In Russia’s Sakha Republic, a deadly attack on stray dogs highlights a nationwide problem

Dozens of residents of a small village in Russia’s Sakha Republic (Yakutia) protested against local authorities on Wednesday after a 12-year-old girl from the area died of injuries suffered in an attack by a pack of stray dogs.

“We came here to demand at least something,” said a resident who took part in the protest told The Sibir.Realii news agency added that local mayor Stalik Deryagin “did nothing” to address residents’ repeated complaints about the packs of strays terrorizing the village.

“That is a problem [that has persisted for] several years, not months. Should we take up arms ourselves? [to shoot the animals] Now? “They’re forcing us to do this!” he said.

Wednesday’s protest did not last long as a group of about 20 police and security force officials soon arrived to disperse the crowd, eyewitnesses told Sibir.Realii.

Like other parts of Sakha and other regions of Russia, Chulman, a village of fewer than 10,000 residents about 750 kilometers south of the republic’s capital Yakutsk, has struggled with a stray dog ​​crisis for decades.

In the latest fatal incident on Monday, a girl was attacked by a pack of 10 to 15 dogs, according to eyewitnesses. Although her father and a passerby eventually rescued her, her injuries were fatal.

Chulman chief Deryagin said that at the time of the attack, more than 150 stray dogs were roaming the village during a town hall meeting that preceded news of the local girl’s death.

“We have accommodation that is almost ready [to open]…But there is no one to catch [the dogs]. There is money, but no one to do it all.” complained Deryagin.

A parent group on Thursday called at Chulman’s only school to move all classes online until “the safety of their children is ensured,” although the principal later claimed she had only received one official request from a parent, calling such calls “purely emotional.”

“People always react violently to such situations, and unfortunately they happen often in the republic, practically every year,” said Veronika Levchenkova of the Free Yakutia Foundation, the region’s largest indigenous rights and anti-war group.

“But these reactions also come in waves. This means that if there is another attack, people will be outraged on social media, calling for the killing of animals and calling on the authorities to solve the problem,” Levchenkova explained.

“However, the problem is only ever solved by shooting the animals. By next season, the dogs will reproduce again,” she added.

According to statistics cited by Levchenkova, up to 770 attacks by stray dogs were recorded in Yakutsk in the first six months of this year.

The total number of attacks in Yakutsk last year was 1,390, meaning one in every 232 residents of the city – whose total population is 323,000 – was attacked by a walker, according to the activist.

After a series of deadly attacks across Russia last year, President Vladimir Putin signed a law This gave regional governments the power to set their own rules for dealing with stray animals – including the ability to euthanize them as a form of population control.

So animal rights activists and volunteers warned that the law could lead to mass euthanasia and inhumane killing of stray animals without addressing the root causes of Russia’s stray animal problem.

The World Veterinary Association agrees that euthanasia is “not an effective control measure” for stray animal populations and should only be carried out in the absence of alternatives.

And the experiences of some European countries such as the Netherlands, the first country in the world To have removed strayshighlights the effectiveness of the CNVR (Collect, Neuter, Vaccinate and Return) program.

CNVR was too implemented conducted in several Russian regions in 2013, but was not as successful as in Europe.

Sakha was one of the 12 regions of Russia assumed a law allowing the killing of stray animals in animal shelters under Putin’s federal decree.

The Law The law, passed in June by Sakha’s Il Tumen parliament, allowed the killing of dogs deemed aggressive, terminally ill, diseases dangerous to humans or simply “undesirable,” meaning an animal could not be killed within 30 days of being placed in was able to find a permanent home in an animal shelter.

In no time celebrated The Sakha Supreme Court already ordered in September that the clause allowing the killing of “unwanted” dogs be lifted by animal rights activists, although only information about the ruling was available appeared in the local media this Friday.

“People have discussed the law, but as we see it has not solved the problem at all. “It just introduced another means of executing the animals – that’s it,” said Free Yakutia’s Levchenkova.

“Neither this law nor any other law that only addresses the symptoms will solve the problem. We need to look at the experiences of other countries that have completely solved the problem of stray dogs, adopt their practices and take action,” she added.