Roundtable with Animal Protectors in Lozova

On January 16, 2018, a roundtable meeting on stray animal population control was held in the city of Lozova, Kharkiv Oblast.

The event was attended by municipal workers, representatives of the public organization “We Have the Right-2,” Mayor Serhiy Zelenskyi, AZOU Vice President Maryna Surkova, and other specialists.

A previous agreement had established the use of the humane TNVR method (trap-neuter-vaccinate-return), but in 2017 the city signed a contract for the irreversible capture and killing of animals with a private entrepreneur. Under this contract, 32 animals were caught, most of which were euthanized.

In contrast, animal protection activists used city funds to sterilize 72 stray dogs and vaccinate them against rabies. Speakers emphasized that killing several dozen animals does not solve the problem when there are 300 stray dogs in the city.

The meeting concluded with an agreement to stop procuring animal capture and killing services. The mayor authorized the allocation of 40,000 hryvnias from the municipal improvement program budget specifically for dog sterilization.