ANIMALS IN SERBIA Ivan Kurajov President of the Society for the - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

ANIMALS IN SERBIA  Ivan Kurajov President of the Society for the Protection of Animals LJUBIMCI

OVERVIEW  General situation  Animal welfare law  Other regulations  Companion animals  Abandoned- stray animals  Farm animals  Non-governmental organizations

General situation  Historical perspective - Political & economical situation - Social situation - Attitude towards the animals and their welfare

ANIMAL WELFARE LAW  First animal welfare law – 2009  89 articles  Protects all the animals ( wild, domestic, companion, farm, animals used in experiments..)  Promotes humane approach and practices

Other regulations  Serbia has ratified all European conventions about animal health and welfare  State ministry has also adopted all the operating procedures according to the animal welfare law

Implementation  Inspecting bodies understaffed  No clear overview  Lack of information  Partial implementation  Enforcement – NGO’s

Companion animals  About 1,3 million pets  All pets should be microchiped and all the owners should be in the central database  Veterinary inspection and local communal inspectors care about ownership and welfare  Animal rehoming increasing

Abandoned animals  Every municipality should have abandoned animal program  Only 20% does have this program  CNR/ TNR/ CNVR programs  Animal sheltering- 20 registered shelters (1 cat shelter)  Lack of education/ information in both governmental institutions and in general public

Situation in Belgrade  4 public shelters  10+ private shelters  Estimated number of abandoned animals ( more than 500 000 in 90’s - after counting about 5 000 in Belgrade alone)  Partial TNR program  No effective cooperation with NGO’s  Pet friendly campaign by the city government

 Belgrade central shelter – about 1300 animals

Farm animals  3,5 milion pigs  910 000 cattle

Farm animals  Farms are mainly situated in northern part of the country  Veterinary directorate inspects only registered farms  Lack of education of farmers in small farms  No clear procedures on large farms  Understaffed and under- equipped  Intensive farming – problems and free range models

Animal welfare NGO’s  About 100 organisations / 35 registered  Important role in law enforcement  Education  Animal rehoming  Public information act  Animal NGO’s coalition

Animal NGO’s coalition  Started as an informal group on Facebook  United reaction in crises situations, animal rights violation, proposals to different governmental institutions and public shelters  Lobby group for various animal protection and welfare issues

Floods 2014 NGO’s action