Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)

There is some very disturbing news now arriving from within Serbia.

Please refer to our recent post regarding the alleged cases of Rabies which are happening all over the country:

https://serbiananimalsvoice.wordpress.com/2010/03/09/serbia-many-cases-of-rabies-throughout-the-country-but-is-the-serbian-government-reporting-this-to-the-oie-world-organisation-for-animal-health-as-they-should-maybe-not/

It is declared by campaigners that all the locations and cases given in the above post are simply an attempt by the government and authorities to undertake a mass killing spree of unwanted stray dogs and cats. 

Because the Serbian Constitutional Court declared that from 02/10/2005, the new Veterinary Law Article 168 effectively destroyed everything that was written in old, previous legislation, Pravilnik 29/94; with the 2005 law demanding the care of animals.

Pravilnik 29/94 was overwritten by Article 168, the result being that all killing of animals was forbidden apart only from cases for Rabies infected areas, which were covered by application of Articles 64 and 65 of the Veterinary Law.  Our recent post gives more information on the court declaration:

https://serbiananimalsvoice.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/serbia-constitutional-court-of-serbia-says-that-the-killing-of-stray-dogs-and-cats-in-serbia-is-forbidden-from-02102005/

So the situation is now, has the government ‘invented’ mass Rabies outbreaks throughout Serbia in order that a mass killing can be undertaken ?

The most important point with all of this is that the World Organisation for Animal Health, the ‘OIE’; who publish new data every week on animal disease outbreaks across the world, do NOT appear to have been informed by the Serbian government of any of these alleged Rabies outbreaks in Serbia.

The weekly global disease outbreak report / notification published by the OIE, and which can be viewed at:

http://www.oie.int/wahis/public.php?page=weekly_report_index&admin=0 

DOES NOT SHOW that there have been any official notifications by the Serbian authorities to the OIE to ‘provide actual evidence’ that there are in fact Rabies outbreaks in these regions of Serbia.

If the OIE have not been informed of Rabies outbreaks, and the Serbian Constitutional Court has declared that from 02/10/2005 there must be care of animals, which includes all stray animals, it has to be asked if this process is something which has simply been invented by the Serbian autorities as a way of killing off the now protected stray animals of Serbia ? – ie. is this corruption ?

If Rabies is valid across Serbia, then why has the OIE not put the imnformation onto its weekly database ? – most probably because the OIE has not been informed by Serbia, possibly because in reality, the Rabies outbreaks DO NOT ACTUALLY EXIST !!

Our previous post shows all the areas of Serbia which are allegedly having Rabies problems:

https://serbiananimalsvoice.wordpress.com/2010/03/09/serbia-many-cases-of-rabies-throughout-the-country-but-is-the-serbian-government-reporting-this-to-the-oie-world-organisation-for-animal-health-as-they-should-maybe-not/ 

And yet the OIE do NOT appear to be aware of these outbreaks.

An ‘official’ Rabies outbreak is now the only way that Serbian authorities could undertake the killing of stray animals.  Pravilnik 29/94 was overwritten by Article 168, the result being that all killing of animals was forbidden apart only from cases for Rabies infected areas, which were covered by application of Articles 64 and 65 of the Veterinary Law.

So we ask again, has the Serbian government invented these rabies outbreaks so that they:

• Can undertake a mass kill of stray animals, and appear to look as if they are complying with the legislation – Articles 64 and 65 of the Veterinary Law ?
• Make a futile attempt to reduce stray animal numbers by yet more killing rather than undertake a managed and humane programme of stray animal control as we have always provided evidence for during the last five years.

In the Serbian city of Zajecar, a vet named Vladimir Videnovic will be paid by the autorities to undertake the mass killing of dogs and cats.

Vet Vladimir Videnovic is also a member of the city authority; the very same authority which decides on what actions are to be taken; such as the killing of animals in ‘Rabies outbreaks’ within the region !!

Is this simply a coincidence or part of something much more involved – devised by the government ?

Zajecar city will be starting their mass killings of animals within the next 24 hours.  Veterinarian Videnovic will be one of the main players in this process of animal killing.  He is also a hunter, and the local hunters have been called in to help with this mass animal slaughter.

It appears that no foxes have been provided to date showing that they have the rabies infection.  There are allegations that a ‘stock’ of Rabies virus is kept refrigerated so that positive results can be found when the hunters provide dead fox carcases to the veterinarians ? ! ? !

Is this simply a coincidence or part of something much more involved ?

Information on this very disturbing case of the alleged Serbian Rabies outbreaks has been provided to the OIE.  Information is also being provided to EU MEPs associated with the Animal Welfare Intergroup, who will be asked to further investigate.

If the Serbian government and authorities have nothing to hide, then we call on them to meet up with campaigners and provided them with all their evidence of Rabies outbreaks.  We would ask for witness support by the EU Intergroup, or MEPs as necessary.

To become an EU member, implementation of the ‘rule of law’ is a requirement.  We have to ask if the law is being enforced here, or invented by those in authority to actually AVOID implementing Serbian national legislation ?

The case continues.

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UPDATE 10/03/10:

Shinetrs of Zajecar  carry  all dogs to place named Popova plaza , there are big containers, there  dogcatcher  will kill them  and  vet  Videnovic  (mentioned above) will be present .

And, just for the record, and especially for Serbian politicians, …….

http://www.animalsasia.org/index.php?UID=NM26EGPJMP6

“The use of indiscriminate dog culling as a method of rabies control has long been discredited.

According to the World Health Organisation, “Killing of dogs has not been shown to make any difference in the epidemiology of rabies” (Rabies elimination in South-East Asia, WHO project ICP BCT 001, 2005),

There is evidence that mass culling of dogs within a defined area can result in the explosion in populations of rats and other rodents, and a consequent increased risk of diseases such as leptospirosis (“Weil’s disease”), murine typhus (Rickettsia species), and plague (Yersinia pestis)”.

http://www.wspa.org.uk/wspaswork/dogs/strayanimals/ahumanealternative.aspx 

“An estimated 75% of the world’s dog population are strays.  Managing them presents a problem in many countries, and has serious implications for public health and animal welfare.

Lack of animal welfare education and resources mean the methods used to limit stray populations are often horrifically inhumane – poisoning, shooting and electrocution are all common

But killing street dogs randomly is not effective, because it does not address the cause of the problem.

Without resources for treatment and education about responsible pet ownership, the roaming dog population will keep growing”.

Filed under: CAMPAIGNS - Global Animal Welfare Issues, GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional, RABIES, SERBIA (Central Serbia: Capital - Belgrade) and (Serbia | 3 Comments »