Sterile b ut still dangerous

The problem of stray animals is getting fresh attention in Ukrainian cities. Spring has arrived, and stray cats and dogs are beginning to proliferate on a larger scale than in other seasons of the year. In view of the impending influx of stray animals that the communal services cannot cope with, a Volunteer Youth Animal Protection League has started operating in Kyiv. This new organization wants to attract public attention to the plight of homeless animals.

These stray “man’s best friends” are causing society a great deal of concern. People living in Odesa oblast still remember the case of the boy who was attacked and killed by a pack of stray dogs. The only humane solution to this problem is to create a network of animal shelters and sterilization clinics. Kyiv’s municipal services catchup to 12,000 stray animals a year, but this figure is barely one- third of the number of feral cats and dogs roaming our city streets.

The Youth League offers a humane approach and free animal care services. Saving a stray cat or dog from cruel human treatment is a simple task. All it takes is removing it from the street or shelter. But it is impossible to take care of all strays this way, so ways must be found to prevent their numbers from growing.

In their first announcement the league’s organizers declared the opening of Kyiv’s “first sterilization clinic.” Later it transpired that the league has neither a clear concept of this project or funds for the design or purchase of suitable accommodations and equipment, and hiring the necessary personnel. These volunteers are only willing to set up sterilization centers in every district of Kyiv, so they are looking for sponsors and asking for charitable donations.

So far, the Youth League has organized one large-scale project. During the international forum “The Land of Childhood 2006” held last week, they collected money for Kyiv’s first sterilization center. There was a pet fashion show and exhibit of puppies and kittens of every color and breed, which were later handed out free of charge.

Iryna Tereshchenko, the director of the Volunteer Youth Animal Protection League, says that once they find a source of financing and set up the city’s first animal hospital, they will start collecting stray cats and dogs. After they are sterilized, the volunteer animal workers will return them where they picked them up. Obviously, they will be dealing only with young cats and dogs, because the volunteers are not planning to create another animal-catching service. The organizers insist on the need to cooperate with other civic organizations, but for some reason they have not appealed to state agencies. The Kyiv State City Administration’s Environmental Protection Directorate is not aware of the new organization.

The idea to sterilize stray animals sounds good, except that returning all those cats and dogs to the street may produce a number of unwelcome repercussions. Even though they cannot multiply, these animals are not likely to develop affection for humans. After all, it was people that hurt them and later threw them out on the street.

“Sterilization is feasible when an animal is kept at home with people,” says Mykola Illinsky, deputy administrative head. “This simple surgery can be performed at a municipal veterinary hospital, somewhere in Podil, also at private veterinary hospitals. At the Borodiansky shelter animals are castrated only if their owners want this and then take them back.” Therefore, setting up sterilization centers without building animal shelters does not make sense.

The main thing is not to forget that all these stray animals are our responsibility. In accusing government-run animal shelters of cruelty, the Youth League volunteers are apparently forgetting that sterilization is another cruel way of dealing with animals, as it causes serious psychological trauma. After any surgery, these homeless animals need postoperative treatment before they can be placed back on the streets.