishing a second part to this post to provide you with more about the situation in Serbia. For animals living on the streets; trying to survive at the best of times, they require initiatives that will help them; not have authorities who just want to make money by destroying them. This is currently the way in Serbia. Change will only come from within; when Serbian taxpayers recognise where their money is being wasted on a kill policy rather than a sterilisation policy to reduce numbers forever. Money that is wasted catching and killing dogs should be put into a policy of national long term sterilisation and welfare improvements for the animals – complying with the existing laws.

Changes sometimes take long times to happen; for animals in Serbia the change cannot come soon enough !

Regards Mark