Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)

Following from our recent post about the so-called ‘Zoo’ at Novi Pazar:

https://serbiananimalsvoice.wordpress.com/2011/07/04/expose-040711-serbian-zoos-%e2%80%93-a-move-to-improvements-in-serbian-zoo-animals-living-conditions-using-the-eu-commission/

We are now moving on further with the campaign to expose all Serbian zoos to the EU Commission.  With the help of Serbian campaigners, a dossier of information is currently being collated which will then be used to produce a detailed report on the conditions at many Serbian zoos.  This report will be submitted to the EU Commission as part of a 21 nation series of ‘zoo condition’ reports currently being compiled by the Born Free Foundation here in the Uk.

http://www.bornfree.org.uk/campaigns/zoo-check/zoos/eu-zoo-inquiry/

A fast track to those individual national reports which are already produced can be seen via the following link-

http://www.bornfree.org.uk/campaigns/zoo-check/zoos/euzoos/country-reports/

– simply click on any national report, and once accessed, use the size controls at the top of the report to select text size and to turn each of the pages comprising the report.

As a very necessary piece of data to support this work, with the valuable help of Slavica in Serbia and translations from Tatjana here in England, we now have access to the existing Serbian legislation which is applicable to the keeping of animals in Serbian zoos and wildlife parks.

The Serbian existing version of this legislation can be seen in the following figures:

With the help of Tatjana; we are now able to provide a translation of this Serbian legislation. 

It reads:

Extract from ‘THE’

Official Document on the Law for Animal Welfare Serbia

Section 14.

Protection of Animal welfare in Zoo’s. sanctuaries or breeding facilities of wild animals

Clause 71.

The proprietor of zoological park or a mini park, sanctuary or a nursery/ breeding facility for wild animals has obligation to provide:

1)      Space and equipment for keeping and reproduction of animals in captivity which are adequate for needs of every particular animal breed

2)      Adequate  space for animal isolation, quarantine

3)      Protection of animals from the visitors and visitors from the animals

4)      Provision of ongoing health care

5)      Food and water in conjunction with needs for every particular animal breed/ species

6)      Keeping official record of every individual animal, as well as a record of all sold or exchanged animals, or animals that are given to third parties as a gift

7)      Program of keeping up the animal collection/assortment with all the species and plan of looking after any new members that have been born in captivity

8)      Financial means that are necessary for continuous work of the zoo

9)      Plan for animal safety and re-homing in a case of zoo’s closure of any other unforeseen eventualities like bad weather.

Conditions about animal welfare that are listed in clause 1 of this document section 14  have to be fulfilled and this has to be formally approved and verified by minister.

Conditions from clause 2 of this section is final, but can be contested in court of law.

Minister, in collaboration and approvals of acting minister for the environmental protection will provide detailed conditions/guidelines for clause 1 of this section as well as all other elements necessary for operation of mini zoo facilities – parks.

Clause 72.

Person responsible for the protection of animal welfare in zoological park, sanctuary or breeding facility for wild animals must have completed studies on academic level with title – diploma – master in veterinary science (doctor for veterinary medicine ) or biological science (diploma zoologist /biologist – master)  or completed basic studies in the length of minimum of 5 years in the field of veterinary science or minimum of 4 years in the field of biological science.

Persons that are in direct care of the animals must be trained in the welfare field.

Minister, in collaboration and approvals of acting Minister for the environmental protection will provide program for training of persons that are going to provide animal welfare from clause 2 of this section.

Clause 73.

Movement of wild animals that are under the special regime of animal protection in conjunction with local and international regulations can be carried out only in-between zoological parks, sanctuaries and breeding facilities with approval by minister and acting minister for the environmental protection.

End of clauses 71/72 and 73.

There are many irregularities in this documentation which are of concern to us and which we hope will be of even greater interest to the EU Commission when they are provided with the national report for Serbian zoos.  For obvious reasons we are not going to detail our areas of the (Serbian) legislation that we will especially be concentrating on, but as you can see from the legislation text which has been reproduced above, there may be quite a lot of questions that we need to ask the Ministry regarding their authorisation procedures associated with the keeping of animals in Serbian zoos.

We have special concerns about the space allocations which are provided to animals, and we also question the requirements of Clause 72 – that the “Person responsible for the protection of animal welfare in zoological park, sanctuary or breeding facility for wild animals must have completed studies on academic level with title – diploma – master in veterinary science (doctor for veterinary medicine ) or biological science (diploma zoologist /biologist – master)  or completed basic studies in the length of minimum of 5 years in the field of veterinary science or minimum of 4 years in the field of biological science”.

Investigations into conditions at Novi Pazar zoo appear to show that this facility is very far from what one should expect from a person who has “completed studies on academic level with title – diploma – master in veterinary science (doctor for veterinary medicine ) or biological science (diploma zoologist /biologist – master)  or completed basic studies in the length of minimum of 5 years in the field of veterinary science or minimum of 4 years in the field of biological science”.

Novi Pazar zoo is nothing more than a series of prison cells for animals.

One could almost say that the information detailed in Clauses 71-73 of the Official Document on the Law for Animal Welfare Serbia – Section 14. – Protection of Animal welfare in Zoo’s. sanctuaries or breeding facilities of wild animals; is nothing more than a paper smokescreen to give the impression that there are strict animal welfare laws for both animals and the persons controlling the facilities, when in fact there would appear to be nothing of the sort.

We are working now to expose this to the EU in the future report.

What do you think ?

Do the following photographs of Novi Pazar zoo show:

• Space and equipment for keeping and reproduction of animals in captivity which are adequate for needs of every particular animal breed ?
• Food and water in conjunction with needs for every particular animal breed/ species ?
• Financial means that are necessary for continuous work of the zoo ?
• Persons that are in direct care of the animals must be trained in the welfare field ?
• Ministers who are currently providing animal welfare from clause 2 of this section ?

– We think not !

Filed under: CAMPAIGNS - Global Animal Welfare Issues, GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional, PHOTOGRAPHS - **WARNING** (Animal Suffering), SERBIA (Central Serbia: Capital - Belgrade) and (Serbia, ZOO(S) | Leave a comment »

Over the weekend of 2/3 July 2011, we at SAV were provided with some very disturbing images by Zlata and Zoran of ‘Help Animals’, Belgrade – www.helpanimals.org.rs

In the South of Serbia, near to the city of Novi Pazar, en route to the Monastery Sopoćani, there is what is advertised as a ‘Zoo Park’.

Looking at the sign near the entrance, showing (painted) animal images; one would be led to think that this facility is a haven for wild creatures.  This could be nothing further from the truth !

‘Welcome to the Zoo’ – What You Will See

As can be seen from the very recent photographs below, this alleged ‘zoo’ is nothing but a living hell for all the animals which exist there – they do not live, they simply exists.

The ‘zoo’ has the following wild animals under its ‘care’ in the most disgusting conditions:

• 2 adult wolves in one cage around 8 meters square
• 2 adult lions and 1 lioness
• 1 young tiger
• 1 adult bear
• 1 fox
• 1 dog in a very small cage
• A few rabbits

THE BEARS CONDITIONS

 THE TIGERS CONDITIONS

 THE LIONS CONDITIONS

THE WOLVES

THE FOX

LAMA:

‘LIVING’ CONDITIONS FOR THE ANIMALS

– FOR THE WOLVES:

– BEAR CAGE:

– OTHER ANIMAL CAGES:

Alarmed by the photographs, we at SAV today, 04/07/11, immediately contacted the ‘Born Free Foundation (BFF)’ who are also here in England, Uk, like us.  BFF were supplied with copies of some of the photographs (7 initially) supplied to us (SAV) by Zlata / Zoran.

BFF operate a special section in their organization – called ‘Zoo Check’, a section who keep information on all zoos across Europe.  At the moment, BFF is preparing a large report for the EU Commission on zoo conditions and legislation right across Europe (EU) in its series of investigative reports called ‘EU Zoo Enquiry 2011’.

Link:  http://www.bornfree.org.uk/campaigns/zoo-check/zoos/eu-zoo-inquiry/

The ‘EU Zoo Enqury 2011’ is an independent study, which has not been instigated by the European Commission.  However, the (EU) Commission is fully aware of the investigation and its objectives, and officials have expressed an interest to carefully examine the study’s outcomes, which we understand will be completed during 2011.

After discussions with BFF, SAV were informed that as Serbia is currently NOT a member state of the EU, information on Serbian zoos was not being included.  But we had pleasure in being informed by BFF that if any information on Serbian zoos could be provided to them, they (BFF) would include a ‘Serbian’ section in addition to their 21 nation reports of zoos throughout the European Union.

Serbia is not currently an existing EU member state; but accession (membership) should be granted to Serbia in the near future.  And so after discussions with BFF, it was felt that as a potential (EU) member state in the near future, the state of Serbian zoos should be included as part of the overall series of European nation zoo reports being prepared for presentation to the EU Commission.

The aim of the BFF ‘EU Zoo Inquiry 2011’ is to evaluate the implementation and enforcement of the EC Directive 1999/22 (relating to the keeping of wild animals in zoos), its transposition into national law, national enforcement of that law and the status and performance of zoos in compliance with their legal requirements.

In order to ensure a constructive approach and to seek solutions for any failings identified by the investigation, the Born Free Foundation and ENDCAP Member NGOs are keen to open dialogue with the respective national government, before information is provided to the European Commission.

Access to the current investigation (individual country) comprehensive reports produced by BFF can be viewed via the following link.  Note this is only a small percentage of those scheduled to be completed as the overall presentation:

http://www.bornfree.org.uk/campaigns/zoo-check/zoos/euzoos/country-reports/

After today’s discussions with BFF, both SAV and Serbian animal welfare organisations will now commence work to try and give BFF as much information as we possibly can about the situation in existing Serbian zoos, in order that a specialist ‘Serbian’ report can also be produced and included as part of the country ‘package’ being prepared for the EU Commission. 

We feel that by doing this, we can exert pressure on the Serbian authorities in the following ways:

• By fully exposing the current situation of Serbian zoos to the EU Commission at the exact time when Serbia is wishing to gain EU membership,
• By making the Serbian authorities work much more with the EU zoo standards as defined in (EU) EC Directive 1999/22
• By making Serbian authorities work harder to ensure that Serbian zoo laws are nationally enforced
• By naming those in authority who are failing Serbian zoo animals.

When Serbia becomes an EU member state; if we find that these EU regulations are not being enforced and adhered to by national authorities, then we will have no hesitation in taking the issues and our evidence further to the EU Commission and the legal affairs departments of the EU.

Information for the ‘Serbian zoos’ section of this EU Commission report which we are now aiming to provide to BFF with, will then give an opportunity for the Competent Authority in the Member State (ie. Serbia) to identify actions, or to develop a work plan that will address the identified shortfalls.

Please remember – these reports of all EU member nation zoos will not be completed yet as there is still work to be done throughout this year; but it is an important factor that we have now agreed with BFF that information on Serbian zoos will be reported on and provided to the EU Commission in the near future. BFF are looking at using the information for each nation to then assist national authorities to ensure that each nations national zoo legislation is being implemented. 

Existing EU legislation – Zoos are defined as ‘all permanent establishments where animals of wild species are kept for exhibition to the public for 7 or more days a year’. (Council Directive 1999/22/EC of 29 March 1999 relating to the keeping of wild animals in zoos)

This will even include looking and making recommendations to the EU Commission if it is considered that a zoo should be closed down and the animals re-homed. 

And so now we are working in cooperation with some Serbian animal welfare organizations to further investigate national zoo legislation and to obtain as much evidence relating to non-compliance with any legislation that we can.  Things have only just started to move for Serbian zoo animals, but we are determined to try and prevent scenes such as those in the photographs above from becoming the ‘norm’ in Serbia once it has become an EU member state.

Finally, the man responsible for the enforcement of legislation in Serbian zoos is one Oliver Dulich – Minister in the Serbian government since July 2008 for Environment and Spatial Planning.  Information on him can be found at:

http://www.ekoplan.gov.rs/en/Oliver-Dulic-26-c27-content.htm

Filed under: CAMPAIGNS - Global Animal Welfare Issues, GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional, PHOTOGRAPHS - **WARNING** (Animal Suffering), SERBIA (Central Serbia: Capital - Belgrade) and (Serbia, ZOO(S) | Leave a comment »